Almonds are marketed both in the shell and as shelled kernels. Almonds grow in California, the Mediterranean, Australia, and South Africa. The two main types of Almonds are sweet and bitter. Sweet Almonds are are found in markets and used in a variety of of recipes. Bitter Almonds are used to produce flavor extracts, like Liqueurs and Orgeat syrup.
Almonds are available whole, sliced, chopped, candied, smoked, in paste form, and in many flavors.
Almonds are just one of the many nuts that are produced and sold in many different forms. Almond trees must be planted in an area where there are warm summers and cool winters. Also the orchard must be in an area where little rainfall occurs in the late parts of spring. This is needed because around spring time the Almond blosoms start to come out. If there is too hard of rains during this time, many of the blosoms will drop off.