{"id":23074,"date":"2016-11-09T09:32:37","date_gmt":"2016-11-09T17:32:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cooking-outdoors.com\/?p=23074"},"modified":"2016-11-16T14:02:00","modified_gmt":"2016-11-16T22:02:00","slug":"passion-technology-and-water-behind-the-scenes-of-walnut-farming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cooking-outdoors.com\/passion-technology-and-water-behind-the-scenes-of-walnut-farming\/","title":{"rendered":"Passion, Technology and Water, Behind the Scenes of Walnut Farming"},"content":{"rendered":"

Walnut Farming – Walnuts are grown on Walnut Farms, in grocery stores, in little containers just like apples, right?<\/p>\n

When I was growing up, a long time ago, my father wanted to buy a farm and become a farmer. A simple dream, never fulfilled due to his passing at a young age. I still have his dream books from the early 60's, about farming and farming science. Dad wanted to do it all, cows, pigs, chickens, and I would have to assume an orchard of some type. Often I think about how things would have been if he did realize his dreams – I would be the son of a farmer and my sons would be future farmers as well. What I was never ever aware of, until my recent farm tour, was how much things have changed since my father's time!<\/p>\n

Mid October this year (2016), I was invited to visit the upper Sacramento Valley farm region by the California Farm Water Coalition<\/a>.\u00a0 A full two-day itinerary, with multiple stops, exploring the vast farm resources the upper Sacramento area has to offer. Our first stop was in Winters, Ca. a short drive just outside of Sacramento, to visit the Walnut Farms of Lester Farms.<\/p>\n

\"Stan<\/p>\n

Family owned and operated, owner Stan Lester gave us a first hand look at what Walnut Farming requires.<\/p>\n

Passion to Farm<\/h2>\n

The Lester family has been farming since 1883 in the Santa Clara Valley of California. Now the are located in the Sacramento Valley region of California, a move necessitated by urban growth. Farming is in their blood, it's their life and they love what they do and some years are tougher to love than others. Farmers begat farmers, a tough life of hard work that goes unseen by the end-user, and the new generations are pursuing it less and less. It is a seven-day a week job with only one paycheck per year!<\/p>\n

\"Newly<\/p>\n

Walnuts are a slow crop to profit from:<\/p>\n