Golden Gate Chapter 2008 Newsletter Editor Needed

Hi, this is Alice Tang 2007 newsletter editor. I've been real busy with work, kids, etc and need to be replaced for 2008. I can help the new editor do the Jan 2008 edition. With netpost (hard copies mailed by the post office using a word document) it's a lot easier than when I was printing them on my own laser printer, duplexing by hand. Please step up! Members email me their articles and I edit them in word to fit our template and then email them out (I can send you the email list as well). The ones who don't have an email get a hard copy through netpost. I hope more members would move to email because it would save money and TREES. Please email me at rarefruitgrowers@gmail.com if you can help. I also posts other chapters info on this blog, not sure if that's the editor's duty but since I get all the emails I do it. Thanks Alice

Monterey Bay Chapter Scion and Stone Fruit Trees

CRFG Monterey Bay Chapter AnnouncementsHOLIDAY POT LUCK AND ELECTION: Sunday, December 9 from 12:00 to 4:00 (buildingopens at 11:30 for set-up) at the Arboretum at UCSC off High St. just pastWestern Dr. Bring a dish to share and any fruits from your gardens to tasteor give away. The Chapter will provide drinks, paper plates, cups, andutensils. The election will be to vote on Chapter Operating Rules andProcedures and to select the Chapter officers for the upcoming year.Nominations for officers will be accepted after the vote on chapter operatingrules. Chapter Operating Rules and Procedures are attached for your review.CRFG Inc has created a set of default Chapter Operating Rules and Proceduresthat Chapters will be held to unless they adopt their own. Our BylawsCommittee has created an alternative set of rules and procedures that you willbe voting on. If they fail to pass, we adopt CRFG Inc's version by default.Both versions are attached. If you would like to suggest changes, please doso ASAP so chapter members will have a little time to consider any proposedchanges, however, modifications can be made up until the time of the election. Please renew your memberships at this meeting.
RARE FRUIT GARDEN WORK DAY: Sunday, December 9 from 10:00 to 11:30 (precedingthe pot luck and election) in the Rare Fruit Garden at the Arboretum at UCSC.
DORMANT WOOD SCION EXCHANGE: Sunday, January 13 from 12:00 to 3:00 (buildingopens at 11:00 for set-up) at the Santa Cruz Live Oak Grange 1900 17th AveSanta Cruz. Cost is $5 for the general public, free for CRFG members. Pleasebring dormant scion wood, cut a day or two in advance, sealed in a plasticbag, and refrigerated. Please make sure material is well labeled on bag (andpositively identified), and disease-free. If you are interested in helpinggather scion material from some of our very generous member orchards, pleasecall Ellen and Freddy at 831-662-2216 for information.
HYBRID TREES FOR SALE (this from the Santa Clara Valley Chapter):Most of you may know that the Santa Clara Valley Chapter has a subgroup calledthey Hybridization Group. We are a small but zealous group of members thathave been hybridizing for new stone fruit varieties that will be interestingfor the Home Gardener. Most new varieties are hybridized with the commercialgrower in mind, e.g. fruit that colors up when still "green", fruit that staysfirm for packing and not juicy and melting and fruit that ripens all at onetime. These characteristics are opposite of what a home grower wants in hisyard. He/she wants fruit that stays on the tree until ripe; juicy, tasty fruitand fruit that can be picked over a longer length of time.Last year we evaluated some of our new crosses and have propagated them forsale at the 2008 Scion Exchange on January 12, 2008. We will have dormantbareroot trees for sale. We are offering these sturdy trees for $15 plus a $5donation to our group for growing expenses. So the total value of each treewill be $20 each. I will take orders for the trees in advance of the sale atPrusch so that you will be ensured to get these rare new trees. All advancesale and regular sale trees will be distributed at the Scion Exchange atPrusch Park. This is according to our agreement with the Santa Clara County Agdept. We can conduct this sale once only during the 2008 season according toour permit. So if you don't reserve and prepay for your trees in advance, onScion Exchange day it will be on a first come first served basis. We willconduct the sale of these trees only once this year.Please inform your Chapter members of these trees and if any of your Membersare interested in purchasing these trees and unable to attend the Saturday,January 12 Santa Clara Valley Chapter Scion Exchange, perhaps one person canbe designated to handle the collection of names, amount of trees, varietiesand money for your Chapter. These trees will be sold at the Scion Exchange only.Below are the description of the trees we will have available. They are all onLovell rootstock. At the 2009 Scion Exchange we will have our wonderful newapricot varieties which we evaluated this summer and will be propagating thiswinter. One is a very floral fragrant white apricot which is delicious and alate apricot which fruits in August. Both are excellent tasting. They will beon the new Torinel rootstock which is virus free.For more information and to preorder: contact Sini at: sinif@sbcglobal.net1: KIT DONNELL peach: A peach of unknown parentage, but it's believed to have'Baby Crawford' as one of its parents. Relatively large yellow freestoneripening in early August. Consistently high quality since it was firstevaluated several years ago. Skin thick, sometimes slightly astringent likeElberta, but flesh is juicy, melting, sweet and luscious. One of the besttasting mid-season yellow peaches named in honor of Kit Donnell, highlyrespected past chair of the Santa Clara Valley chapter of the CRFG.2: SILK ROAD nectarine: A Tashkent-type nectarine that is all gold with noblush on the skin nor red near the stone. Much larger and more productivethan the original Tashkent seedlings. Very juicy with much less bitterness atthe skin than the original. Rich apricot-like flavor.3: MARIA'S GOLD nectarine: Another Tashkent-type, all yellow nectarine.A bit smaller than 'Silk Road' but more productive, and perhaps a littlericher in flavor. It should make an outstanding backyard variety; namedin honor of the late Maria Plekanova, horticulturist and guide to theCRFG-NAFEX members who toured the Soviet Union in 1991. She wasinstrumental in helping the group find and bring the Tashkent nectarinestrain to the US.4: ATHENA peach: Likely a seedling of 'Pallas' peach, an old heirloomand flavor like a honeydew melon. Unlike its parent, however, this is notsusceptible to pre-harvest drop as its parent.5: LONGEVITY peach: 'Longevity' is a honey-type peach--a small, whitepeach long famous in China where the God of Longevity is depicted holdinga small, oval, beaked peach in his hand. The peach is a symbol of longlife in China, and the honey group is known for its juicy texture andsweet, honey-like flavor. 'Longevity' is very similar to the more commonhoney peach variety, the 'Eagle Beak,' but it has less of the almond- likeastringency associated withh 'Eagle Beak.'6: KALEIDOSCOPE nectarine: One of the rare donut-type nectarines withyellow flesh. 'Kaleidoscope' is a rather large and meaty donut-typenectarine with multi-colored, speckled skin with reds, golds and orangespredominating. There is a tendency for the fruit to crack at the blossomend, but the quality is otherwise excellent. It is hoped thatcontrolling the vigor of the tree may help minimize fruit cracking.7: BLIZZARD nectarine: A late-maturing fruit, usually late July or earlyAugust, with white flesh and flavor that has an excellent balance of sugarand acid, similar to 'Snowqueen.' Juicy and highly flavored.8: AUGUST SNOW nectarine: Maturing in early to mid August,'August Snow' is a very tasty white-fleshed nectarine. It is bestdescribed as similar to 'Snowqueen' or 'Heavenly White' in flavor;however, unlike these varieties, which often crack badly and have tough,leathery skin, 'August Snow' has good to excellent skin finish. It isalso very productive.
POMEGRANATE DISCUSSION GROUP (this came over the CRFG email lines):Here is a link to a yahoo group devoted to providing information aboutpomegranates some of you may be interested in joining. http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/PomWorldwide/Description: An international group dedicated to the exchangeof information on varieties of pomegranates grown, cultural practices,local customs, and related topics. Sharing of seeds or propagationmaterial through legal methods is also encouraged.EMAIL DISCUSSION FORUM: We also have a Yahoo Groups discussion forum forMonterey Bay Chapter members of the CRFG. If you'd like to join the list, allyou have to do is send a blank e-mail to from the address you wantsubscribed to the list and follow the instructions you get back by returnmail. In the message you receive, you will be sent a link to a confirmationpage at groups.yahoo.com. If you do not have a yahoo e-mail address you canstill join the mailing list by clicking the link on the bottom of the pagewhere it says, "As an alternate option, you may join the mailing listinstead." If you have, or are willing to get, a free yahoo mail account, youhave options for selecting whether you want to receive each messageindividually, each day's worth of messages in one digest of the day's traffic,or not receive messages at all so you just read them from the yahoo groups website. You need not read your mail on your yahoo account -- you can read itfrom any account you choose. We hope you'll join in the free-flow of ideasfor upcoming chapter events or submit your rare fruit questions to your fellowmembers.RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP: Please renew your membership in the chapter if youhaven't already by writing a check for five dollars, made out to Monterey BayChapter CRFG, and mailing it to:Nancy MoonTreasurer, Monterey Bay Chapter CRFGP.O. Box 525Santa Cruz, CA 95061

Yuzu Essence as Weed Killer?

While looking up information about yuzu, I came across this scientific paper from the Fourth Congress on Allelopathy. It's crammed full of scientific jargon, as you would expect, but the gist of it is that it's possible that essence of yuzu might be useful as a weed killer. The idea to investigate uses for yuzu waste came about because the large yuzu industry on Shikoku is starting to experience some environmental problems due to the concentration of waste products from yuzu production. The experimenters discovered that essences derived from yuzu peel waste could inhibit production of roots in cress, crabgrass, alfalfa, lettuce, and ryegrass. Of course, I'm waiting to see what the results on field bindweed are!

Ancient Figs

This is a picture of some figs found at an 11,400 year-old house near the ancient city of Jericho! Read more here.

Cherimoya Talk in Irvine, Nov. 27

Special CCA Field Trip
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
11:00 am to 2:00 pm
SOUTH COAST RESEARCH & EXTENSION CENTER
7601 Irvine Boulevard, Irvine
JOSÉ M. FARRÉ, PH.D.
Dr. Farré is a Director of La Mayora, a very important experimental research station in Malaga, Spain.
He is an expert in Cherimoyas, Avocados, Lychees, Longans, Mangos and other subtropicals. La Mayora
is home to an Annona collection of over 360 varieties from around the world. CCA is in the process of
receiving 40 new varieties from this collection through a bud wood exchange. Dr. Farré will speak on:
�� Cherimoya origin, distribution, propagation and varieties.
�� New cherimoya pruning techniques in Spain.
�� Q & A session about other subtropicals such as avocados, mangos, lychees and longans.
A light lunch (sandwiches) will be provided.
Space Limit: 80, by RSVP received. Admission: $10 per person, Payable to CCA.
RSVP �� Ken Burton �� Email: kenburton@earthlink.net �� Tel: 661-297-3090 (Please leave
your name and phone # clearly.) Confirmations will be emailed to you upon receipt of your check.
Mail checks (payable to CCA) to: Lynn Maxson, Treasurer, 1261 Ahart St., Simi Valley, CA 93065
Directions:
�� Southbound I-5 or I-405 -- or -- Northbound I-5
�� Exit Sand Canyon Av and proceed North on Sand Canyon Av
�� Turn Right onto Irvine Blvd. Go about 1 mile to SCR&EC on Left. (100 yards past Lambert Rd)