CALIFORNIA RARE FRUIT GROWERS
WEST LOS ANGELES CHAPTER
MEETING: Saturday Sept. 11, 2004 10:00 a.m.
The address for the September meeting is:
Ken Edwards Center room 100A
1527 4th Street., Santa Monica
Directions: Take the 10 West to 4th/5th Street exit. Keep left at the fork in
the ramp. Turn right onto 4th Street. 1527 is between Colorado and Broadway on
4th Street. You can drop off passengers and plants at the entrance and park
underground. Assigned spots are available to you outside of regular business
hours. There is an elevator to the street level rooms.
Topic: UNUSUAL TROPICAL FRUIT WE CAN GROW IN OUR BACK YARDS
Speaker: Roger Meyer
Roger Meyer will speak to us on unusual fruit we can grow in our back yards.
Roger and his wife Shirley have a flourishing rare fruit tree nursery in
Fountain Valley. His talk will include fruiting trees, vines and bushes that we
seldom see growing here but might want to try, such as the Jakfruit, which was
long assumed to be impossible to
grow in this area. He will also cover some of the more familiar fruit, such as
the Surinam Cherry and the Cherimoya.
Roger, a very active and long term member of the CRFG, is
exceptionally knowledgeable about tropicals and subtropicals and how to grow
them in our climate. He and Shirley make fact finding trips to Asia, the Middle
East, Europe, etc., to study and obtain plants. Sometimes he leads a group of
plant enthusiasts to other countries.
Roger will bring fruit to sample and plants for sale! Call or email him to place
special orders. He will bring your orders to the meeting. (714) 839-0796
exoticfruit@95net.com
Below are some of the trees he has available. He will bring a couple of each
from list A, possibly one of each from list B, and will not bring any from list
C unless you call and request the order.
List A: Lychee, Longan, Mango, Barbados Cherry, Surinam Cherry (1 gal), Cherry
Rio Grande (1 gal), Kong White Wax Jambu, Grumichama (1 gal), and Hong Kong Pink
Guava, Starfruit. Pitahaya, Chico Sapote
List B: Ylang Ylang, Green Sapote, All Spice, Bay Rum, Malay Apple, Peanut
Butter Tree, Rose Apple (1 or 2 gal), Cherimoya, Atemoya, Canistel, Black Sapote,
Kei Apple (1 gal), Big Jim Loquat, Yellow kiwi, Jakfruit, Guanabana
List C: Jambolan, Sausage Tree, Ice Cream Bean, Jujube, Green Kiwi (both sexes
on one plant).
Chapter News
In August we enjoyed a field trip to the Papaya Tree Nursery, a rare fruit
nursery in Granada Hills, run by Alex Silber. What a great nursery!!! We were
all impressed by the number and quality of his trees. He has fruited trees most
of us have only heard about. Alex is very knowledgeable and his explanations
were thorough and clear, so that even the most novice among us could understand.
He shared many good points on growing trees and how to make the most of what you
plant, so you have successes rather than failures. He emphasized the need to
thin to get better flavor and larger fruit and the need to prune almost all
trees heavily. He even showed us how to air-layer in order to propagate new
plants.
In the two plus hours Alex led us through his nursery, we covered a lot of areas
of rare fruit growing and history. It is remarkable how he grows so much in a
residential back yard! For example, we were very impressed with his Jin (now
called Chang) jujube, an exceptionally tasty fruit on beautiful columnar trees,
his heavily fruiting Sapodilla (or Chico Sapote), and his fruiting Jaboticaba.
His caper bushes were beautiful and he explained, in detail, how to prepare the
plant and brine needed to make the capers we use with our food.
At the end of the tour Alex shared some of his Miracle Fruit with us and then
gave us each a slice of lemon to show the effects of the small, rather bland
berry. The lemon tasted like sugar candy. Alex noted that the Miracle Fruit
enhances almost all foods, including meats, but suggested avoiding it when you
are drinking a good wine!
Alex provides a hand-out with a description of the plant and the varieties,
planting suggestions, watering and fertilizer needs, general suggested care of
the plant, and information about the fruit for each plant he sells. Thank you
Alex, very much, for your great tour, and congratulations on your very
impressive nursery.
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We want to make the West LA Chapter active and exciting. Don't forget to take
part in our chapter! We need your suggestions. We need your companionship. We
really need your ideas for speakers and field trips. Come to the board meetings!
Just tell any board member you would be interested in attending. We will be sure
you get notice of the next meeting. We would love to have you!
Don't forget to pay your national & local dues. Our parent CRFG depends on dues
to maintain our meeting site insurance as well as to publish the Fruit Gardener.
National dues are $30. Brochures are always available at the meetings or on the
internet site: www.crfg.org
Our local chapter depends on dues to pay for site rental, newsletters, and
purchase refreshment supplies. Local dues are only $5. Please send a check to
Joan Wilder, treasurer (see address under chapter officers), or pay at the
meeting. Even if you receive your notice by email, we still need your support.
At $5 we are the best deal in town!
Chair: Joe Heinz 310-457-3040 email: heinnormjoe@aol.com
Vice Chairs: Norma Heinz & Margaret Frane
Secretary: Selma Seps
Treasurer: Joan Wilder
Field Trip Coordinator: Herb Lees
Plant Chair: Ray Bourguignon
Raffle: Claire Lees
Hospitality: Lily Downing
Newsletter: Hal & Cicely Golden, Janet Leigh
Chapter News Reporter: Ray Bourguignon
Membership: Margaret Frane
Back to California
Rare Fruit Growers West Los Angeles Chapter page.
Previous Newsletters: May 2004, July 2004, August 2004
Website questions or suggestions send to Samuel Chong at samuelchong719@yahoo.com. Free hosting is provided by Los Angeles Chinese Learning Center