avocado | California Rare Fruit Growers

May 4, 2019May 6, 2019

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.

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.

March 23, 2019April 18, 2019

How to Plant an Avocado: Ensuring a Good Start

It’s Springtime in the Monterey Bay, swallows are plying the sky and peaches are in full pink. That means frost danger is passing, and it’s nearing time to plant avocados. If you can find trees, they need to go in now to start their race against the seasons. First freezes can hit in November, and the bigger you can grow your young trees, the better chance they have of surviving the cold. From our vast experience with killing trees, we would like to offer help in avoiding the blunders we’ve committed in trying to get our trees to grow.

March 2, 2019April 1, 2019

Recipe: Pomelo in 3 Green Salads

Pomelo pairs so well with many vegetables, like arugula, fennel, beet, radish & avocado. So I use it like crazy in green salads this time of year. Here are several of my family’s favorites:

September 23, 2018December 3, 2018

A Visit to Ken’s Bobcat Ridge Avocado Farm

Following our fascinating extended tour of Pacific Berry Breeding, a dozen of us with the afternoon free reconvened at chapter secretary Ken Konviser’s Bobcat Ridge homestead avocado farm for a tasty potluck lunch and tour of his gardens.

Jujubes, autumn olives, and muscadines brought by CRFG members to sample at the potluck

At Ken’s hillside farm with a broad view overlooking the valleys of Corralitos and out to the bay, and beyond his tidy rows of terraced vegetables and healthy small orchard of numerous avocado varieties for market, we also enjoyed examining some of the more exotic specimens that he’s planted.

Developing fruits of ‘Palo d’Oro’ avocado. This locally introduced variety from Big Sur is a seedling of Pinkerton.

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