Sonoma Valley Olive Festival

It's the last month of the Sonoma Valley Olive Festival - sounds interesting.

Maybe a CRFG band would liven things up

Here is some music made from vegetables.

There must be plenty of fruit that would work as well.

I like this one even better.

Got Pumpkin Pie? Thank a Bee!

Would pumpkin pie be as plentiful without the diligent efforts of pumpkin-pollinating bees? Perhaps not.

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) entomologist James Cane and his colleagues are discovering more about America’s native bees that pollinate pumpkins, other squashes, and gourds. Most of these bees are members of the genus Peponapis or the genus Xenoglossa, according to Cane. He’s based at the agency’s Pollinating Insects Biology, Management and Systematics Research Unit in Logan, Utah.

Cane has shown, for the first time, that male Peponapis pruinosa play a surprisingly significant role in pollinating the blossoms of yellow summer squash. In the past, less than 10 percent of pollination has been attributed to male bees.
With both male and female bees on the job, fewer bees overall would be needed, according to Cane. That’s a plus for growers and beekeepers because it suggests that increasingly scarce, in-demand hives of honey bees could be freed up for work elsewhere.

Read more about this research in the November/December 2008 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.

Pomegranate Tasting at Wolfskill

The tasting took place in the little house you first encounter as you drive in, and it was packed! I counted at least 100 people at one point, most not from CRFG, and more kept coming. I asked Jeff Moersfelder if he knew why there were so many, and he said it was partly that more people were growing pomegranates these days (15,000 acres in the Central Valley, way up from just a few years ago) and the growers were passing the word on to their neighbors, partly that the word went around in UC Extension circles, and, especially, among the Master Gardeners. In any case, it was quite a mob.

They had laid out a lovely display of 17 pomegranates (bowls of arils and whole fruit) and half a dozen non-astringent persimmons (slices, whole fruit, and beautiful fall foliage) on tables in the middle of the room. There were forms for taking notes, and a tally sheet where they asked people to write their favorites. It looked as though the pomegranates Ariana , Ink, and Parfianka were in the lead, although my favorite was Molla Nepes. I liked that one because the flavor was strong, not too sweet, and had a good “sustain,” whereas the others faded quickly. My favorite from last year, Al-sirin-nar, was not on the table this time. Izu was the clear favorite among the persimmons.

Malli Aradhya spoke very briefly. He said the pomegranate has been around for at least 10,000 years. There are pomegranates that can grow in almost any climate, and yet all that variety is contained within only one species, the only one in the genus Punica. You can read more about their collection here.

After an hour or so they began loading up the vans, to ferry people out to the trees of pomegranates and persimmons, where we were invited to take as much fruit as we wanted. The only request was that people not take too much from any one tree, so that everyone could get some of the good ones. Some people managed to sneak out there in their private cars, and some were so impatient they walked rather than wait for the vans, which were constantly shuttling people back and forth. Some people took home buckets and buckets of fruit, some just a few, but for all, as usual, it was a real treat to be able to stroll through all the trees and see the many varieties of fruit “on the hoof.”

Malli said, seeing the huge turnout, that they were thinking of turning the tasting into a pomegranate festival. Click here to go to the website of the Wolfskill germplasm repository.

Aftermath.

Scientists Pit Fungus against Apple Pest

A cocktail of gaseous compounds emitted by a beneficial fungus may offer a way to biologically fumigate stored apples, ridding them of codling moth larvae.

Click here to read more.

Photo by Scott Bauer

Wolfskill Fig Tasting

We had a luxurious fig tasting at Wolfskill yesterday, under the 150 year-old olive trees which are, according to Ray Bruman, "like something out of Tolkein."

The good folks there had already laid out both figs and grapes for tasting. Very attractive - people were buzzing around with their cameras. The staff spoke briefly about their programs, figs and grapes in particular, including the startling (to me) fact that there is no organized breeding program for figs. Anywhere.

Then we began tasting. Figs: 'Ischia Black,' 'King,' 'Violette de Bordeaux,' 'Santa Cruz Dark,' 'Zidi,' 'Kadota 1,' 'California Brown Turkey,' and 'Calimyrna.' The favorite seemed to be 'Zidi.' Orchard manager Howard Garrison again presented his legendary grilled figs, 'Excel' stuffed with goat cheese and wrapped in prosciutto, and 'California Brown Turkey' with walnuts. It was interesting to compare the tastes of the grilled and fresh 'California Brown Turkey' - completely different.

And grapes too - a wonderful assortment: V. vinifera 'Autumn Black,' 'Chasselas Rouge' (an old classic), 'Alicante Bouschet,' 'Pirobelle' (very richly sweet), 'Longyan' (thought by some to taste like lychees), and 'Sultanina Marble' (fruit green flecked with brown, variegated foliage); V. labrusca 'Woodruff;' and, a hybrid, 'Muscat Angel.'

Disappointed not to be "out in the field"? Not to worry! At last year's tasting someone drove over and broke some irrigation risers so they didn't want us all driving out there ourselves. Instead, we piled into air-conditioned vans for the trip out to the trees. We enjoyed a running commentary on the various blocks of trees as we went (lots more persimmons scheduled to be planted! pomegranate tasting coming up....), and once there they invited us to sample all the figs we wanted from the trees.

It was hotter out there, so we didn't stay long. They drove us back to the parking area under the olives, where the top temperature inside a parked car was 85F.

Fruit from Frieda Kahlo

I went to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art today, which has a big exhibit of the paintings of Frieda Kahlo. I discovered that if you wait until one-half hour before closing time, entry to the museum is free, including special exhibits if they have room--which they did.

Almost the first painting I saw after getting off the elevator was a portrait of Luther Burbank, looking a little like Mr. Sycamore.




















Not long after, I came to a painting of Pitahayas!















And later still, some still lifes with fruit. (I've added a couple of extras here that aren't in this exhibit.) Rare fruit partout!