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Saturday March 8th @ 10 am – noon: Mangos! Mangos! Mango! with JJ Licea

GARDEN Room (note the different room!)
Culver City Veterans Memorial Building
4117 Overland Ave, Culver City, CA 90230

I can’t begin to count the number of people who have asked for a speaker on mangos or the number of years we have been looking for one.  But at long last, victory!  JJ Licea of the South Bay Chapter has agreed to trundle north and fill us in on, well, just about everything:  the best varieties, how to grow them, how to graft them and how to otherwise propagate them.   JJ says: “I am a military veteran and third generation farmer who has been grafting for over 10 years with a 75 percent success rate (ed: I suspect he is being modest). I grow many fruit trees as a backyard grower… from Annona to Lilly Pilly’s, Mangoes and Hog Plums.”

Come and bring your mango questions.

And yes, bring snacks.  Your humble chair is personally allergic to mangos and will therefore be bringing just her standard molasses cookies. But if some of you could bring mangos or whatever else you’re growing for us to taste, that would be great!

Speaking of great, Farshad Rafii is kindly donating a dozen grapevines (in 1-gallon pots) for you to buy.  Those who visited his amazing mountain a couple of years ago will recall he was just beginning to establish a vineyard there and these are from that.  There should be some amazing varieties.

You may have noticed that we are out of sync with our normal odd-month field trip, even-month lecture schedule.  This is because the Culver City Easter Eggztravangza meant we weren’t going to be able to get anywhere near the parking lot on April 12th.  There will be a field trip for members on that date instead.   Details to follow in your newsletter.

 

Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash

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Changes and additions for the Scion Exchange/Grafting Demos Feb 15th @ 10 am

Both Bruce and Arnie — who provided basic grafting instruction to generations of high school students and us older newbies as well—  lost homes in the Palisades fire and are understandably overwhelmed right now. Nonetheless WLA Chapter does not lack for expert grafters. This includes AJ, famed as The Graft Man on Youtube, and Sagi, who has shared his knowledge at many  meetings over the years.  They both did much-appreciated grafting demos last year and have amazing yards jam-packed with trees both in pots and in the ground that demonstrate the brilliance of their work.   And they will kindly share what they have learned with us.

They will start with a general talk on the whys and wherefore of grafting and a demo of the basic cleft graft.  (You can read more about that here.) Then we will break into smaller groups so we can get up close and personal as they demonstrate various more complicated grafts.  Because we are unable to have the graft-your-own clinic we had hoped for, the LA chapter is allowing us to join theirs (details below).

Scions for our Exchange should be brought in to the MultiPurpose Room between 9:30 and 10:00.  Members who bring in scions to share will get priority at choosing other ones, followed by chapter members and then by non-members.

Please please please, if possible,  renew your memberships online before coming.  It cuts down on the utter chaos (and lines) at the entrance.  You can renew your chapter membership here.  And national membership here.

Instructions on how to cut and store scion wood are here.  No citrus or curry leaf (because of huanglongbing disease) or patented varieties, please!

The LA Chapter Grafting Clinic will take place February 22nd @ 10 am at the Sepulveda Garden Center, 16633 Magnolia Blvd, Encino, CA.  They tell us:  “Bill Brandt (who is also a member of WLA) will provide an informative talk about various ways to graft scions. Then we’ll break into groups so our additional guest instructors can guide you through each step to graft onto your rootstock. If you own grafting tools, you are encouraged to bring them to the workshop.  A limited number of rootstocks will be available for purchase for $5 for members and $10 for non-members to cover the cost of materials.  Of course WLA members are welcome to join the LA chapter on the spot if they so desire.”

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Annual Scion Exchange/Grafting Demos Saturday, February 15 @ 10 am – noon

Normally, Scion Exchange season is the most hopeful of the year.  We prune our trees in gratitude for what they have borne for us, share our scions in gratitude for the friendship and fellowship we have found at CRFG and then graft our trees or rootstocks with exciting dreams of new crops in the not-to-distant future.

This year, however, as we reel from fires still not entirely under control, at the total loss of at least two members homes and with no idea of the impact of heat, smoke, retardant and salt water on other still-evacuated members’ homes and gardens, it is very hard to  muster the traditional joy.

Nonetheless, because fruit growers — by the nature of what we do — are always looking to the future, we will press on.   In fact, we will do more than press on.  We will dedicate this Scion Exchange and all of 2025 to Propagation.  Whether or not we want more trees in our yards, we are going to make them.  So that when  Bruce and Susan and whoever else needs them are ready, we will have them for them.  So we all can be grateful and joyous again.

Obviously, Bruce won’t be doing his inimitable grafting demo this year, but Ajmal, Sagi and (hopefully) Arnie all will.  Scions should be brought to the MultiPurpose Room  between 9:30 and 10:00.  Members who bring in scions to share will get priority at choosing other ones, followed by chapter members and then by non-members.

Please please please, if possible,  renew your memberships online before coming.  It cuts down on the utter chaos (and lines) at the entrance.  You can renew your chapter membership here

Instructions on how to cut and store scion wood are here.  No citrus or curry leaf (because of huanglongbing disease) or patented varieties, please!

We are still trying to figure out if we can try hands-on grafting under Arnie’s tutelage as we did before the Pandemic.  It mostly has to do with whether we can obtain sufficient rootstock.  Stay tuned.

Location: MultiPurpose Room, Culver City Veterans Memorial Building, 4117 Overland Avenue, Culver City

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Holiday Plant Sale/Party parking issues

We have just been informed that the entire parking lot adjacent to our MultiPurpose Room will be closed to vehicles for some other event this coming Saturday  There will still, of course, be free parking in the main lots accessible from  Culver Boulevard.  And pedestrian access to the MultiPurpose Room will be still be available as usual.

Members bringing plants for the sale and/or food for the party have the option of hauling it in on foot though the MPR gate, or entering instead through the “Historical Society” which will take you into the party room and then out onto the patio.

The public can still access the patio on foot through the closed parking lot.  Please be aware that the closure of our usual lot will definitely impact parking all around the complex where there is both a  Breakfast with Santa Event and also a Toy Giveaway scheduled, so allow extra time to find  a spot.  Remember that meters are vigilantly patrolled but that there is often parking at the Senior Center across  Culver Boulevard. Needless to say this is not an optimal situation but we will carry on.  See you Saturday.

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Our Holiday Plant sale is coming December 14th!

It will begin at 11:30 am in the MultiPurpose Room.  Absolutely NO plants will be sold before then (though of course we will be there setting up).

Given our chapter’s multi-year experiment with perennial rhubarb, there will be a LOT of rhubarb plants on offer, as well as many other items including banana pups, grafted avocados, black sapote, ice cream bean, rose apples, pepinos,  and much much more.

The specific inventory will begin appearing on our Holiday Sale page  in the next couple of weeks though will grow right up to and even during the sale.  Stay tuned!

Zettle willing, credit cards will be accepted.

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Our Holiday Plant sale is coming!

Since we continue to get queries about when this or that item from last year’s sale will be available, we are putting up this notice of the 2024 sale even before our Halloween decorations go up (sheesh!) It will take place on Saturday, December 14th from 11:30 to 1:30 (or until plants run out) in our traditional MultiPurpose Room at the Culver City Veterans Memorial Building.

Given our chapter’s multi-year experiment with perennial rhubarb, there will be a LOT of rhubarb plants on offer, as well as many other items including (so far) banana pups, grafted avocados, black sapote, ice cream bean, rose apples, pepinos,  and much much more.  Early in December, the specific plant list will go up on this site, and will continue to grow (inevitably) right through the sale.   Circle the date on your calendar.  It is always a highlight of the fruit growing season.

Zettle willing, credit cards will be accepted.

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October 12th @ 10 am: Professor Cinzia Fissore on Growing Coffee in Southern California

Our October in-person meeting (at our regular Culver City location) will feature Professor Cinzia Fissore who created the experimental coffee orchard at Whittier College.  In this orchard, 64 plants from ten varieties of Arabica coffee are grown according to organic and regenerative principles. Native California plant species are intermixed with coffee, and 18 avocado trees flank the orchard and provide partial shade. Dr. Fissore, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Illinois Urbana and other institutions, has been specifically working on assessing soil-plant nutrient exchanges, mycorrhizal association in specific varieties of coffee, and California-specific plant performance across varieties. This promises to be a truly fascinating event!

 

Photo by Professor Fissore.

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Great Air Layering Meeting

We had a great turn-out, wonderful participation, an amazing speaker and lots of supplies (plus snacks!).    Who could ask for anything more?  Well, you, since you have asked for Jeff’s slide show and also his link to CRFG-member Tom Waldren’s video on air layering.  So here they are.  Enjoy.

Jeff notes the audio in Tom’s video is not great but it is still well worth watching.   Thank  you, Jeff! And thank you to all our  members and potential-members for be willing to get your hands dirty.

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Fruit fly quarantines lifted

We heard this morning from the California Department of Food and Agriculture: “On behalf of the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) Plant Health and Pest Prevention Services (PHPPS) Division, working in coordination with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Los Angeles County Agricultural Commissioner, and Ventura County Agricultural Commissioner, we are pleased to share the Mediterranean fruit fly quarantine in Los Angeles County and the Queensland fruit fly quarantine in Los Angeles and Ventura counties have been lifted…One active invasive fruit fly quarantine remains in place in California – the Oriental fruit fly quarantine San Bernardino and parts of Riverside County. To view the quarantine map, please visit CAFruitFly.com.

While the news of these quarantine lifts is promising, the threat to California’s agriculture and economy still remains. CDFA is urging residents and industry members across the state to remain vigilant for signs of other invasive pests to help prevent any future infestations of invasive species.”

 

Photo of Oriental Fruit Fly from USDA/Scott Bauer

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Air Layering Lecture/Workshop with Jeff Warner on Saturday August 10th @ 10 a.m.

Jeff is the chair of the Orange County Chapter of CRFG and– like many of that grand chapter’s members — is a master propagator. While we have demos of grafting once every year at our February scion exchange (and twice this year with Arnie Bernstein’s talk on citrus grafting in June) we haven’t had a discussion of Air Layering in a very long time.

Air Layering is an astonishingly easy way to produce nicely rooted specimens from otherwise impossible to propagate trees or varieties, though of course it also works on the easy-to-root-or-graft like figs. It is a technique we should all have in our fruit growing tool kits.

This will be a combination lecture and workshop so feel free to bring one of your favorite trees (in a pot of course!) and you will be able to take it home ready to produce a Mini-Me. Please also bring your own favorite knife since air layering does require a small amount of surgery. We will provide the rest of the stuff you will need to complete the job.

And hey, the fruit is ripening out there! Pick some of what you’re growing to share with the rest of us. Other snacks are also always welcome.

BTW, we are back in our beloved MultiPurpose Room, Culver City Veterans Memorial Building, 4117 Overland Ave, Culver City, CA