It's time for almond blossom!

We've had a relatively mild winter here this year, no snow, (we have had a covering for a few days for the last two winters), and only a handful of light frosts. The first tree to blossom is the almond, and we have just finished harvesting the olives! We noticed a couple of trees in full bloom by the roadside as we were going into Alcañiz last Friday and yesterday some blossom on one of our trees.

Click on the image to see it full size.

Because it blossoms so early, the farmers complain that there aren't sufficient insects around to pollinate it and then as there is always the chance of a late frost the blossom can be damaged. Last year this was certainly the case and we had far fewer almonds on our trees than the previous year.

In a few weeks time the young green leaves will emerge making the landscape look very fresh and spring-like. However, as the summer progresses, the trees tend to look very dry and shrivelled and then by the time the almonds are ready for picking in the late autumn, you are never sure if they will be able to come back to life next year as they have lost their leaves and look positively dead. However, nature is a wonderful thing and so the cycle has started again.