I’ve got a mixed box of the best summer avocados in California for you, and they’re from my own trees!
With one of these boxes you’ll get to taste Reeds and Lambs side by side. Which do you want to grow in your yard? Will you love them both?
Here is the order page. (Supporters can order now. Open for general sale on Friday at 6 PM if any are still available.) (I’m sorry but these are sold out.)
Reed
Reed has long been the favorite summer avocado for enthusiasts in Southern California. Reed originated in Carlsbad, San Diego County. It is large and shaped like a grapefruit, and it has the smoothest, most fiberless texture of any avocado I’ve ever eaten. (Here is my favorite way to enjoy a Reed.)
Learn more about Reed in my profile here.
Lamb
Lamb is a relative newcomer. It was first grown on the Lamb Ranch in Ventura County as part of the University of California avocado breeding program. It was chosen for patenting and release to the public in the 1990s in part because the fruit looks a lot like Hass. But it has a slightly thicker peel and a slightly smaller pit, plus greener flesh compared to Hass.
Learn more about Lamb in my profile here.
Trees
In 2013, I planted this pair of Reed and Lamb trees:
I’ve never sprayed the trees or the fruit with anything but water. I’ve only added compost and wood chips to the soil beneath the trees for fertility. These are my family’s avocados so I grow them to be clean and full of nutrition — way beyond “organic.” But they’re also very fruitful, and we’re lucky enough to have crops so big this year that we can share with you.
In each box, I can fit seven or eight total avocados. There will be three or four Reeds and three or four Lambs.
As usual, I’ll also include in each box an insert that gives tips on ripening and storing each variety.
Here is the order page.
Looking forward, at the very end of this month or in early September I will be able to sell more Reeds, these ones coming from another grove in San Diego County.
Right now, Eli’s Farm Stand in Fallbrook is selling Reeds. They are also selling Gwens. Soon they will start picking Lambs and possibly Mexicolas.
Mom and Dad’s Fruit Stand at the southeast corner of the 15 and 76 intersection in North County San Diego currently has Reeds and Lambs, as well as Pinkertons.
Do you know anywhere else we can buy quality Reeds or Lambs in Southern California? (At this time, I don’t know of a farmer selling online and shipping that I feel confident recommending.)
All of my Yard Posts are listed HERE
There’s a produce stand at the San Marcos farmers market that often has Reed avocados for sale. They’re big fruits! My wife and I like to split one, cubed up in a bowl with a bit of salt and roasted pumpkin seeds sprinkled on top.
Not sure how much longer they’ll have Reed avocados at that booth, but the farmers market is every Tuesday 3-7.
I thought Pinkerton was a much earlier variety. Last year we started picking our pinkertons in February. they took about 2 weeks to ripen.
You’re right, Bob. Pinkerton is a weird variety. It can flower early and have some early fruit, but it also can have an extended bloom and have some late fruit. It hangs on the tree very well too. The latest I’d had good Pinkertons until this year was early July, but the Pinkertons available at Mom and Dad’s Fruit Stand from the Pankey Ranch are delicious here in early August this year.
I have to note that I’m not 100% sure what they’re selling as Pinkertons are Pinkertons though. They look and taste a little different from all of the Pinkertons I’ve ever eaten. They have no neck at all, for one. But the seed inside is very small, as is typical of Pinkerton. Regardless, whatever they’re selling as Pinkertons are delicious avocados that are worth buying.
This is good knowledge to have. I’ve been wondering which of my trees have a long hang time in my quest for year round avocados. I’ll be letting the Pinkerton grow quite a bit now. My kona sharwil has caught but is small; I understand this variety has a tremendously long hang time, like 10 months. Using those two trees as the filler trees for the other less hang time ones may make this possible.
Hello Greg. I really appreciate all your information about avocados. I have a question: My brother lives in La Jolla and would like to buy some avocados and I know that you sometimes sell avocados. Do you sell to the public or how does that work? If it would be unrealistic for my brother to purchase directly from you, can you recommend anyone seller/grower in the La Jolla or Del Mar areas? Thank you very much for your time Greg,
Hi Claudia,
Here is a post about the avocados that I am selling: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/avocados-for-sale/
I don’t know anyone selling avocados in the La Jolla or Del Mar areas, sorry.
I will be selling Reed avocados in a few weeks.
Thank you for taking the time to reply, Greg. How does a person find out WHERE or HOW to order avocados for pick-up? Thank you!
Hi Claudia,
At the moment, I’m not offering pick up; I’m only shipping boxes to you. I hope to offer pick up in the future.
I sell the avocados in batches or rounds, and I announce these sales in my Friday emails, which you can subscribe to receive. I post the sales on the homepage of the website also: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/
I always put them on general sale on Friday, but I offer them for advanced sale to Supporters on Thursday. See more about supporting here: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/supporting-the-yard-posts/
This coming week I’ll offer boxes of Reeds. This will be my last batch for the season, as far as I can tell. I probably won’t have more for a couple months until some new varieties come into maturity.
Hi Gregg I researched your historic commentary and did not find anything on ants. Our driveway our compost under the citrus trees all over the yard we are inundated with a little black ant they seem to be seeking water but they are out of control. In addition this year I noticed another variety they’re like a microscopic little black ant so now there’s two types to fight. California has banned so many products I often go out of state to try to purchase effective poisons. I have read where borax and jelly will kill ant dance but I have not found this to be effective with this black ants. Do you have any suggestions tractor supply out of state recommended Pierreson which I found to again be nonaffective thank you
Pam,
I’m fighting mostly argentine ants both in my home and yard. They are almost impossible to eradicate. Lately i have been using borax mixture of 100 10 1 of water, sugar, boric acid. In addition I’m adding little bit of meaty fat or sauce from cooking meat to the tray just to bring more ants in. They are attracted by the smell of meaty protein but will gorge themselves on sugary mixture as highlighted above next to it.
I’m using plastic lids and cotton make up removal pads to drip the mixture on. Keep it in the shade and moist and completely wash the lids after a few days to keep it clean and tasty for the ants. So far I have seen reduction in numbers but not complete eradication.
thank you – I don’t think the referenced photos made it.
Hi Pam and Paul,
I don’t have a post on ants because I haven’t found anything satisfyingly effective. I think I’ve tried everything in the book. Many things work somewhat, some things work more than others, but nothing works as well as I’d like.
That said, I currently use two methods. One, I occasionally blast my citrus trees with water to knock off insects that the ants farm, such as aphids, psyllids, and scale. Two, I use KM Ant Pro bait stations. It’s the only poison I use on anything in my whole yard. It reduces the Argentine ant population near the station, but it doesn’t eliminate the ants.
Maybe I should still write a post on all of the other things I’ve tried but found even less effective than these two practices/products just so others might skip them.
Reeds and Lambs arrived, and are ripening on the counter right now. I’ll try the toothpick test in a couple days. I’ll keep you posted!
Today we cut open a beautiful Reed and ate it plain. It didn’t need anything. Delicious, and it makes me want to chop down my avocado trees and plant one or two of these. Ordering your avocados has really been an eye opener. Is a reed graft possible with my 70 year old trees? Fuerte and Ettinger.
Hi Kathryn,
Yes, you can graft Reed onto a big old tree like yours. The only problem is that it’s hard to make the grafted branch a main part of the tree so you won’t get very many avocados from it — unless you cut the tree back in size before you graft.
I’m planning on cutting off some unproductive-maybe even dead- wood up near the top of one of the trees. I thought I could graft there if it it wasn’t too high up. I don’t need too many more avocados but it may be fun to sprout a couple reeds. My bigger concern is the harvesting seasons – reed is summer, my trees are later fall/early winter. Thanks for your help.
Greg
i have prepared terraces to build a fruit and vegetable garden in my home on the top of mount Soledad in La Jolla. do you have Avocado trees for sale to plant them ? do you provide paid consultation for advice on how to build a promising garden? thanks
Suhail,
This post is dedicated to where you can buy avocado trees in SoCal. Note that their availability is greatest in the spring.
https://gregalder.com/yardposts/where-to-buy-an-avocado-tree/
Hi Suhail,
I don’t sell avocado trees, but I have written a post about where you can buy them: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/where-to-buy-an-avocado-tree/
I will contact you about consultations.
Thank you for the fast shipping of your home grown avocados. And they were shined with pledge lol. The Reed is creamy and delicious. I will try the Lamb soon. Thanks Greg.
Hi Damien,
Ha! I had my kids help me by wiping the road dust off the fruit and they sure did! Thanks for the feedback.
The Reeds I bought from you are ripened and we have been eating them all week long. They are so rich and delicious. I am so happy that I planted a Reed last year. The Lamb Hass are still not ready and I am eagerly awaiting them since I also planted a Lamb Hass. Thank you for offering avocados from your grove and providing such good cultivation advice. I know I am pushing the boundaries up here at the far north of their growing range (Philo) but I happen to have a good microclimate with well draining soil and a southeast facing slope. So far so good!
Hi Greg – your avocados are amazing! We’ve enjoyed a couple Reeds already (sadly staring down what remains) and we have a couple days before the Lamb will be ripe. We are using your fridge trick for preservation. Obviously you get to enjoy them frequently but this is such a treat.
Hi Greg,
We have enjoyed tasting all the different avocados, all delicious. All the black-skin varieties taste very similar to the Haas and really liked tasting for the first time a green-skin Gwen avocado. The biggest surprise was the Reed! When you described grapefruit size, I couldn’t believe how big and round they were until we received the shipment. My family was totally sold on the taste, size and texture of the Reed. In fact, my daughter in law now wants to plant one in her yard, especially since she has a family who will help her eat them. I can’t wait for another shipment of Reed if it becomes available again.
She is considering taking out one of her lemon trees to plant a Reed in its place. After taking the tree out, how long should she wait before planting the Reed in this spot? She probably will buy the 5 gallon size tree and keep it in a larger container for a year or two before transplanting it.
Hi Laura,
That is a real testament to the quality of Reed. Thanks for sharing.
Your daughter-in-law can plant the Reed immediately after removing the lemon. Just be sure not to grind the stump of the lemon and incorporate those wood shavings into the soil there. I would just cut the lemon trunk at ground level and plant the Reed right next to it. The lemon roots will decompose slowly. The stump will still put out sprouts but they can be rubbed off easily. I planted an avocado next to an old lemon that was cut down in my yard and it’s doing fine.
We have really enjoyed the Reeds, so creamy and fiberless with mild flavor!
Lambs are almost ready to try.