by Greg Alder | May 5, 2022 | Avocados |
“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...
by Greg Alder | Apr 28, 2022 | Avocados |
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...
by Greg Alder | Apr 21, 2022 | Avocados |
(Sorry, these are now sold out.) I’m offering a second round of GEM avocados from Balmar Farm in Fallbrook, San Diego County. Here is the order page with details. GEM avocado trees at Balmar Farm in Fallbrook, California. GEM is a cream-of-the-crop avocado that...
by Greg Alder | Apr 15, 2022 | Berries and Vines |
My wife is from Oregon, where blueberries can really grow. On our visits up there I see how fast and large blueberry bushes can grow and how productive they can be. While my blueberry bushes here in Southern California are inferior to those in the Pacific...
by Greg Alder | Apr 8, 2022 | Citrus |
April is a great time of year to plant a new citrus tree, but which kind to plant? Take a cue from these Yard Posts readers who share their favorite varieties from their Southern California yards. Lavender Gem tangelo Bob started gushing to me about Lavender Gem...
by Greg Alder | Apr 8, 2022 | Avocados |
All of my avocado variety profiles are HERE All of my Yard Posts are listed HERE ShareClick to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new...
by Greg Alder | Apr 8, 2022 | Avocados |
How about a mixed box? I’ll put five to seven Carmen avocados together with two Sir-Prize avocados for you. (Order page is here.) Carmen Carmen is a variety that kind of originated in Mexico. I say “kind of” because Carmen is really just Hass with a slightly different...
by Greg Alder | Apr 1, 2022 | Avocados |
I always wished there were a way to taste the fruit of an avocado variety before deciding whether to plant that kind of tree in my yard. I also wished there were more places to buy avocados of varieties other than Hass. I know that some of you also have these wishes;...
by Greg Alder | Mar 30, 2022 | Avocados |
We’ve all found avocado seeds sprouting in our compost heaps, right? Here’s the story of one that was allowed to grow and grow and grow, and then some. All of my Yard Posts are listed HERE ShareClick to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share...
by Greg Alder | Mar 25, 2022 | Avocados |
No less an authority on avocado varieties than Oliver Atkins wrote in 1978 that Pinkerton “appears to be the best variety we have come up with for California since the Hass.” Why then, over the ensuing 44 years, have most of us in California never eaten a Pinkerton...
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