California Farmer

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1952.

Describes how the first settlers in California changed the brown landscape there by creating groves, wooded suburbs and landscaped cities through planting eucalypts in the lowlands, citrus colonies in the south and palms in Los Angeles.

Desert Almond Farmer is a true story about Frederick Godde (1863-1930) who received 160 acres of land in the Mojave Desert under the Homestead Act of 1862. His new life began without water, electricity, or roads. In the end, he had a wife, nine children, thousands of almond trees, and a role in California history. This is the family's story-how they survived, how they conducted their daily lives, and how they grew almonds in the desert. Author-illustrator Mary Kaye Godde Stamets grew up in the almond orchards on the land her grandfather Frederick homesteaded. She combined photographs and art to create an authentic representation of a bygone era; the book is a piece of folk art. Number of pages: 248 Dimensions: 8.25" W x 8.25" H; Weight: two pounds; Printing method: 4-color process; Language: English; Suggested age level: eight through adulthood; Cover: Softcover; Extras: Full-width cover flaps with photographs 15" W x 8.25" H