Description
In the 1960’s, Bob Bergh directed the avocado breeding program of the University of California, where he planted thousands of seeds in a search for improved avocado varieties.
One seedling with the test name of T225 stood out because it was a relatively small tree and yet made tons of avocados. Moreover, the avocados tasted great. Bergh was so enamored with T225 that he renamed it after his wife, Gwen.
Then in the 1980’s, Bergh continued his search for newer, better varieties by planting thousands of seeds of Gwen avocados. He was now using Gwen as the mother of the next generation.
As Bergh neared retirement in the 1990’s, it was his assistant, Gray Martin, who was doing the lion’s share of observations and testing of the avocado seedlings. Martin selected his favorite of the lot to name after himself: GEM, for Gray Edward Martin.
This GEM avocado tree was compact and fruitful just like her mother, Gwen. But whereas the Gwen avocado remained green when ripe, the GEM turned black.
See more about the Gwen variety in my post here, and more about the GEM variety in my post here.
I harvested the Gwen avocados in this box from Laferriere Grove in Redlands and the GEM avocados from BalMar Farms in Fallbrook.
Neither farm sprays any pesticides on its trees. These are fresh and clean avocados.
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