Perez Studios

Cotton picking is still big here in the Central Valley but it has died down quite a bit compared to the way it used to be.  They actually closed down the plant that is close to my house that used to take in tons and tons of cotton modules.  They sold the factory and have been taking it apart piece by piece.  Soon you wont be able to see this or if you do then I am sure the kids will be like, “Wow Dad, what is that big scary looking thing driving in the road?”  I recall when I used to be a tractor parts salesman they sent me to a workshop on the 8 row cotton picker that was huge.  Rumor had it that a very wealthy farmer bought about 12 of the 6 row machines and paid to send them overseas to his farm in Europe.  Those 6 rows went for about $500,000 back then.  I am not even sure what the shipping costs but I hope he made some money on that deal.

If you have any photos of the cotton picker let me know or post a link to them when you leave your comment.

Thanks for reading!

Semper Fidelis,

Manuel Perez

Here is a photo of a man getting ready to plow a trench for a field. 

Read more…

Read more…

I was on my way to work on Friday when I had noticed the sunrise and some cotton fields were looking amazing.  I brought my camera this time and snapped these photos of the beautiful landscape.

Today, I join with millions of other bloggers throughout the world and share with you a message about water and how important it is to many people all over.  So, I ask you this one question, how has the water crisis affected you and your area?  For many the Central Valley seems like just some ordinary valley that produces many crops for parts of west coast but truly the Central Valley is probably the bread basket of the United States if not other countries in the world.  It produces many crops throughout the year from cantaloupes to cotton, it has many different ways that it contributes to the world and that doesn’t even mention the jobs that it produces for many of the migrant workers that come to perform seasonal jobs to earn a living doing very hard work that not many other people will do.

The Central Valley has been in a major crisis for some time now ever since the water levels have been cut over and over that is supplied to the farmers to water their crops.  Some farmers have been able to improvise and use equipment like you see in the left to allow them to use drip systems to cut back on the water they give their crops.  This helps the water crisis and the crops still get enough water to grow.  I recall writing an article stressing how important the water is for our farmers which can be read here!

The Water Crisis has been so bad that it is affecting the enrollment in schools due to the lack of people moving and living in the valley.  The people don’t move here because there isn’t any jobs for them to work and provide food for their families.  There aren’t any jobs because there isn’t any water for the crops.  I know that people stress how important it is to save some fish but when do the lives of some fish become more important than our very existence? 

I only stress to you all that please be cautious on the amount of water you use to water your lawn, wash your car, brush your teeth and even wash yourself.  The water is scarce now and soon we will hopefully get another great amount of water this winter but if we don’t get any soon then a lot more farmers are going to have to shutdown their crops and move on somewhere else.

That is all I have for today and this week!

Thanks for reading!

Semper Fidelis,

Manuel Perez