Hey, what’s happening?!

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Field Trip to the Will Rogers Learning Community on January 14th @ 10 am

This is from member Mark Abraham who runs garden at The Will Rogers Learning Community:
“The Will Rogers Learning Community is an elementary school in the SMMUSD that today boasts a very large school garden. The nascent 2+ year garden is set up with 19 double reach rows for intensive crop production, composting bays, fruit trees, and more, to teach 500+ elementary school children who visit the garden each week the connection to good food, care for one another and care for the planet. Classroom time in the farm is interactive in nature and the students learn about regenerative agriculture, plant horticulture, propagation, insect identification, decomposers and fungal allies, and more. The garden is supported by a weekly crew of volunteers from the community who come to garden, share, learn and have fun every weekend to advance the mission of the school’s garden, to complement the work being done by the students each week and to help build out the infrastructure.
My intention among many others is to see to it that the site serves as a repository for important, endemic and/or rare germplasm – so that it can function as a lending library of sorts for the community when the time comes. I am grateful to the chapter for their interest in what we are doing; we have a lot of work ahead of us and it is my hope that as we grow the space we can learn from experienced horticulturalists like yourselves, and develop the connections and the necessary resources for our future fruit hunters. We are very excited to host you for the first event of the New Year – see you in 2023!
Garden is located at the corner of Maple and 16th Street in Santa Monica, 90405. Parking and water fountains on site. Bathrooms across the street at John Adams Middle School.”
Definitely a can’t-miss tour and certainly a focus for chapter volunteering.
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Scion Exchange and Grafting Demos: February 11th @10 am to noon (scion drop off at 9:30)

The famous CRFG  Scion Exchange returns to Culver City on February 11th.  Unfortunately we have been pre-empted from our beloved MultiPurpose Room for all of 2023, but will be in the Garden Room which also has an outdoor patio for the Scion tables and social distancing.    (You can find a map of its location under Our Location.)

The grafting demos will be in the Garden Room itself.  For the safety of the presenters and  your fellow graft-learners, we would ask that you wear masks if you want to watch.

Instructions for cutting and storing scion wood as you do your winter pruning are here.

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Plant Sale and Holiday Party a Huge Success!

Much thanks to all  of you who donated your carefully nurtured plants and/or that really yummy food;  and thanks also to all of you who came and purchased plants and met us,  many because of COVID for the very first time.   Now we are all getting a little R & R.

But we will be having a field trip in January (details soon) and of course the famous CRFG Scion Exchange/Grafting demos on February 11th.  So stay tuned.  These pineapples will soon be back on their feet.  (Wait, pineapples have feet?  Talk about Rare Fruit…)

 

Photo by Pineapple Supply Co. on Unsplash

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We need a van or truck or convertible or Santa’s sled!

Charles Portney, one of CRFG’s pre-eminent propagators, is sending more  than 50 plants (including 6-10 Becky’s Mystery banana pups)  to our plant sale, wahoo.  We need, however,  someone to pick them up at his place in Santa Monica and bring them to the Culver City Veterans’ Memorial Building on the morning of December 10th.  Charles’ yard (where he grows virtually all his food)  is legendary but he no longer opens it to field trips so if you want an opportunity to glimpse it, this is your chance!  Please Contact Us if you are willing and able.

 

Photo of truck  by Kevin Berrios on Unsplash , Photo of banana by Mockup Graphics on Unsplash

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Holiday Plant Sale and Party Party Party! December 10th 11:30 – 1:30

Yes, it is that time of year again. Haul out your party clothes (and potluck luncheon) and also any plants you have been propagating or any money you have been stashing away for new stuff.

Additional plants will be added to the plant list here right up until Sale Day (so keep checking)  and per usual, even more will show up without warning. So expect to be amazed.

Plant drop off between 11 and 11:30  (I know I used this photo last year but it is just so perfect.)

PLEASE NOTE:  Except in the unlikely event of rain, our plant sale will be entirely outside on the patio,  for COVID, flu and RSV safety

 

Photo by Pineapple Supply Co. on Unsplash

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Field Trip to Angeles Crest Creamery November 12th

This is something totally new for us! It has nothing to do with fruit but it does have to do with climate change which is already affecting us (chill-hours anyone?) and will continue to do so more and more until we wise up.

 Angeles Crest Creamery is a goat ranch in the San Gabriel Mountains, that was dedicated to developing a low-input and climate-change-resilient model for meat & dairy in Southern California, and providing educational opportunities for Angelinos interested in learning more about how food can be produced regeneratively in our local mountains. The property is a private inholding in the Angeles National Forest. Prior to the establishment of the Forest, the property was deeded under the Homestead Act. Cattle ranching was common in the area at the time and some of the original 19th century structures are still on the property.  There are also adorable ducklings!

Tragically the Bobcat Fire of September 2020 destroyed nearly 80% of the ranch and owner Gloria Putnam is now in the process of paring down her goat herd and trying to determine what her land needs from her going forward.

Obviously this is a longer distance field trip than is the norm for us but one that seems well worth the gas and effort.   If you are interested in going, either alone or in a car pool (totally vaccinated for that, please) let us know ASAP.   Dependent on reception up there, we will also be Zooming.

 

Photo by Ray Aucott on Unsplash

 

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Great talk on Cover Crops by Margaret Smither-Kopperl today

Dr. Smither-Kopperl covered a whole array of topics quickly but thoroughly and here are some of the resources she mentioned to help us incorporate her  wisdom and experience into our day to day (or year to year)  planting.

First, the website of her home base is here.

You can find many valuable resources on it, including the “periodic table” of cover crops she showed us here.  A list of seed vendors here.  And a  report on the use of cover crops in almond orchards and vineyards here.

In addition, UC Davis has its own excellent Cover Crop database here.

The  Cover Crop Solution chart from Peaceful Valley Farm Supply up in  Grass Valley, CA) is here.  I have ordered many times from them and their seed is reliable, cheap and available in quantities as small as 1 pound .   Margaret  mentioned S&S seeds even closer to us in Carpenteria.  Their site allows you to filter seeds by water  requirements, location, etc.    Their minimum order, however, is 5 pounds and the Xerces Pollinator Mix Margaret mentioned is $84 a pound!

And finally the Cover Crops Best Management Practices guide for Almond Growers  published by the UCANR at UCDavis is here.  Its first page is a lovely photograph of a cover crop in an almond grove which visually illuminates the whole notion of using cover crops among our trips.  Enjoy!

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Zoom Meeting 10/8/22 @ 10 am Margaret Smither-Kopperl on Cover Crops!

Thanks to an excellent talk by Deni Freis a few years ago, we all know about rain barrels and  storm water collection.  A far easier way of putting that scarce (nonexistent?)  rain water to use —  while simultaneously improving the fertility and tilth of your soil and the happiness of the good bugs — is with cover crops.  If you already use them, you will be eager to hear Margert Smither-Kopperl’s newest information on them.  If you are still in the dark, this Saturday’s meeting will be a real eye opener and a treat.

Specifics for fruit growers will include:  Overview of what to consider when planning a cover crop in an orchard. What are your goals and what are the resource concerns that you plan to address? For example, are there problems with soil erosion, weedy species, insect pests, nematodes? Do you need pollinator species? Do you wish to add nitrogen through use of a cover crop? Consider the equipment that you have available and options for managing the cover crop. After this you can decide the most suitable species for your orchard.

Margaret is Manager of the 106-acre USDA-NRCS Lockeford Plant Materials Center (CAPMC), in California’s Central Valley since 2010. The CAPMC supports NRCS in California by testing plant species including cover crops and pollinator species, and is a site to demonstrate soil health. Her agricultural experience started in England with fruit and vegetable production, her BSc.is  in botany from the University of London, and her Ph.D. is in Plant Pathology from Michigan State University.

Beyond all these professional and academic accomplishments, she is a captivating speaker and we are so very lucky to get a chance to hear her.  (Fellow bee keepers will also  be thrilled to know that she has been at the forefront of encouraging farmers to create wildflower hedgerows for the endangered pollinators. )

Chapter members will receive Zoom links in this week’s newsletter.   If you are not a member but want to be included, just let us know at crfgwla@gmail.com

 

 

Photo by Jeffrey Hamilton on Unsplash

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LaVerne/Everde Nursery trip rescheduled! 10-22-22 @ 9 am

Obviously not our traditional Second Saturday meeting day (or meeting time for that matter), but we are just so grateful to Dan Nelson for finding another slot for us — after draconian weather forecasts led him and us to cancel the trip in early September.

Temperatures should be much more comfortable for all concerned so make sure to get this onto your calendar pronto.  Unfortunately, we don’t have a plant availability/price list yet but will get it to chapter members as soon as we do.

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