February 2019
Pruning Workshop at Grange Orchard
Come learn and practice the fundamentals of winter fruit pruning, as we maintain the orchard at the Santa Cruz Live Oak Grange. This is a hands-on workshop: bring your cleaned and sharpened pruning shears, loppers, and pruning saws.
Find out more »Fruit Grafting Workshop
Freddy Menge, a highly skilled and knowledgeable orchardist and local CRFG member, will lead a workshop where you will practice using a grafting knife, then proceed to graft a scion of your choice onto an apple or pear rootstock which you can take home. Various grafting techniques will be discussed, and other nuances of grafting. Attendees will leave with hands-on experience in cleft grafting. Volunteers from CRFG will help you hone your cutting skills, and review your grafted tree to…
Find out more »March 2019
Citrus Tasting and Member Meeting
Citrus Tasting 2019. Come explore the diversity of Citrus, and sample of dozens of deep-season varieties selected from Gene Lester's legendary Santa Cruz Co. grown collection of 250+ rare cultivars. Discuss techniques for success in Monterey Bay citrus growing, and burgeoning threats to citrus culture. Build community in fruit. Get to know your fellow local fruit growers, share your garden projects and experiments for the season, and help build and direct our thriving network of experienced and novice local fruit…
Find out more »May 2019
Meeting: Citrus/Avocado Propagation Demo & Chapter Business
Citrus and avocado grafting/propagation demos, followed by chapter organizing meeting. This is a member event; see mailing list for full details, or contact us.
Find out more »June 2019
Meeting: Propagation Party
Propagate rare fruit plants for our chapter's Summer exchange, bring your June harvests to our harvest table display, and discuss seasonal orchard concerns in the Grange demo orchard. This is a member event--full details on will be available on our mailing list, or contact us.
Find out more »July 2019
Birdsong Orchards Tour and Summer Plant Exchange
Orchard Tour: Most folks are astounded to see what new farmers Nadine and Jason have established in their first six years at Birdsong Orchards, with 5+ acres of organic mixed fruit orchards and cutting flowers--including many dozens of varieties of pomes, stonefruit, figs, citrus, persimmons, berries, and more. And goats and llamas and dogs and cats and hens. Come see what small scale organic orcharding on the Monterey Bay is all about, and taste a sampling of the ripeness that…
Find out more »August 2019
Festival of Fruit 2019
The Foothill Chapter of California Rare Fruit Growers invites you to join us for the Festival of Fruit for 2019! Do you grow fruit? Do you enjoy eating fruit? The California Rare Fruit Growers Festival of Fruit 2019 is a 3-day celebration of fruit with fruit-growing talks, workshops, garden and nursery tours, fruit and plant vendor booths, tastings, and more. Visit the Festival website at http://festivaloffruit.org/ for a full schedule of events, and registration information.
Find out more »Fig and Grape Tasting at Wolfskill
Fig and grape tasting at Wolfskill Experimental Orchards. Wolfskill is a UCD/UCANR and USDA-ARS research station/germplasm respository responsible for much important fruit research and many cultivar releases. This is a great opportunity to see an important site for California fruit culture, and to taste a broad variety of expertly grown figs and grapes. Further details and carpool organization on our mailing list.
Find out more »October 2019
Apple Tasting at Wilder Ranch 2019
Join us for our legendary annual apple tasting, featuring 70+ varieties of rare and heirloom apples, from the mundane to the sublime, flesh crisp white, honey gold, and ruby pink, with flavors from applesauce to pineapple to anise to banana. Taste from many of the varieties whose cuttings will join the CRFG scion exchange circuit in the winter. $5 per individual, discounts for couples and families, benefiting the Monterey Bay Chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers. More info at:…
Find out more »November 2019
Pomegranate and Persimmon Tasting (Davis)
Hosted by National Clonal Germplasm Repository - Tree Fruit & Nut Crops & Grapes: UC Davis at Wolfskill Experimental Orchard in Winters, California. Opening remarks from lead researcher John Preece, and field specialists Jeff Moersfelder (pomegranates) and Jenny Smith (persimmons) on the varieties offered to taste. This event begins promptly, so don’t be late! Open to CRFG members, please see mailing list for details.
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