Our field is really producing nicely now.  The Camarosa strawberries have developed excellent sweetness and flavor when allowed to fully ripen.  The Chandlers strawberries are producing like crazy and are extremely sweet and juicy.  The plants are currently healthy and vigorous with an abundance of berries ranging from green nubs to half-ripe to fully ripe and a full canopy of new flowers.  Our customers have already picked 1/3 of the minimum expected gross production of the field so it looks like we may beat our expectations if the weather keeps up for us.  It has been too hot the past two days, so a cool off is much desired.  So far we have not had to spray any insecticide.  We have a very large population of lady bugs which are controlling the bad pests very nicely.  The weekly fungicide spray program seems to have arrested the fungal disease and hopefully the plants will stay healthy. 

About mid-week one of our beehives decided to swarm and I found an enormous swarm of bees on a willow oak branch about 7 feet in the air above the hive.   Jim (our neighbor beekeeper) and I cut the branch off and lowered it, swarm and all, to an empty beebox doused in sugar water.  The bees decided that would make a nice new home for them so Jim now has added one more freebie bee colony to his collection. 

We're currently irrigating the field as this hot weather has made the plants thirsty.  I also have the garden vegetables under irrigation as the tender lettuces really suffered in the heat today.  I'll go out at 11 tonight and redirect the irrigation water for a couple more hours.