For the past several years I've been trying to keep the almond tree within reach by both pruning and training the branches. I lost control of that while pregnant with the daughter, and missed my chance again while she was a tiny baby. I don't think I'll be keeping it small any more now that two years have gone by without intervention.
And I think I like having this somewhat overly big tree now that I'm stuck with it. Don't get me wrong, it's not truly a large tree; it's on semi-dwarf rootstock and for instance won't ever get as big as our mature horse chestnut tree. But it's taller than the garage it lives next to and is just about as wide; and this year it's really gone to town on the almonds. I've been collecting a basketful for the past several days and still haven't quite got all the lower down ones (the ones within my reach). And the higher up ones? So many! The husband has promised to climb on the garage roof and I'll drag out the ladder too.
This tree is a Robijn variety which has more of that classic almond extract flavor found in cookies or marzipan; they are nice to eat too, but are not what most people would expect and I prefer to use them in cooking rather than eating alone. In the past, these nuts have been saved for making almond paste to put into our yearly Christmas stollen loaves; I anticipate needing to find more recipes to use up the rest of them this year!
I've also been looking up youtube videos on how to crack them more efficiently by hand; it looks like a hammer and anvil--a flat stone on the floor/ground--is the way to go. I've had a try and it seems slightly easier than the wire cutters I have used in the past (still pretty time consuming though).
Here's to an excellent almond harvest; long may it continue.
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