Posts Tagged: pomegranate

A Pomegranate Kind of Day

It was a pomegranate kind of day. Red, bright and wonderful.The papery-thin reddish blossoms in our yard draw both beneficial and pestiferous...

Honey bee nearly collides with a ladybug, aka ladybeetle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Honey bee nearly collides with a ladybug, aka ladybeetle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A pest, a spotted cucumber beetle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A pest, a spotted cucumber beetle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Honey bee foraging in pomegranate blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Honey bee foraging in pomegranate blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Katy Did. Katy Didn't.

As a child growing up in Washington state, I received an entomological nickname."Katydid."My father, in a take-off of the name, Kate, affectionately...

Katydid

JUVENILE KATYDID tucked inside a pomegranate blossom. The long awkward-looking hind legs and long threadlike antennae make it look like a Walt Disney cartoon character. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-Up

CLOSE-UP of a juvenile katydid, member of the longhorned grasshopper family Tettigoniidae, order Orthoptera. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Preserving and Protecting Our Pollinators

You'll be hearing more about the CP2C. What's that? The first-ever Congressional Pollinator Protection Caucus. In keeping with 4th Annual National...

Bee Squad

BEE SQUAD heads for pomegranate blossoms. Next week, June 21-27 is the fourth annual National Pollinator Week. California has some 29,000 acres of pomegranates. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bee in Pomegranate Blossoms

HONEY BEE foraging in pomegranate blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-Up

CLOSE-UP of honey bee in pomegranate blossom. One-third of the food we eat is pollinated by honey bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Farmers find niche in pomegranate production

Growing demand for pomegranate juice, with its many purported health benefits, is increasing farmers' interest in cultivating the drought-resistant crop, according to a story in the Lodi News.

The article featured a new, vertically integrated agribusiness venture being developed by San Joaquin County partners John Ferreira and John Cotta. The team are converting acreage from thirsty alfalfa to a crop cultivated since ancient times in Middle Eastern desert regions.

"I wanted to get away from chemicals and pesticides and high water usage," Ferreira told reporter Jordan Guinn.

The partners are planning to crush their own pomegranates on the farm to produce smooth, not-too-acidic pomegranate juice, pomegranate wine, and even candles, oils and makeup made from the skins, rinds and seeds of pomegranates.

Eating pomegranates fresh never really caught on in the United States. Until demand for juice grew, the pomegranate industry didn't take off, UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Joe Grant told the reporter. Paramount Farm's POM Wonderful is credited with raising the fruit juice's currency.

The San Joaquin Valley's Mediterranean climate provides an excellent environment for pomegranate cultivation.

"They grow like weeds out here," Grant was quoted.

Pomegranate seeds photographed by Kathy Keatley Garvey.

Queen of the Crops

We often hear of "cream of the crop," but the honey bee is  the "queen of the crops." Honey bees are...

Find Waldo

A pollen-packed honey bee curls up in a pomegranate blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Read more