FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Fresno’s Forestiere Underground Gardens have been used to escape the heat in Fresno since before domestic air conditioning – but does a century-old idea to stay cool still work in 2024?
YourCentralValley.com took a laser thermometer to find out exactly how cool the underground attraction is. A measurement was taken above and below ground Friday morning, and we registered a difference of over 50 degrees.
The intense heat of the Central Valley is what pushed Baldassare Forestiere to go underground when he first came to Fresno in the early 1900s. Baldassare arrived from the Italian island of Sicily to grow citrus fruit on a plot of land he had purchased. Forestiere quickly found that the idea was more complicated than he first thought.
“The piece of land that he got, he found out it actually was not great for growing citrus,” said Forestiere Underground Gardens’ Shera Franzman. “It was filled with several feet of hard pan.”
According to Franzman, Baldassare Forestiere started digging underground to get away from the heat.
“He had grown up around wine cellars, that was a very common thing,” Franzman said. “He was so inspired by [his tunnels] and loved the cool temperatures.”
Forestiere then thought to once again pursue his dream of planting citrus plants – but this time underground. The trees he planted throughout the tunnels would not only bear fruit but also live well past their normal lifespan.
“We have citrus trees over 100 years old down here now,” Franzman said. “Typically the lifespan for a citrus tree on average is about 50 years.”
Franzman says the cooler tunnels allowed the trees to withstand the harsh Fresno temperatures.
YourCentralValley.com went down into the tunnels to see just how much cooler the temperature was for Foretiere’s trees compared to the surface temperature of Fresno.
With an infrared laser thermometer, we found Forestiere’s trees were enjoying temperatures well under 70 degrees – while anyone walking across the street was already combating triple digits. The readings were taken between 8:15 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. on Friday and showed approximately 63 degrees Fahrenheit underground and approximately 112 degrees Fahrenheit on the surface.
Franzman says that despite how cool the gardens are, people in Fresno tend to forget about the attraction because of how long the gardens have been around.
“We had someone come out that had just turned 100 years old, they were trying to check off those things that they had always talked about doing – and so they came on one of our tours and it was amazing for them.”
Franzman says Fresno’s recent heat wave is the perfect opportunity for anyone to come by the gardens and get out of the heat. To reserve a tour of the Forestiere Underground Gardens visit their website here.
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