Rhymes with ‘salmon’

Remember the old jingle, “Sometimes you feel like a nut; sometimes you don’t?” Well here in California, we have mounds of nuts. Specifically, almonds. California harvests almost 2 billion pounds of almonds a year, making it the No. 2 ag crop after wine grapes.

All those nuts account for up to 80 percent of the entire world’s supply! We’ve even got our very own Blue Diamond factory in downtown Sacramento, from which wafts the hunger-inducing scent of roasted almonds. All those nuts also have kept us in the green for many years.

In fact, there’s been an almond festival in the Capay Valley for almost a century now. The 2012 festival occurs on Sunday, March 11, in the towns of Esparto, Capay, Brooks, Guinda and Rumsey, with music, crafts, rides, a fun run, and lots and lots of nutty treats. You can enter the cookie-baking and candy-making contest, or get your crawling baby in the Fastest Little Nut Derby (more information is at www.espartoregionalchamber.com/AlmondFestival.aspx). With the warm winter, we should have a full bloom on the almond trees. And if you really know what your nuts are about, be sure to say “almonds” like it rhymes with “salmons.”