The tree trimmers are working on the golf course today so we took the opportunity to "meet and greet" one of the workers. With the long arms on these trucks, they can reach quite a distance without having to drive on the protected areas.
Say hello to Alejandro. He has been in the tree trim business for over 30 years and says he really enjoys it and is proud of his work.
The Reliable company is based out of Palm Springs California which is a good five hour drive from here so the crew is staying in the park for their assignment. They plan to have all 3000+ palm trees trimmed within 10-12 days. They can do 300 trees per day!! Last year the crew was lucky to do 70 per day.
We have other kinds of trees that need to be pruned and trimmed but Alejandro said those trees should only be done in the fall so will have to wait. (I hope they will be the ones chosen for the job!)
We later spotted this pile of dates that someone appears to be harvesting. I don't know if it is the crew or someone from the park.
Found this on the web:
- 1. Monitor the ripeness of the fruit throughout the season. Your dates will ripen at different times throughout the growing season, so make sure to check the fruits regularly. Once they are a deep brown color and have a wrinkly appearance, they are ready to be harvested.
- 2. Cut a stalk with plenty of ripened dates. Test the readiness of a date stalk from one of your trees by simply pulling a ripe date. You should be able to easily pluck it from the tree if it is ready. Cut off a stalk where most of the dates are ripened.
- 3. Harvest your dates from the stalk. Pick all of your dates off of the stalk. Leave the unripened dates out on a tarp to ripen in the sun. Wash off your dates that are ripe and freeze them for 24 hours to kill any bacteria. You can now leave them out at room temperature for a few days, or they will keep in the fridge for up to a month.
***********************
😸We found a couple more houses where prickly pear cactus have somehow found their way to the roof and are growing well.
I'm guessing that birds eat the fruit of the cactus and then deposit the seeds wherever they roost?
