Nimlioh avocado: a profile
In 1916, not long after graduating from Pasadena High School, Wilson Popenoe headed south to explore the highlands of Guatemala on horseback for avocados to bring back to growers in California. He rode over three thousand miles, he tasted a thousand different...
Green caterpillars on broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and kale
Never do today what you can pay your kids to do tomorrow. It is sage advice that has been passed down for millenia. Last week, I employed it. I had been running around the yard in pursuit of white butterflies, the ones that lay eggs on the leaves of plants in the...
Drip irrigation on newly planted avocado trees
My favorite time to plant avocado trees is March; my second favorite is October. So I might be planting some this month, and you might want to, too. Then what? How to water the new tree? In the last handful of years I have established most of my newly planted avocado...
California Avocado Society’s 2023 Annual Meeting
You are invited to the biggest shindig of the year for California avocado growers, which will be held on Saturday, October 14 at Brokaw's Long Canyon Ranch in Ventura. It is the California Avocado Society's 2023 Annual Meeting. A day of connecting with fellow avocado...
The concentrated summer of 2023
Today is the last day of summer. It is sprinkling outside and I'm wearing a sweatshirt. This is not normal. It has been mostly cloudy for the last couple weeks. And do you remember how long it took for summer weather to begin this year? The summer season has been...
Blueberry grape variety: a profile
"Paul McLane gave the L.E. Cooke Co a grapevine he grew from his grandmother's seedling in Chico, California . . ." I'm a sucker for a vegetable or fruit variety with a background story. With Blueberry grapes, both the variety and my own vines come with stories. To...
Common garden weeds in Southern California
The off-season rain of Hurricane Hilary on August 20 gave a rare opportunity for both warm-season and cool-season weeds to germinate at the same time. I thought I would take advantage by photographing the young seedlings as they came up. I chose to post here only the...
You are what you eat eats
Whenever I feed my chickens or fertilize my vegetables and fruit trees I hear the phrase, "You are what you eat eats." "You are what you eat" is a phrase we all know, and it means that our bodies consist of whatever we put into them. The lesson is that if we eat junk...
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