Minerals have long been used in farming. In the past, different abundances of minerals naturally occuring in nature would influence the local crops. Today, many of those conditions can be supplimented with the addition or subtraction of minerals and elements in the soil.<\/p>\n
During the author’s years of growing and harvesting pistachios, the link between raw minerals and the final bagged nuts could be visualized. <\/p>\n
Pistachio trees are either male or female. You can graft the two together and have one hermaphroditic tree, for the most part, they are separate and do different things.<\/p>\n
The female tree has big broad leaves and branches that have lots of curves and style. The male tree has very thin leaves and sharp pointed branches that have sharp, straight, shoots. The female tree is the one that bears nuts, the male tree is responsible for the pollination. They are wind pollinated, so the timing has to be perfect every year during pollination.<\/p>\n
The first mineral we mine and use is raw gypsum\/selenite. Just a few miles away from our orchard, we have extensive deposits of raw gypsum, which we then water tumble in a giant 50 pound vibrating tumbler. The “waste” water is a large part of what we need for the grove. Fertilizer for the tree including pistachio wood ash, steer manure, a rich compost and tea, plus, crushed gypsum, all watered down with our waste water from the gypsum tumbling.
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