Posts by Liz Pina

Harvest at HMC Farms is still going strong! Our late-season peaches continue to surprise us, with harvesttiming settling closer to normal after running well ahead for much of the summer. We expect to have California peaches with greatflavor and eating quality carrying us through the final weeks of the season. In the vineyards, table grape…

It’s a great day for grapes! With harvest continuing ahead of schedule, now is a perfect time to showcase and enjoy grapes. There are multiple varieties available of red and green grapes, as well as our Solbrio black grapes. The season continues to be anywhere from three to four weeks ahead of schedule. The fruit…

The wait is almost over! HMC Plumsicles™ are right around the corner. Start setting your ads now for our favorite fruit of the summer. Plumsicles are super sweet, with a little tang, creating a piece of fruit that isn’t just sugary, but packed full of flavor. The bright and fun packaging is a mere preview…

The vines are growing rapidly in our California table grapes. This month we are shoot thinning more vineyards with more people as compared to April of 2025. Shoot thinning removes non-vital, new growth to help redirect nutrients to the portions of the vines where we would like to encourage growth. It is important to stay…

This month our peaches are out of their “jackets” — the protective shuck has split and fallen away — leaving the young fruit fully exposed during one of the most delicate stages of development. At this point, they are highly susceptible to weather-related damage, whether it’s hail, heavy rain, wind, or sudden temperature swings that…

Blossoms have begun to bloom in our earliest tree fruit varieties. Once bloom begins, we need warm days, to encourage bee flight for pollination. The more developed the blossom, the more susceptible it is to a freeze. In the semi-closed state (pictured below), the temperatures can reach below freezing and the flower will still be…

Currently rainfall is tracking a 200% of “normal” for this time period with a total rainfall of 8 inches to date, although our snowpack levels are less than average. While it was a cold December, the chill hours still remain below 500, which is the lowest on record at this point in time over the…

Tule fog is a dense, ground-hugging fog that forms in California’s Central Valley during the late fall and winter months, especially after winter rains. It develops when moist air becomes trapped under a layer of cool, stagnant air, creating extremely low visibility that can reduce sight to just a few feet. On foggy days the…