Baldisere Who?

Sept. 24, we left our campground in Oakhurst and headed south toward Fresno. Kathy had read in the AAA book about the underground gardens there so we diverted. It was really hot but we found the Forestiere estate. BaldisereForestiere (B) had emigrated to the US from Sicily where his father was in the citrus growing  and vinyard business. He worked on the East coast for awhile as a laborer and tunnel digger. Moving west in about 1906 he bought land in Fresno with the intention of establishing an orchard business. He found the soil poor and the weather hot so he emulated the caves of his native Sicily and started digging underground. Until his death in 1946 he worked on his house with the intention of building a resor. (underground) so people could come and be cool and relax. While working he used his skills as an orchardman and grafted and planted many trees in his house. He went as deep as 22 feet below the surface. The property is maintained by his relatives and is really quite spectacular. All of his masonry used native hardpan clay and aggregate and all of the structures were built by him and his mule.

In the photo above we are in his courtyard which is about 13 feet below ground surface. It was very cool there and difficult to leave. Fruit trees and grape vines that B planted still produce fruit which he sold or traded to provide the little income that he needed to live. He never drew a plan and in total there were about 50 rooms to his below grade house. I was impressed!

We left Fresno and traversed the San Joaquin valley, a high producing agricultural area but all through irrigation. We saw many signs blasting Barbara Boxer for the "artificial water crisis in Central CA". Seem like when you irrigate a desert you are creating a real crisis and it is probably not Congress' fault.