Garden tip: Where are almonds grown?

Almonds come from the tree Prunus amygdalus, sometimes called Prunus dulcis. The deciduous tree grows to 15 feet tall and wide. It’s native from Syria to northern Africa. The outside hull of the drupe fruit is removed to reveal the nut with its brown papery cover.

There are 1.6 million acres of almonds grown in California. California grows 99% of the almonds produced in the United States. Statistics from the California Department of Food and Agriculture show that 4.6 billion dollars was the export value of almonds in 2022.

Almond flour is used by bakers in bread, cakes and pastries. The nut is blanched to remove its papery cover and then ground and sieved to make the flour. The advantages of almond flour are that it’s gluten-free and low in carbohydrates. The nutritional differences between almond flour and wheat flour can be seen at globalsavors.com.