Meeting April 13th @ 10 am: Ray Teurman on Bees!

We fruit growers need to know about bees:  how to encourage them in  our orchards,  how to protect them on our shared planet and, if nothing else, how to appreciate their  marvelously democratic society.  Bottom line, after all our planting, grafting, pruning, fertilizing and elaborate irrigation systems, without the girls we would have very little to eat.

At the enthusiastic recommendation of the Orange County chapter, we are thrilled to have snared Ray Teurman to speak to us about bees at our next meeting on April 13th.  Eight years a beekeeper and seven years a bee rescuer, Ray maintains 70 hives at homes in LA, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties  plus over 40 hives in apiaries in Long Beach, Hacienda Heights and Compton.  A member of the Bee Keepers Association of Southern Calfornia, Long Beach Beekeepers and Honey Love,  among other apis-centric organizations, he has been termed one of the unsung heroes of SoCal bee keeping and volunteerism. This is how he is described on the Bee Keepers Association of Southern California site:

Ray has recently begun his retired life.  That doesn’t mean sitting under an umbrella enjoying ice tea!  No!  He’s busy rescuing bees every single day.  He does cutouts, swarms, most jobs that other rescuers don’t have time for.  He does charge a fee, but it’s well worth it, as he charges a fair price  He does best by texting.  Please include your name, address where the bees are located, where the bees are (in a wall, in a tree, under the shed, etc.), how long they have been there, and a contact phone number.  Please be patient, as he could be busy in a tree.  Ray does enjoy help.  You can learn while helping!

Please call Ray by clicking the number. 323-599-6802 or text him.

Field Trip/Workshop January 12th @ 10 am

Okay, so hopefully there will be no snow on the ground, but we are taking the opportunity of visiting a member’s relatively  new orchard to discuss our various preparations for winter.  Do you do dormant spraying? Do you remove the leaves from your trees in this most unseasonable of winters?  How do you train the young trees you planted last bareroot season?  How are you getting ready for the trees you will plant this year?  How do you prepare your orchard for the (fingers crossed) winter rains?  There will be plenty of time to tour the garden but also yak.  Come with ideas!

Party! Party! Party!

Chapter members, just a reminder: our holiday party is Saturday and the plant raffle is really starting to shape up,. Gros Michel banana pups, rose apple seedlings, and a one-gallon ice cream bean tree are among the offerings. This is a pot luck so bring your best dish (as well as plants to include in the raffle if you have them)  See you there!

Paradise Nursery address

Yup, forgot it in previous post:
10943 De Soto Avenue,
Chatsworth, CA 91311

This is just south of the DeSoto exit on the 118 at Rinaldi.  Entrance is easy to miss, so keep eyes peeled.

November 10th @ 10 am: Paradise Nursery

Oh, do you guys have a treat in store!  We are going to Paradise Nursery in Chatsworth.  This is a family-owned nursery that propagates and grows its own beautiful trees (primarily fruit,  including many Persian specialties you won’t find elsewhere).  Plus many of their trees are ENORMOUS!  Walking around the grounds is sort of like walking through a forest, and it gives you a rare chance to see what your trees will look like full grown. Paradise of course also carries trees small enough to fit in the back of my Toyota Corolla, so don’t think you won’t also be able to bring home trophies from the hunt.

Cribbing shamelessly from their website :

“(Owner) Dr. Majid Jahanbin is an Agricultural Engineer with a doctorate from the University of Bologna, Italy. He fell in love with plants at the age of  seven, while visiting his father’s farm in Abadan, Iran. He has over 50 years of professional experience and hosts a popular radio show on 670AM KIRN, giving gardening tips and taking questions on air in Farsi.

His son Ashkan Jahanbin now runs the nursery and is a horticulturalist with degrees in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Horticultural  from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.  Ashkan consults and designs edible gardens and home orchards that are beautiful, enjoyable, and environmentally sustainable.”

Ash has kindly agreed to meet with us and answer any questions we have about his trees.   There is parking;  but on a Saturday morning it might be somewhat limited, so car pooling is highly suggested.

Also fellow chapter member Alex Silber’s Papaya Tree Nursery is only a couple of freeway exits away from Paradise and if you have never been there, it would be well worth your time to arrange with Alex to stop in before or after.  Since he operates quite literally out of his family’s backyard, he can’t take all of us but said he would welcome individuals who call him first.

Plants available today only (10-15-18!)

A member living in Brentwood has to vacate her apartment suddenly. She has many many rare plants, some in 50 gallon containers and she is making them available to anyone who wants them. Because she is sight-
challenged, she cannot accept texts but call her at 310-936-3150 if you can take them today. For the bigger plants, you will need a dolly and truck.

Black jacket

It was left at our October 13th meeting (Edgar Valdivia on Cherimoyas and Figs).  Please let me know if it’s yours.

Badges

Because many of you have asked about the attractive permanent name badges some of our members wear, we are going to have a sign-up for them at the October 13th meeting.

To order a badge give a check or cash for $15 to our treasurer Andreé at the time of the order, i.e., before the order is placed. The West LA CRFG name badge has the distinctive CRFG logo and two lines of engraved black text (see badges worn by Sofia Ames and Jane Beer).  The badge is roughly 2″ x 3″ and has a magnetic clasp, although you may request a pin clip if you prefer.

More about our October 13th meeting

Cribbed from the excellent newsletter Margaret Frane writes and sends to our members:

“Edgar is well known in the CRFG throughout California for developing great tasting (and beautiful) dragon fruit (pitahaya) varieties. You can purchase his dragon fruit varieties, such as Tricia and Edgar’s Baby, in many specialty nurseries.  Edgar grows well over 100 other fruit such as at least 20 varieties of cherimoya, lucuma, mulberry, and figs.  You can see a small smaple of them on the CRFG, Inc., “Let’s Find Out” series #12: https://www.crfg.org/piwigo/picture.php?/4733/category/53.

To hear other examples of Edgar speaking, listen and watch him on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZtoyxK-Fqs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR-Zt-c0gu0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqrOkUAxYCE

 

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