How avocado trees flower
Bloom season is the most exciting for me when it comes to avocados. First, I look at the buds on the branches of trees to try to predict how many will become flowers. Then I observe the bees and flies visiting the flowers. Are there enough? Are the flowers getting...
Growing cucumbers in Southern California
Even on a hot summer day, I can go into the yard and pick a cucumber and bite into it and feel cooled and refreshed. How does that work? There’s no other vegetable quite like a cuke. I need to have them in my garden. Here’s how I go about accomplishing that. Varieties...
Hass and Gwen and GEM avocados for sale
(These are sold out, but Eli's Farm Stand in Fallbrook has GEM avocados for sale right now.) I'm calling this the "Family Box" because Hass, Gwen, and GEM avocados are all related. And because all three have similar harvest seasons, I can pick them all now in order to...
Eating pineapple guava flowers
This week I was in the kitchen while my three kids were at the dining room table and I overheard this conversation. Miles (six years old): "There are lots of edible flowers, like pineapple guava, broccoli . . ." Reeve (four years old): "Broccoli is not a flower." Cass...
The GEM avocado tree: a profile
“I believe that 15 years from now we’ll be standing here and we’ll be talking GEM. We won’t be talking Hass. People will go, ‘What is Hass?’” said Mary Lu Arpaia to a room of California avocado growers in 2017. Arpaia knows avocado varieties. She has been the director...
Watering fruit trees with drip irrigation
I water about half of my fruit trees with mini-sprinklers while the other half is on drip irrigation. For example, the citrus trees along my driveway pictured above are all on drip. In this post, I’ll explain why I use drip on many trees, and I’ll give you my best...
Gwen avocados for sale
Bob Bergh directed the avocado breeding program at the University of California for four decades. He planted tens of thousands of avocado seeds. But he chose one to name after his wife: Gwen. I know more than one person who has eaten many avocado varieties and calls...
Supporting The Yard Posts
(Click here to go directly to the Support Options page) As the tagline says, my goal with this website is to help others grow food at home, with a focus on vegetables and fruits -- especially avocados -- in Southern California. How do I do this? I write short articles...
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