If you're ever in Fresno . . .

[Le Taz Hot]

stop by and see the Foresiere Underground Gardens. With all the talk about sustainability and micro-climates, it's interesting how those before us already had grasped this concept. This is a fascinating tour. There is a ballroom, bedrooms, 90-year-old citrus trees bearing 7 different types of citrus fruits and so much more. Check out the website.

California Historical Landmark No. 916. A Sicilian immigrant, Baldassare Forestiere, dug out this site BY HAND over a period of 40 years.

From the website:

- A hand-built network of underground rooms, courtyards and passageways reminiscent of the ancient catacombs.
- Unique fruit producing trees, shrubs, and vines growing underground -- some over 90 years-old.
- Ancient Roman architecture - arches, vaults and stone-built walls.
- Underground micro-climates -- temperature variations of 10 to 20 degrees


http://www.undergroundgardens.com/

[tularetom]

1. Our mom took us there when I was 10 or 11

It was in the summer so of course it was 100+ outside and I remember it was cold down there. So this would have been 1951 or 52 and we didn't know what air conditioning was.

I've driven right by it on Shaw Ave probably 100 times since then and never stopped.

Maybe if it ever gets warm around here I'll go and check it out this summer.

[proud patriot]

2. it totally rocks

Great place to stop for a couple of hours in the heat on long trips

[petronius]

3. I hope this is going to be a regular series from you:

"If You're Ever In... with your host, L. T. Hot!" :)

Hanford last week, now Fresno - couple more weeks and we'll have a whole CV road trip itinerary...

[Le Taz Hot]

4. LOL! Thinkin' about it.

So many people drive through the Valley and never really experience the many treasures we have to offer other than the National Parks (breathtaking though they may be). Don't let the 'bagger signs on 99 and 5 fool you. Those people are no more of a representation of the population majority than the 'baggers are in anyone else's area. They just have more land.

[proud patriot]

5. I'll be camping east of Fresno in the High Sierra later this summer

if summer ever comes that is .

[petronius]

6. One of the items on my do-list this summer is a meandering road trip through the Valley

I've had to travel to a couple of meetings this past year that took me through the CV, and I managed to carve out time to do some exploring - it reminded me how much is really out there. It's a fascinating landscape (and my new-ish geocaching hobby has really helped get me off the beaten track).

One thing I noticed this past year with those 'bagger signs is how mass-produced they are now. In the past, I recall seeing similar sentiments but expressed in home-made placards. Now, it's dozens to hundreds of the same astro-turfed design...

[NYC_SKP]

8. If you think you're going to do a series, please post them to your Journal!

I wouldn't want to miss one!

And yes, Forestiere (sp) was quite the eccentric and I love his project, what a comfortable place to be in the summer and you wouldn't even have to go above ground to pick a nice juicy orange.

Where else might you go?

Would you go to, say, Isleton or Locke, in the Delta or is this strictly Central Valley?

:hi:

[Le Taz Hot]

9. Thanks for the suggestion.

I just added both of them. I was actually planning on focusing on the San Joaquin Valley. So many people have such wrong ideas about us that I thought I might offer up reasons to get off 99 and/or 5. Maybe get a chance to talk with real Valleyites who, counter to some opinions around here, really do know what a flush toilet is for. ;-)

Just FYI, after years of closing off rooms in Foretiere Gardens because they didn't have the funds to maintain them, they've recently re-opened up several previously-closed rooms.

[NYC_SKP]

10. Thanks! Time to return to visit the previously closed rooms.

And I was just there in Fresno on Thursday and Friday!

Next time....

:hi:

[shanti]

7. there was a pbs show about this

awhile ago, huell howser. pretty interesting!

[Brother Buzz]

11. That's amazing. Huell Howser's California Gold is really a fun program

Huell has hipped me to bunch of cool things over the years. A lot of people despise him, and the way he talks, but they are missing one key point: California history is taught in fourth grade and that's his target audience. I just pretend I'm surrounded by a bunch of kids sucking up everything he's saying and enjoy it.

The Foresiere Gardens episode was a memorable one.

And now, I present a Huell Howser compilation for entertainment purposes only:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKTSa-NT5Oc