‘Satsuma’ Mandarin: the Perfect Fruit Tree
If you are looking for a fruit tree that produces in the fall with a minimum of care, consider a ‘Satsuma’ mandarin. Ronald Chong, our conscientious correspondent from Hacienda Heights, emailed a ph...
Category Archives: Fruit
Melons: Past and Present
As summer approaches, thirst-quenching watermelons and cantaloupes become ever-present snacks and dessert priorities. Yet the intensively hybridized melons we find at the supermarket, or grow from se...
The History of Persimmons and How to Grow Them
If you are seeking a medium sized shade tree, around thirty feet tall with a thirty foot spread, possessing unusually ornamental and gustatory qualities, consider the persimmon (Diospyros kaki). Alt...
Fruit Harvest Depends on Winter Cold
If you have a fruit tree or two, there’s one branch of science, despite its unfamiliar name, which you probably know something about. The science to which I refer is phenology. Phenology is the stu...
The History of Fruit Tree Grafting
No one knows when grafting of plants began. Initially, grafting was thought to be an extension of vegetative or clonal propagation by cuttings. Just as softwood (shoot) or hardwood cuttings, detach...
How to Grow Kiwifruit
How Kiwis Got Their Name Have you eaten any Chinese gooseberries lately? This exotic sounding edible treat has a more recognizable name, introduced to this country just thirty years ago by Frieda Cap...
Orchard Paradise
Orchard Paradise in Your Backyard Orchard. It’s one of the most evocative words in our lexicon. Is there any word more romantic, more rich with memories and expectations? Moreover, there is som...
Los Angeles Fruit Grows Without Irrigation
“There is a large number of vineyards in the Valley, their total extent being between 2,000 and 3,000 acres. They are largely localized in the vicinity of Burbank and in the Sunland region, with smal...
Growing Blueberries in Los Angeles
Rewards of Growing Blueberries “This morning my wife and I spent three hours harvesting over four quarts of blueberries. We pick every three days, enjoying them for breakfast, evening salads, and fre...
How to Grow Coffee in Los Angeles
How to Grow Coffee in Northridge Several years ago, I saw a coffee plant in Northridge. It was being grown by Jerry Esten, who had it in a container, on a patio, protected from the elements. The safe...
