A Year of Tours through Jacques’ Food Garden
In 2025, I visited my friend Jacques about once a month to walk through his eclectic garden of edible plants and taste whatever was ripe. Our goal in filming these tours was to generally show the diversity of what can be grown in Southern California and specifically...
“Growing Organic Avocados at Home:” a workshop on March 7 with John Schoustra and me at Apricot Lane Farms
I invite you to join me and John Schoustra at Apricot Lane Farms on March 7 for a workshop on "Growing Organic Avocados at Home." What's the workshop about? John and I will cover: Choosing the right varieties for your location and space Planting properly Irrigating:...
Why I’m not worried about HLB, Citrus Greening disease
At the end of the day, I’m not worried about the Citrus Greening disease, also called HLB or Huanglongbing, because it fails the eyeball test. Where are all the dying trees? I don’t see them. What is this HLB/Citrus Greening disease? It’s a condition where, I’m told,...
Supporting The Yard Posts
My goal with The Yard Posts 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 – “posts” – each Friday, and I augment each post with photos and sometimes...
Avocado pollination seminar, February 10
The California Avocado Society will be putting on a seminar about pollination of avocados on February 10 in Oxnard, Ventura County. It is from 9 AM to 11 AM and can be attended in person or via Zoom. Inaki Hormaza is one of the world's top experts on avocado...
2026 Scion Exchanges (of the California Rare Fruit Growers)
Winter is the season for the California Rare Fruit Growers “scion exchanges,” where growers cut small branches (scions) off their backyard trees and gather together to share. In addition to sharing scions, CRFG members often demonstrate grafting methods at these...
How to collect and store avocado scion wood
I took a piece of a branch from my neighbor’s XX3/Holiday avocado tree and spliced it onto the top of a little seedling in my yard. This was my first attempt at avocado grafting. And I might have succeeded if I had had this post to guide me in selecting better scion...
All about winter pruning of deciduous fruit trees in Southern California
We're having nice weather for some fruit-tree pruning, wouldn't you say? I have pruned some grapes but not much else yet this winter. I'll be getting started on apricots, peaches, plums, pluots, and cherries this weekend. How to do this? I've written a number of posts...










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