Zoom Meeting: January 8th @ 10 am. All About Olives with Javier Fernandez-Salvador

Javier Fernandez-Salvador is the new director for the UC Davis Olive Center (North America’s leading olive oil institution) and we are very very lucky he has agreed to speak to us.

He came to Davis after 9 years at Oregon State University, including 5 years as Assistant Professor in the Extension Service where he specialized in small fruit and berries and (especially)  olives, along with soil and plant nutrition and organic production.

At Davis, his goal is to modernize California table olive orchards while involving undergraduates in the use of  the Olive Center’s own olive groves for experiments in olive oil production, super high density planting and different irrigation management techniques, which will become increasingly necessary as California becomes hotter and drier.

Wendy Temple, our adjunct Program Chair, chased Javier down in the hopes of learning what to do with her olives.  But I think we will all learn a lot more than that!

Zoom links will arrive in your newsletter.  And yes, we had hoped to be back to face to face meetings by now, but Omicron has put a crimp in that particular plan.  Stayed tune for future developments around our Scion Exchange and grafting demos, now scheduled for February 12th.

Holiday Party and Plant Sale December 18th at 11 am

Now that we have all finished the last of our Thanksgiving cranberry sauce harvests (and getting those cans out of our backyard bogs was no picnic), it is high time we begin thinking about our fabulous CRFG-WLA Holiday Party.  Yes, thanks to Culver City’s implementation of mask-plus-proof-of-vax rules, we feel comfortable returning to face to face for the very first time in two years!

December 18th is the date, to coincide with our Holiday Plant Sale blowout.  Eleven am is the time to start schlepping stuff in though we probably won’t actually sit down until noon.  And we will be  back in our beloved MultiPurpose Room in the Culver City Memorial Complex.  Since this gives us both indoor and outdoor areas, anyone not entirely comfortable eating indoors can easily park their patooties outside (and hey, help with the Plant Sale at the same time)

So put on your best holiday duds… Margaret, break out that flashing light jewelry… cook up some holiday special to share… label and price  any plants you’re donating to our plant sale… and get ready to welcome in the winter solstice with a bang.  Wahoo!

PS  Don’t forget your proof of vax or a negative COVID test within 72 hours.  Sofia the Machete will be checking them at the door.

 

Photo by Pineapple Supply Co. on Unsplash

Field Trip to Master Gardener’s Orchard! November 13, 2021 @ 10 am

Master Gardener Aaron Ostrom has kindly invited us to visit his  rather large urban, hillside garden of ornamentals and edibles, including Almond, Aprium, Apple, Atemoya, Avocado, Banana, Barbados Cherry, Blackberry, Cape Gooseberry, Capulin Cherry, Carob, Chaya, Che, Cherimoya, Chocolate Pudding Fruit, Citrus of every sort, Coffee, Elderberry, Fig, Goji, Guamuchil, Guava, Ice Cream Bean, Jaboticaba, Java Plum, Jujube, Lemonade Berry, Lingaro, Longan, Loquat, Lychee, Macadamia, Mango, Natal Plum, Nectaplum, Papaya, Passion Fruit, Peach, Peanut Butter Fruit, Pear, Pepino Dulce, Persimmon, Phalsa Berry, Pindo Palm, Pineapple, Pomegranate, Raisin Tree, Raspberry, Sichuan Pepper, Sugar Cane, Surinam Cherry, Walnut, Wampee, White Sapote, etc.  What a Rare Fruit wonderland!  Aaron has lived all over the world and his plantings truly reflect that.

He does note that the garden is not accessible for those who have difficulty climbing stairs and slopes but our Program Chair Deborah Hartnett will be Zooming the trip to those of us stuck at home.

Aaron’s address and Zoom links will arrive in your newsletter ASAP.

 

Photo by Food Photographer | Jennifer Pallian on Unsplash

Saturday, October 9th @ 10 a.m. Greenhouses and other Great Stuff for growing fruit

Ahead of the holiday gifting season, we thought we would ask you all to share your favorite Fruit Growing Stuff (you know, so we can add it to our lists).

At our last meeting, Charles told us how he goes commando and does all his propagating outdoors.  But some of us are trying to propagate tropicals that require more humidity than SoCal offers. So Bruce will be telling us about the nifty greenhouse in which he resurrected Eric Durtschi’s struggling cacao seedlings and now has dozens of coffee plants building strength for our holiday sale.

I will offer my much humbler (and cheaper)  greenhouse currently housing 11 cacao seedlings and 1 yang mei seedling.  I will also reveal a great source for horticultural sand (100 pounds for $10!)

Jane will be telling us about her wondrous little electric shredder and her equally wonderous compost bins.

Margaret may be telling us about her metal hoses (or who knows what else lurks in the heart of her garden?).

And any of you who want to offer up your favorite discoveries, please do so.  If you want to get  on the Official Participant list, just Contact Us.  Though of course there will be opportunities to join the gabfest as the spirit moves you.

This was supposed to be our November, first post-Pandemic in person meeting but our October field trip has now been moved to November.  So this will be again on Zoom.  Links will be provided in your newsletter.

September 18th (NOTE DATE CHANGE!) @ 10 am: Charles Portney on Propagating Fruit Trees

Okay, you clamored for this and now —  at long length —  we can deliver!   Yes, Charles Portney on propagating fruit trees.

A good number of you first became members because of the bounty of our plant sales and many of those plants were provided by the inimitable – and generous — Charles .  On September 18th, he will take you behind the scenes and teach you how he works his magic.  You do not want to miss this meeting!

Because of the Delta Variant, we are still meeting virtually.  You will receive the Zoom links in your newsletter. If you are not a chapter member, but wish to attend, please contact us.

Photo by おにぎり on Unsplash

DIY trap for Black Fig Fruit Fly

Chapter member (and SD organic commercial farmer) Ellen Maisen found an interesting article from the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. It  was aimed at olive growers who are battling the olive fruit fly but the traps seem identical to what are being proposed for Silba Adipata McAlpine (the Black Fig Fruit Fly).

These are the instructions in the article for an easy DIY trap.  In the absence of torula yeast, I have found that Marmite and other yeast products work pretty well also as attractants.

Olipe Trap

Olipe traps are made with 1.5 to 2 liter plastic non-food bottles, with several 4 to 5 mm sized holes drilled or melted at the top, and baited with 3 to 4 torula yeast tablets per liter of water. Pheromones may or may not increase trap catches.

  • Place two traps for each 5 to 10 acre block for monitoring and one trap per tree for mass trapping control. Mass trapping usually does not work as a stand-alone treatment, but can supplement the efficacy of other treatments or reduce the number of treatments by reducing the overall number of flies in the orchard. Flies attracted to the bait, crawl into the bottle through the holes at top, and drown.

Growing Mangos in Los Angeles! (via Zoom) August 14th @ 10 am

Jeff Wasielewski is the Commercial Tropical Fruit Crops Extension Agent for UF/IFAS Extension in Miami-Dade County. He is an expert horticulturist with 25 years of experience working with tropical fruit crops and growing techniques in south Florida. Jeff’s goal is to assist all commercial tropical fruit growers in south Florida by providing current, science-based information through classes, lectures, publications, videos, and social media.  And  — although we are mostly amateurs far from Florida  — he is being kind enough to share his wisdom with us!

“Growing Mangos in Los Angeles” will cover topics such as plant selection, planting, pruning, fertilizing, and general mango care. We will also talk about the main form of propagation for mangos which is grafting.

If you are a chapter member, you will receive your Zoom links in your newsletter.  If you are not a member but would like to tune in, please let us know.

 

Photo by Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash

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