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.
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.
The California Rare Fruit Growers (CRFG) is the largest amateur fruit-growing organization in the world. We specialize in fruit not native to nor grown commercially in any given area; but our breadth of knowledge and experience covers the environmentally sound culture of any and all edible plants. What we have learned is exchanged on this website, in our magazine The Fruit Gardener, on field trips and at meetings of our 23 chapters (not all in California!). There we get to go face to face with noted international horticultural researchers, commercial growers, and representatives from institutions of higher learning… not to mention our passionate fellow hobbyists. In addition, we run the annual Festival of Fruit, have photography contests, grant college scholarships, and hold our famous scion exchanges. Come on in! The fruit is fine.
Please note: We are a non-profit organization. We are not a business and do not sell fruit or fruit trees. We do hold annual scion exchanges at our chapters’ January or February meetings, where CRFG members can exchange scion wood and learn how to graft it to their own fruit trees. The chapters also host public meetings to educate those interested in learning how to grow and propagate fruit.
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 18: Orange County – 9 AM – 12 PM, Centennial Farm at the OC Fairgrounds and Event Center, 88 Fair Dr, Costa Mesa. Enter through Gate 1 and park in Lot B. The exchange takes place in the Millennium Barn.
January 25: Los Angeles – 10:00 AM (members), 11:00 AM (non-members), Sepulveda Garden Center 16633 Magnolia, Encino CA 91406
January 25: Santa Clara Valley – Noon – 3:00 PM, Mountain View Buddhist Temple, 575 N Shoreline Blvd, Mtn View
January 25: North San Diego County – 2 PM – 4 PM, Norway Hall in Vista.
February 1: Foothill – 09:30 AM – 1:00 PM, Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, Palm Room, 301 N Baldwin Ave, Arcadia. Info: Alasdair Burton,
February 1: Inland Empire – Riverside Corona Resource Conservation Center (rcrcd.org), 4500 Glenwood Dr., Riverside, CA 92501. 10am Presentation: Grafting- Making a fruit cocktail tree; 1145am-145pm scion exchange and hands-on grafting clinics. CRFG members then scion donors get 1st and 2nd priority before public. Contact Lisa Wright for information or facebook.com/iecrfg. Free parking and admission.
February 1: Monterey Bay – Soquel High School, 401 Soquel-San Jose Road, Soquel
February 1: San Diego – 3845 Spring Dr. Spring Valley. 9 AM-10 AM (Members only), 10 AM – 11 AM (General public).
February 8: Golden Gate, Noon – 3 PM, $5 entry, Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill
February 8: South Orange County – 10:30 AM – 1 PM, Orange County Great Park Farm + Food Lab, 8000 Great Park Blvd, Irvine. Annual Chapter Scionwood/Anything Exchange. You are encouraged to bring garden-related items such as cuttings, seeds, unneeded pots, books, or tools to share with fellow attendees. Register at https://southoccrfg.org/exchange-event/ to receive updates and information as the event date approaches.
February 15: Redwood Empire, Veterans Building, Santa Rosa
February 15: 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 22: Central Coast, Cal Poly Crops Unit, San Luis Obispo
February 22: San Joaquin – 10 AM – 2 PM, Salvation Army Garden, 893 Lander Ave, Turlock.
February 23: Sacramento, La Sierra Community Center, 5325 Eagle Road, Carmichael
March 1: Mendocino Permaculture Winter Abundance Gathering, Anderson Valley Grange
March 15: South Bay – 9:45AM – 1:30PM, Audely’s Backyard – 23223 Doris Way, Torrance, CA 90505. Registration required to attend. Details and registration at crfgsobay.org/calendar.
Dates And Details To Be Announced As Soon As I Have Them
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.
Check out Kevin Hayakawa’s videos HERE. Yes, we have entered the 21st century. And click HERE to see the rest of what will be our rapidly expanding and invaluable how-to and why-to gallery.
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.
