12 grapes at midnight

Did you know in Spanish culture it’s considered good luck to eat grapes at midnight on New Year’s Eve?  Las Doce Uvas de la Suerte (The Twelve Grapes of Good Luck) is a Spanish tradition dating back to the late 1800s.  This tradition involves eating a grape with each bell strike at midnight on December 31st for prosperity and good fortune in the coming year.  The twelve grapes represent the 12 months of the year.

We partnered with The Produce Moms to create a fun, educational activity sheet to teach kids about this tradition. Try your luck at midnight, but remember to chew and swallow carefully. Have a safe and happy new year!

To learn more about our grapes, visit our websites www.grapesforschools.com and www.hmcfarms.com.

HMC News – December 18, 2019

Heart of Ag Wellness Center is now open! Heart of Ag is a private medical facility which HMC Farms employees can use at no charge. The center provides a wide range of basic healthcare services from flu shots to annual physicals and much more. The ribbon cutting ceremony drew in special guests, including Assemblymen Joaquin Arambula and Devon Mathis, representatives from U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein and State Senator Melissa Hurtado’s offices, and the mayor of Selma. With the ever-changing landscape of healthcare in the United States, we are excited to offer this opportunity to our employees!

Crop Update:

Pruning remains ongoing in our tree fruit orchards. Rain cover removal continues in our grape vineyards to prepare for pruning to begin within a couple of weeks. The forecast shows overnight lows cool enough for our dormant trees and vines to get some chill hours – we’ll touch on this more when we return in 2020.

HMC News – December 11, 2019

High density planting, shown above, allows our farm crews to prune, thin, and harvest the organized rows with greater efficiency. Now that these trees have grown large enough, we will bring in a platform pruning system to prepare them for winter and the coming season. This new method of farming will ultimately result in an even better quality of product and more efficient system of delivery for the California stone fruit system.

Crop Update:

Our weather has finally caught up with the calendar. Since Thanksgiving, we’ve received about 2.59″ of rain, which is more than 20% of our annual average. Sunday, a thunderstorm dropped quite a bit of hail in some spots on our dormant farms. The forecast shows no rain through the weekend, with precipitation popping up again toward the end of next week. We’ve had a some foggy mornings this week, which are likely to continue due to ground moisture.

HMC News – December 4, 2019

Traditional pruning is quite labor-intensive, and we are always looking for ways to improve upon the process. This year, we are using a pre-pruner in preparation for pruning our grape vines. The pre-pruner thins out excess growth and performs a basic cut on vines, significantly reducing the amount of time crews need to spend on pruning. This should allow crews to more easily access the vines for targeted pruning, making the overall process more efficient.

Crop Update:

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, some precipitation finally materialized in our area, allowing us to complete grape harvest just before the rain began. The lack of any early rain this year was highly unusual, but it seems that we’ve gotten back on track. We are removing rain covers in our grape vineyards and pruning in our stone fruit orchards, taking breaks to enjoy “farmer’s holidays” during the welcome rainy weather.

HMC News – November 20, 2019

Pruning is in full force in our traditional tree fruit orchards, as pictured above. As you can see, the trees are bare of leaves, allowing our crews to distinguish between older wood and fruiting wood. We will soon begin pruning in our high density planting orchards, which is a slightly different process. Pruning allows us to prepare for the next season by maintaining the shape and structure of the trees.

Crop Update:

HMC Farms table grape harvest is rapidly winding down. The weather has continued to cooperate with our harvest, helping to maintain excellent grape quality. It looks like we may finally see some precipitation in the middle of next week. The forecast shows high temperatures in the 60s with some chilly overnight lows to start Thanksgiving week.

Thanksgiving activity sheet – free download!

Thanksgiving is quickly heading our way, which means it’s time to give the kids in your life some activities to occupy their time. HMC Farms has you covered with this free downloadable Thanksgiving activity sheet! This month’s activity sheet will have kids filling in the blanks, coloring, and turkey trotting their way to a grapeful Thanksgiving!

Click here to download the free activity sheet, or find copies at our local library in Kingsburg, California!

HMC News – November 13, 2019

Autumn is staking its claim on our tree fruit orchards. These beautiful fall colors signal that pruning time is near. We wait for the leaves to fall off of the trees in order to prune and select the best fruiting wood. Older wood appears thicker and rougher, like the tree’s trunk, in comparison to fruiting wood, which still has fresh bark and is likely to bear the best fruit.

Crop Update:

Our table grape harvest is still going strong, with weather that continues to cooperate well in our vineyards. The forecast shows daytime temperatures dipping down with highs into the upper 60s to end this week, and then climbing back up a bit to start next week in the high 70s. Some cloud cover lies ahead, but there is still no significant chance of precipitation on our farms.

HMC News – November 6, 2019

This year has proven to be one of the most unusual fall weather patterns we’ve seen. The weather has been virtually perfect for grape growth and harvest on our farms, with high temperatures in the 70s and 80s and cool overnight lows. With precipitation continuing to hold off, we will likely complete our grape harvest before adverse weather hits our vineyards.

Crop Update:

Wildfires have blazed through parts of California over the past few weeks. Our farms were not in close proximity to any of the fires, but we’ve monitored the air quality closely, as smoke from these fires can drift to the valley floor. Fortunately, the major fires have been fully or mostly contained at this point. For updates on the California wildfires, visit the CalFire website. Table grape harvest is still going strong in our vineyards. The forecast shows slightly warmer days, with high temperatures creeping back up into the low 80s.

HMC News – October 30, 2019

This year is the 40th anniversary of the original Lunch Bunch® grapes! Lunch Bunch grapes were the original value added grape solution for HMC Farms, dating back to 1979, and they continue to be a staple in our product offerings. To learn more about the Lunch Bunch, contact your HMC Farms salesperson.

Crop Update:

Table grape harvest continues to thrive in the current weather conditions. Timco, Allison, and Vintage red seedless grapes and Autumn King green seedless grapes are in active harvest. Tree pruning will begin soon in our peach, nectarine, and plum orchards. The forecast shows more sunny days with high temperatures in the low to mid 70s. We still have seen no signs of early rain, which is unusual this far into October.

Halloween Activity Sheet for Kids

Celebrate the spookiest time of year with grapes!
Our free downloadable activity sheet is complete with a maze, a Halloween word search, and coloring areas to ensure that your kids have a grape Halloween!

Download our free Halloween activity sheet for kids here