L.E. Cooke Blog

Wednesday, 23 September 2009 03:00

Sugar Cane Jujube

Written by
Ziziphus jujuba 'Sugar Cane' This exciting tree will be a new offering for the 2011 shipping season (sorry - not 2010). The trees you see here were just planted January 23, 2008!  The amount of fruit the second year is impressive. These trees will be supplying the graft wood for the trees to be sold in 2011. Based upon the rapid growth, if we have enough seedlings, we should get a good sized initial crop…
Tuesday, 22 September 2009 03:00

Linn's Fruit Bin

Written by
  Linn's in Cambria CA Every year here in the Central Valley of California the summer temperatures make trips to our beautiful coastline a must for my family. We love the beautiful scenery and the feel of an ocean breeze. We travel from Santa Cruz south to Pismo and all points in between but when we are in close proximity, we always stop at Linn's in Cambria. If you have never been to Cambria and…
Tuesday, 22 September 2009 03:00

Vitex agnus-castus

Written by
a.k.a. Chaste Tree, Monk's Pepper, Chaste Berry, Sage Tree, Hemp Tree When I was asked to consider growing Vitex not all that many years ago, I confess I had to look it up. As I read various descriptions, the feature that jumped out at me was the very wide range of climates that this large shrub/small tree grew well in. I remember reading that it had a range from Washington State to the Desert Southwest…
Saturday, 12 September 2009 03:00

Seminar: "Your Sustainable Backyard - Fruit Trees"

Written by
  On what was supposed to be a hot Friday in August, I had the pleasure of participating in the first, hopefully annual, seminar presented by the California Center for Urban Horticulture, "Your Sustainable Backyard: Fruit Trees"   This event sold out very fast.  I would guess that this is mainly due to the huge amount of interest in fruit that is happening right now, and partially because the event was held off of the…
Thursday, 10 September 2009 03:00

Stop! Is That a Pomegranate?

Written by
"Stop!  Is that a Pomegranate?" Yesterday, Lloyd, Tom and I took a buyer around the fields from one of the nationally recognized wholesale nurseries.  Of course we were all looking at the shades and ornamental trees - things that they buy.  They were not looking for fruit trees (although in today's economy they were wistfully wishing they were). (1/4 mile long rows of 2 year pomegranates) As we entered another one of the fields, the…
Monday, 19 October 2009 03:00

Massively Fruiting Granny Smith Spur Apple

Written by
I have got to show you this tree!  Not too impressed?  OK, I should have said the fruit on the tree: Every year at the end of October or early November I bring visitors and staff to see the Granny Smith Spur Apple.  Take a look under/inside the tree: It fruits like crazy!  Perfect, juicy, tangy, Granny Smith Apples.  Look at how loaded it is.  And you have to remember that this tree had most…
Tuesday, 08 September 2009 03:00

Champagne Peach

Written by
Champagne Peaches!     Every year I await the coming of August and mourn its passing because it is the month that my favorite peach ripens.  If you like sweet, juicy, white peaches then the Champagne is for you.  Just save some for me.     It is good enough to pick and eat while standing next to the tree or you can take things a step further and use it to make multiple culinary…
Tuesday, 01 September 2009 03:00

Making Ice Cream

Written by
Most years we participate in Reedley College's intern program where foreign students come to learn about horticulture and farming practices.   During the summer, teams of 3 to 5 students work at several different places getting hands-on training. This July we had four students from Honduras join us for three weeks. Very delightful and smart kids. My father oversaw their training with frequent classroom (conference room) training and hands on experience in many facets of the…
Monday, 31 August 2009 03:00

Peach Ice Cream

Written by
This is a catch up blog from July - been traveling too much to keep up to date. Photo is of Lloyd Cassidy (Northern California Territory Manager) picking tree ripened peaches (and apricots and nectarines) to make home made peach ice cream for our office potluck.  FYI - we only hire people who can cooke (pun intended). This budwood orchard is one of several around the nursery.  Right next to the main office is the…
Monday, 24 August 2009 03:00

From Valley to Mountains to Valley Again

Written by
I scheduled too much for today and did not think it possible to really do - or at least do well.  My goal was to visit every customer from Central Point/Medford Oregon through Mount Shasta, California.  Ten visits and surprisingly no tickets later I am in Redding (hot - already miss the Oregon weather!).  Unfortunately a few owners were not it, so a few visits were shorter than desired - allowing me to get to…
Page 22 of 24