FreshPoint

Description:

We thought the urban produce people might like to see how Pistachio grow. Here they are, still on the branch. Once the nuts are ready to harvest, commercial growers shake the trees with mechanical shakers. The shaker looks a little like a backhoe, but the arm is straight and ends in pinchers. The shaker also has a catcher that opens around the base of the tree like an inverted umbrella. The pinchers grip the tree?s trunk and vibrate the tree until the nuts fall off. The nuts fall into the catcher, are funneled onto a conveyer belt and are dropped into a hopper on the back of the shaker. The husks (the pinkish outer covering) are removed within 24 hours of harvest to prevent shell staining