When to Plant an Avocado Tree: Frost, Scorch and Your USDA Zone
A young avocado tree has two enemies in its first months: frost and scorching sun. Plant too late in the cool season…
Hass vs Fuerte vs GEM: How Avocado Varieties Grow Differently
Not every avocado tree grows the same shape. The variety makes a big difference. Fuerte trees tend to spread out wide. Hass…
How to Choose, Ripen and Use Avocados
Picking avocados at the store, speeding up or slowing down ripening, and what to do with the fruit once it is ready.
Life on a Family Avocado Grove
What a year on a family avocado grove actually looks like, season by season.
The History of California Avocados, From Escondido to Today
How California avocados got here: the early introductions, the varieties that won, and the growers who are left.
How to Grow Avocado Trees: A Grower’s Complete Guide
Time to fruit, height, shallow roots, reading the leaves, pests, pruning and picking: how we grow avocado trees in Escondido.
What It Really Costs to Run a California Avocado Farm
We harvested 52,000 pounds of premium Hass and lost $30,203. The full economics of a California avocado grove: water, farm gate pricing,…
How Much Water Does an Avocado Tree Need? A Grower’s Complete Guide
An avocado takes 40 to 60 gallons. What that means next to a glass of milk, what your own tree actually needs,…
How to Harvest Fruit Without Damaging Tree Branches: Proper Stem Snapping Techniques
Some harvest days are about efficiency. This one was about fun, and about the snapping. The short version of the technique: hold…
Mexican Avocado Inspection Freeze: Impact on US Prices and Local Farmers
When the USDA pauses its inspections in Mexico, Mexican avocados cannot be cleared for export to the United States, so supply tightens…
