by Greg Alder | Oct 21, 2015 | Avocados |
Last fall, when I harvested sweet potatoes, I stuck a slip in the ground under the drip line of the Hass avocado tree. I wanted to see if the vine would take and survive the winter. It did, and it grew vigorously all summer until yesterday I tore out the foliage and...
by Greg Alder | Aug 18, 2015 | Fruit |
You want to plant a fruit tree in the yard, but where to put it? Here are the most important factors to consider, presented in the form of questions. The place in the yard that answers YES to the most questions below wins. 1. Is it close to the house, especially the...
by Greg Alder | Jul 25, 2015 | Fruit |
For a number of years, I’ve been watching this coffee bush mature in the Trees for Health garden in  San Diego’s Balboa Park. I used to live down the street from it. Lately, it has begun looking healthier than ever, with only a tiny bit of tip burn on a...
by Greg Alder | May 8, 2015 | Avocados, Fruit |
No, you don’t need two avocado trees to get fruit. Before I explain how I know this, let me say where I think this myth originates: avocado flowers are strange. They are dichogamous, it’s called by botanists. The standard description of avocado flower...
by Greg Alder | Apr 12, 2015 | Fruit |
 The bloom on a branch of a Royal Blenheim apricot tree on March 4: And then the fruitlets the flowers have become on April 12: And here is the tree almost exactly six years later: April 13, 2021. Fruitset is weak this year: April 19, 2021. All of my Yard Posts are...
by Greg Alder | Apr 12, 2015 | Fruit |
Between January 29 and February 25, I took scion wood and grafted onto my deciduous fruit trees. I used the whip method for all nine grafts, and seven of the nine are growing today. Over the last year, I’d planted four new deciduous fruit trees, but I...
by Greg Alder | Apr 5, 2015 | Citrus, Fruit |
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by Greg Alder | Mar 24, 2015 | Avocados, Watering |
I heard a Master Gardener say she was hesitant to recommend that people plant avocado trees in their Southern California yards because avocados need a lot of water. Sounds sensible at first. We should be careful about our water use. But let’s think further....
by Greg Alder | Feb 26, 2015 | Avocados, Fruit |
It was exactly one year ago that our first child was born. When we brought Cass home from the hospital we also carried with us his placenta, and in the light rain that had started falling I dug a hole, placed the placenta along with the amniotic sac and umbilical cord...
by Greg Alder | Feb 23, 2015 | Berries and Vines |
Last winter, my friend Frank cut some pieces off his grapevines and gave them to me. I stuck them in the ground and they grew into new grapevines. Could it be that easy? This winter, I cut some pieces off those new grapevines and stuck them in the ground....
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