Wind

To clarify Sunday's post that showed the wind machines in the orchards, here is a closer view of a wind machine. These are not the huge turbines that produce electricity in more and more regions of the world. Though they tower over the trees in the orchard, they are miniatures in comparison to those power generating behemoths.

The air temperature in the spring is critical to the development of fruit. When a heavy frost hits at the wrong moment, an entire crop could be lost. At these times, farmers choose among several methods to keep their trees warm. The wind machines are one of them. The machines circulate the warmer upper air to mix it with the cold to provide temperatures safe for the developing buds.