Almond trees weren’t part of my world growing up. The latest episode of Grounded by the Farm, I talk with Dino Giacomazzi about growing almonds and his family’s new business with flavored almonds.

When I was a kid, I remember sitting down with a nut cracker to open up so much goodness from the various shells. Pecans and walnuts were something we saw a lot of since we had trees in the family, but almonds… now and then we’d get almonds. They were different, unique. I loved how the almond shell seemed to tell a very different story was and pondered what almond trees looked like.

That was in the times of encyclopedias rather than Google and YouTube, so I had much more creativity than answers and photos. So when I started working in agriculture and found myself in California on farms for work, I’d drive and look at trees and plants. It’s amazing how your mind can rush with new images. And with the number of orchard nuts and fruits all in the valleys, I spent a lot of time pulling over on the roadside and using my zoom lens to try and get a view of what I was looking at.

Closeup of almond trees in full bloom courtesy of AlmondGirlJenny.com 

Spring — Almond Trees in Full Bloom

I have to confess, being in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) in spring was disorienting. There are SO MANY blooming trees…. and if you aren’t familiar with them you struggle to identify anything. I always felt most confident about plums, peaches/nectarines/apricots and walnuts based on what I saw most often at home. But you suddenly have all the things blooming!

Now I can say with some confidence that almonds are among the prettiest blooms and these days they are likely the most abundant too! An estimated 80 percent of the world’s almonds are grown in California’s Mediterranean climate.  And with all those trees blooming in the spring, and lots of honey bees needed to do the pollination, the SJV is buzzin!

Friends Holly Christine & Trent Bown did a video when they visited a mutual friend one spring…. it shows you how beautiful those blooms are as well as gives you a little feel for an almond farm.

Autumn — Getting Ready for Almond Harvest

Like other nuts, almonds have a husk on the outside that protects them through the season and slowly starts to open up as the almond matures and the temperatures drop for fall. I can remember seeing almonds on the tree at that pre-harvest phase and being a bit confused by what I was looking at. You can see in this photo that various colors start coming into play as harvest nears.

And you can see how the almonds begin peeking out of those husks in this closeup.

The reason the almond shell always intrigued me is it looks so rough compared to the smooth shell of pecans or walnuts. And seeing how flat it is compared to the rounded or oval nuts…. well, it still catches the eye making me wonder. Of course, most of the almonds I buy now are all shelled, maybe combined with granola for breakfast, coated with a savory flavoring or even dipped in chocolate!

Parts of this article previously appeared on a post on what almonds look like on the tree and as we talked about the Boersma family in the A to Z of farms on my lifestyle site. 

The post Checking out Almond Trees on California Farm Visits appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

Since we are talking with rice farmer Matthew Sligar this week, we wanted to make sure you knew how to make good use of some of that rice you have in the kitchen!

Don’t forget, as Matthew explained in the podcast episode on rice, you want to be sure you are using the right kind of rice for the dish you are making.

Using Medium Grain Rice

Sushi has become a bit of a family tradition for us. My sister lived in Japan for several years and with all the loved ones we have there as well as Japanese friends and family in the U.S., it provides us a great touchstone. Besides, we’ll take almost any excuse to eat great food.

Love this video where Matthew and his wife Clara took time to learn to make sushi and thought some of you may be interested in giving this a go.

Long-Grain Rice Recipes

More of the recipes I have typically use long-grain rice…. it’s used in casseroles, salads, as a side and more. Growing up, my family would just put a little butter on it… maybe some salt & pepper. But here are some ideas for getting that rice out of the canister.

Red Beans & Rice

My go-to recipe is red beans and rice…. I make that pretty often and just love it! It’s also a favorite for several friends and family members– in fact a 5-year-old friend is a total fan! I started making it years ago with a crock pot red beans and rice recipe a friend’s wife shared — just a few ingredients in a crock pot. Some Hillshire Farms sausage, red beans and sauces (A1, Worcestshire, and Heinz 57) in one pot and cook rice in another. A friend helped me convert it to the instant pot too, and I think instant pot red beans and rice is even better!

Slow Cooker Beef Stew & Rice

Sarah is the farmhouse blogger at Farmwife Crafts and she has a slow cooker beef stew recipe that is served over rice making it more for a plate than a bowl! I love that as a farm family she starts by explaining stew meat, where it comes from on cattle, what you may substitute and more. She also talks you through cooking it in the oven verses the slow cooker!

Porcupine Meatballs

Not gonna lie, when Nicole from Tales of a Kansas Farm Mom shared this recipe in my thread asking about farm recipes including rice, I shook my head. But rice is both part of the porcupine meatballs but you serve them over rice too!

One Skillet Chicken Rotel & Rice

If you have seen our other recipes, you probably were already wondering what Jent from Farmwife Feeds would be adding to the list. The wait is worth it with this one skillet chicken rotel & rice!  I love one pot meals, especially these days when it seems like cooking and washing dishes never stops! And if you have rice, cheese and tomatoes with some sort of protein I am there for it. She also has an instant pot recipe for chicken, rice & peas I’m going to check out.

Best Ever Turkey Layered Hotdish (Casserole)

I giggle just typing in hotdish as I can remember wondering what that was, but it is a casserole. (Although Midwestern friends like Val Wagner who feed big families swear hotdish is so much more appetizing than casserole.) I can’t lie though, I love a good casserole and in my experience, rice contributes to a lot of the really good ones! Lara with My Other More Exciting Self has this best ever turkey layered hotdish that will have you checking your local grocery meat counter for turkey breast you can cube up.

More Great Recipes from Farm Families

We hope you have been enjoying some of the recipes farm families have shared for you to make up yummy dishes with mushrooms, wheat, avocados and we have more coming!

The post Rice Recipes that Will Fill You Up and Make you Smile appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

Grounded by the Farm is excited to announce a new team member for the summer. We bet you will notice the contributions  of a summer intern will be noticed both here on the website and on our social media channels, especially the Grounded by the Farm Instagram account.

Meet Abby

As we considered all the candidates, Abigail “Abby” Durheim clearly rose to the top based on skills, interest and experience.  She is a senior in agricultural and environmental communications at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Abby brings her personal passion for photography and experience working in communications for various livestock and agricultural education programs.

In addition to all of that, she grew up in city suburbs but has always had her finger on the pulse of farm life too thanks to family so Abby knows, and loves, both the Grounded audience and interviewees. And she likes the podcast…

“I love the personal connection that you have with each of your interviewees,” Abby said. “Food is really personal for people and I don’t think you shy away from that. Rather, you lean into that vulnerability and share how food connects us together. I think the unique perspectives of agriculturalists from different commodities, lifestyles and regions exposes people everywhere to the realities of agriculture.”

Increasing Visibility

She starts today, Monday, May 18th and will be helping us get the site more visible. We would really appreciate your help with that as well! Here are four ways you can help:

• Subscribe & listen to the podcast — We make it easy! We are (hopefully) everywhere you listen. Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and lots more!
• Please take a few minutes to subscribe to the website — We’ve been adding written posts here — background on farmers we interview, recipes for ingredients some of the farmers produce and other content to build on previous or future episodes. You need to give us your email address and confirm it.
• Follow our social media channels — If you use Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube, please follow & share about us on those channels!
• Talk to family & friends about us! And let them know how to do all the things too!

As always, we love hearing from you whether it is through commenting or the contact form here or social media. Got ideas? Questions? Please share!

(Some of this information was also published on the JPlovesCOTTON LLC website. Abby will work for the LLC but be focused primarily here.)

The post We Will Be Taking Things Up A Notch Thanks to a Summer Intern! appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.