Two great topics in one meeting — “Supporting Beneficial Birds and Managing Pest Birds” presented by Jo Ann Baumgartner of Wild Farm Alliance, and “Elderberries, the Tiny but Mighty Native Super Fruit” presented by Katie Reneker from Carmel Berry Company.
Growing Subtropicals in Santa Cruz County, California
Nate Blackmore discusses Santa Cruz County microclimates and the varieties suitable for successful fruiting in Santa Cruz County, California.
Growing Avocados in Northern California
The Monterey Bay Chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers presents Ellen Baker and Freddy Menge discussing tactics for success in growing Avocados in Northern California. Included are tips regarding varieties of interest in the Central Coast area.
Subtropicals and Tropicals in California Agrosystems with Barath Raghavan
Barath Raghavan discusses his experiences with Subtropicals and Tropicals in California Agrosystems, including notes on various species and cultivars that may be suitable in central California coast locales.
Video: How to Graft Deciduous Fruit Trees
Freddy Menge has graciously brought his grafting tutorial online.
In this video, Freddy demonstrates cleft grafting via a proven method that has gotten many local newbies propagating deciduous fruit trees for the first time. He makes mention of knife style (and “caveman grip”), cleft graft technique, the physiology of grafting (cambium contact), tensioning and sealant materials (demonstrating an inexpensive and effective graft with masking tape), and post-graft training (removal of competing shoots).
Santa Cruz Apple Tasting 2019 Rankings (77 Varieties)
For the benefit of visitors to California Rare Fruit Growers northern circuit of Scion Exchanges, below is a complete tabluation of taster rankings from our October 2019 apple tasting in Santa Cruz, California, an event held now for over 30 years annually. Many (but not all) of the apples below will be available as scionwood at our local Monterey Bay scion exchange, and distributed to others run by northern California chapters of CRFG. These include heirloom, modern, and novel locally-discoved and bred apples.
Continue reading “Santa Cruz Apple Tasting 2019 Rankings (77 Varieties)”The Lumpy Fruit, The Golden Fruit
The quince is a pome fruit in the Rosaceae family, which includes pears and apples. It is a rock hard, homely, lumpy fruit. If you manage to hack off a slice, you will find it to be tough, tannic and sour. It has been suggested that the quince was the golden fruit, beloved of Aphrodite, that started the Trojan war. Because it thrived in the heat of the plains of Mesopotamia, it might also have been the fruit on the Tree of Knowledge.
The origin of the quince is thought to be somewhere in the Caucasus, Northern Persia or the formerly Fertile Crescent, so it is a more likely candidate to have starred in those ancient stories than the apple we know today. Hard to imagine, though, that it was considered a tempting fruit.
Continue reading “The Lumpy Fruit, The Golden Fruit”Mini-Doc: Tasting 77 California Apples
For over 30 years, each autumn the Monterey Bay Chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers has held a public apple tasting in Santa Cruz, California that is likely one of the world’s most extensive.
This tasting honors the heritage of our region’s once prominent history in apple orcharding, as well as the amazing biodiversity and range of shapes, colors, textures, and flavors in the world’s favorite temperate fruit crop.
Our tasting features a wide range of apples, all locally-grown by our members, from centuries-old heirlooms to completely novel, locally-bred varieties (including a special section of redfleshed apples that have captured local imagination for quite some time).
I filmed a video, below, at our 2018 tasting, featuring some tasters’ perspectives on a dazzling array of fruits quite unlike what’s available at your average supermarket. Our 2018 tasted featured 77 varieties, each of them ranked and depicted in this prior post.
Plant Exchange 2019 and Birdsong Orchards Tour
This Sunday the Monterey Bay chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers gathered at Nadine Schaffer’s Birdsong Orchards in Watsonville for a tour of her upstart organic fruit orchard and flower farm, a tasty potluck, and our warm-season greenwood and plant exchange.
Kauai – enough fruit to make a Californian jealous
California winters are a mixed bag. Cold weather, rains, sleeping plants and of course scion exchanges. After the scion exchanges in January I get antsy for fruit and looking at pictures isn’t enough.
A towering Davidson plum
This February I packed up my family – plus my parents, my brother and our significant others into the plane to our timeshare in Princeville on Kauai. We’ve been to Kauai several times and each time we’ve been able to experience something new. This time was no different. Having done all of the usual tourist activities, and seen the recommended botanical gardens (National Tropical Botanical Gardens are a must), I opted this trip to find more local growers to get a real feel for Hawaii fruit life.
Continue reading “Kauai – enough fruit to make a Californian jealous”