nature, Photography

Okanagan Country

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The southern portion of the Okanagan Valley is classified as semi-arid desert, but last year’s extreme drought combined with the 10-day cold snap we had in January did a lot of damage. Nevertheless. recovery is happening.

The Okanagan Valley near Oliver, with Osoyoos Lake in the background.

Many of the grape vines were affected by both the drought and the cold snap, as were the stone fruit orchards such as peaches, plums and apricots. Everywhere I looked, I could see many fields being replanted under the new agricultural guidelines while other fields are clearly being left, at least for this year.

A mixture of grape vine and cherry tree fields, while others are lie fallow.

The area is definitely not as lush as it has been in the past, but with new farming approaches and hopefully, more stable weather patterns, there will be a return to something of its former self.

Happy Thursday.

17 thoughts on “Okanagan Country”

  1. It will be a tough year for vineyards and orchards and those who live for B.C. wine and fruit. Hopefully, it all comes back stronger than ever. Happy Thursday Lynette. Allan

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    1. Thanks, Allan. Agreed. It definitely will be. There are so many fields with new grape vines or those that survived are being babied right now but still look sad. The stone fruit orchards have survived but just aren’t producing fruit this year, at all. Yes, I hope it recovers, too, but I think it’s going to take more than one summer.

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    1. Thanks, Tricia. 😊 The January cold snap was devastating. It only lasted a few days but the impact has been huge and severe. I know that there’s been a lot of contact with France and Germany around how they have handled cold snaps in the past.

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  6. I remember from living there many, many years ago, that the climate can be very harsh there sometimes. Very hot in the summer and brutally cold in the winter. In between it was often just perfect and really beautiful.

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    1. The southern Okanagan and Similkameen valleys are definitely scorchers in the summer, but from my experience they usually don’t get much below -5 or so in January which is also why wine grapes do so well. The cold snap that occurred in January was about -25, and that broke records from the 1930s, apparently. Here’s a site with weather info. It’s from Kelowna but since it’s at roughly the mid-point of the valley it’s a good gauge:
      https://www.tourismkelowna.com/plan/weather-climate/
      Agreed – the shoulder months are gorgeous, especially September.

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