Every January and February, our famous scion exchanges are held at local chapters. There are generally demonstrations of various grafting techniques as well. Sharpen up your knife and create your very own frankentree. Dates and locations will be posted here as the time nears.
The 2023 Fruit Shoot is On!
Start shooting that fruit porn and get your entries in before July 1st. Read the rules here.
Photo by Fidel Fernando on Unsplash
2024 Scion Exchanges
- The world-famous CRFG Scion Exchanges are once again about to begin. Please check the relevant chapter websites for more information. Here are the dates we have so far:
January 13: Arizona – 10 AM – 1 PM, Valley Garden Center, 1809 N 15th Ave, Phoenix, Includes propagation demonstrations for grafting, rooting, air-layering
January 20: Orange County – 10AM – Noon, Orange County Fairgrounds, Millennium Barn
January 27: Los Angeles – 10 AM, Sepulveda Garden Center, 16633 Magnolia Blvd, Encino
January 27: Monterey Bay – Soquel High School, 401 Soquel-San Jose Road, Soquel
January 27: North San Diego – 10-12. See chapter website for more info.
February 3: Foothill Chapter – 10 AM – Noon, LA County Arboretum, 301 N Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, Palm Room classroom. The Arboretum will charge non-chapter members $15 admission; they have a list of Foothill Chapter members who get in free.
February 3: Santa Clara Valley – 1:30 PM – 4:30 PM, Palo Alto Buddhist Temple Gym, 2751 Louis Rd, Palo Alto
February 3: Inland Empire – Riverside-Corona Resource Conservation District in Riverside
February 4: Sacramento, La Sierra Community Center, 5325 Eagle Road, Carmichael
February 10: West Los Angeles – 10 AM – Noon in the MultiPurpose Room, Culver City Veterans Memorial Building, 4117 Overland Ave, Culver City, CA 90230. Both the grafting demos and scion exchange are free and open to the public, though chapter members get first crack at scion wood.
February 10: San Joaquin, 10 AM – 2 PM, Salvation Army Garden, 893 Lander Ave, Turlock.
February 11: Golden Gate, Noon – 3 PM, $5 entry, Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill
February 11: South Orange County, 10 AM – 2 PM, Irvine Great Park Farm and Food Lab Plant Cuttings / Anything Garden-related Exchange. We will also be having grafting demonstrations in the weeks prior to the event.
February 17: South Bay, 9:45 – 11:30 AM, South Coast Botanical Garden, 26300 Crenshaw Blvd, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90274 Free Admission and Open to the public. Chapter members will be given priority for entry and scion selection.
February 17: Central Coast, Cal Poly Crops Unit, San Luis Obispo
February 17: Redwood Empire, Veterans Building, Santa Rosa
February 24: Mendocino Permaculture Winter Abundance Gathering, Anderson Valley Grange
Urgent PSA: For all California Fig Growers
The first alarm was sounded on the ourfigs.com forum several years ago. Now the larvae of the Black Fig Fruit Fly (Silba adipata McAlpine) has been found from Santa Barbara south to at least Orange County. The photo above is from Santa Monica. If your unripe figs appear misshapen or prematurely dark or soft, please cut them open and check for larvae.
After a flurry of interest and trapping, the state and county have basically given up on trying to control this pest. Figs are not a big-money crop in California. So it is left to us amateurs to try and figure out our options.
It is definitely worth joining the forum at ourfigs.com as its members are actively engaged in tracking the infestation and hunting down solutions. The fly has been endemic in other parts of the world so there is some research available.
CRFG is for You!
This great song was written by LA Chapter’s Emory Walton and performed by Michael Falcone.
(Photo by Rod Long on unSplash)
Meetings
Jorge Ochoa, Instructor in Horticulture at Long Beach City College, gives the West Los Angeles Chapter a brilliant talk on Passionfruit. As chapters provide information on upcoming meetings, they will be posted either on the Events calendar or on that Chapter’s page under Chapters.
Field Trips
Most chapters schedule field trips every other month. Click Chapters in the Menu above for one near you.
Fruit Tastings
The best way to know if a variety of fruit should be in your garden is to taste the fruit before buying the tree. Chapters tend to have whatever is currently ripe at their meetings.