by Greg Alder | Jan 3, 2026 | Avocados |
My daughter made guacamole with the last Lamb avocado from our home grove this evening. It is early January. What will we pick next? Fuerte. This reminds me of our family trip to South Africa in March, for it was during this same season in the southern hemisphere...
by Greg Alder | Dec 26, 2025 | Avocados |
Alongside Ellen Baker and Freddy Menge of Epicenter Avocado Nursery in Santa Cruz County, I will be giving a presentation titled “All about Avocados” at the 2026 EcoFarm Conference on January 22. More specifically, our presentation/workshop will be on...
by Greg Alder | Oct 31, 2025 | Avocados |
Girdling is a technique that can be used to manipulate the growth, flowering, and fruiting of an avocado tree. I use it mostly to make a tree fruit every year rather than every other year. Various tools and versions of the technique have been developed by avocado...
by Greg Alder | Oct 4, 2025 | Avocados |
You’ve never been to an avocado grove like John Schoustra’s. At least I haven’t. From afar, it’s just avocado trees on some hills and it doesn’t appear unique. But up close, and with a guide to explain what you are seeing, you realize...
by Greg Alder | Sep 19, 2025 | Avocados |
Right on the coast this is less important, but inland you’ll find it beneficial to thin the crop on certain branches of avocado trees. By inland, I mean roughly five miles or farther from the water, and by thin, I mean remove some of the avocados. Rather than...
by Greg Alder | Sep 19, 2025 | Avocados |
Below is my video profile of the Hellen variety of avocado. You can read my full profile of the Hellen variety here, where I share my experience with the Hellen tree and its characteristics also. Interested in buying an avocado tree or finding scion wood to graft? See...
by Greg Alder | Aug 29, 2025 | Avocados |
In June of 2023, I planted a GEM avocado tree. It was a good-looking tree, on top and bottom. The leaves showed healthy new growth and the roots were abundant and with new white tips. I planted in the best way I knew, a way in which I’d planted many trees before that...
by Greg Alder | Aug 22, 2025 | Avocados |
“The skin is tough and leathery and peels easily (as a glove would),” wrote Carter Barrett of the Hellen avocado in the 1939 Yearbook of the California Avocado Society. Mr. Barrett was right. Hellen avocados do peel like a glove. They are also large, usually weighing...
by Greg Alder | Aug 7, 2025 | Avocados |
On August 23, you can join John Schoustra in a tasting of six varieties that are in season at Apricot Lane Farms in Moorpark, Ventura County: Pinkerton, Hass, Nabal, Reed, Lamb, and Gelado. Schoustra is the orchard manager at Apricot Lane. In addition, he cultivates...
by Greg Alder | Jul 12, 2025 | Avocados |
In 1956, when Bob Bergh began developing new varieties at the University of California, Fuerte was the most popular avocado in California. Frustrating for farmers, some Fuerte trees were fruitful whereas others were not. And Fuerte trees made more avocados in certain...
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