Remembering winter (in summer)
It is the height of the heat of summer now, but this week I was browsing back through photos until I arrived at last winter. The yard was green. There was frost. Plants were wet with rain. What a different world – in the same place, just in the opposite season. Early...
The Sharwil avocado tree: a profile
Sharwil is Australia’s most important contribution to the world of avocados. It’s an exquisite fruit that has impressed all from the start. In 1961, Stanley Shepard, a leader of the California avocado industry, visited the continent down under and reported: "The most...
Growing wheat in Southern California
Last winter, I sowed wheat with my kids. As we were spreading the seeds and covering them with compost, we talked about the different ways we eat wheat and how we wanted to eat this crop when it matured in the spring. The idea that came out on top was banana bread....
“Has this fruit tree been fertilized?”
Let’s play a game called, “Has this fruit tree been fertilized?” I know all of these trees. Some are growing in my yard while others are growing elsewhere in Southern California, and I know how they've been cared for. Some have been consistently fertilized with...
How to plant a clonal avocado tree with Sam Garibay and Consuelo Fernandez of Brokaw Nursery
As part of the California Avocado Society's June 2024 seminar at Jackson Ranch in Valley Center, San Diego County, Sam Garibay and Consuelo Fernandez demonstrated how to plant an avocado tree, specifically a tree on a clonal rootstock. (What's a clonal rootstock? See...
Jaime Serrato talks about growing GEM avocado trees
Jaime Serrato has managed thousands of acres of avocados around San Diego County over the course of his career. His perspective holds weight; numerous avocado growers whom I hold in high regard always speak of Jaime with respect. As part of the California Avocado...
List of Yard Posts
Here I have them listed and categorized. Each title is a link. Thank you for your support . . . so that The Yard Posts are all food gardening and zero ads. Fruit Trees, general: Transplanting fruit trees in Southern California Don't prune apricots, cherries, and...
Interview with John Schoustra
John Schoustra's experience growing plants is broad. Just his current ventures look like this: he operates Greenwood Daylily Gardens alongside his wife, growing and breeding daylillies, irises, and more; he is the Orchard Manager of Apricot Lane Farms, overseeing an...
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