From the Fields - Paul Sanguinetti

By Paul Sanguinetti, San Joaquin County farmer

We just finished harvesting tomatoes. Now that the tomatoes have been harvested, we’ve got to chop the vines, and we’ve got to work up the ground and get it in shape. We’ve got to go through the walnut varieties that we’ve harvested already. We’ve still got Chandlers and a little block of Tulares that we have yet to harvest. We’ve got some dead wood that fell out the trees, so we’ve got to chop that. Then, we’ve got some lime to spread on a couple of fields that need to be treated. We’ve got to strip spray them and give them a little shot of water.

The boys finished harvesting the almonds, so they are all done. Frost from early this year affected the boys’ almonds, and the crop was really light because of it. With the drip irrigation, if you turn the drip on, I don’t know if it really does any good, so they may have to go to some microsprinklers or something. As far as the walnuts, frost didn’t hurt anything like it did last year. Last year, the walnuts got hurt from the frost, but we didn’t have any problem this year.

We’re working some ground for next year, trying to get it worked up for tomatoes and probably some silage corn. I might have some garbanzos, but it just depends on what the weather does and if it rains. Part of this ranch relies on surface water, and when I don’t have enough rain and enough surface water, I have to use deep wells to irrigate.

We’re just paying bills and hoping to collect some money. Fuel or the off-road, red-dye diesel is about $5 a gallon right now. A few years ago, it got down to below $2.