Past Events

Orchard Tour -- Homestead in Elfin Forest

The Orchard Tour this month was hosted by Gwyn Quillen at her home in Elfin Forest – northwest of Escondido. Her homestead (and it truly qualifies as a homestead) is on a 2-acre property that was mostly covered in native landscape when she moved in about 10 years ago.

We were welcomed by Gwyn with her typical spread of homemade breads, cheeses, hard cooked eggs and honey (from the bee boxes on her property). Gwyn has carved out amazing spaces for all of her animals, which include goats, chickens, pigs, ducks, donkeys and a horse, as well as the typical dog and cat.

Fruiting trees are spread throughout the property with site selection made with great care as her property has numerous microclimates --- yet she has found space for tropical, sub-tropical and temperate climate fruit trees. As an example, she described having trouble growing papayas, and wasn’t successful until she placed the trees against a concrete wall (part of her horse/donkey enclosure) with an eastern exposure --- where they are now flourishing with the added heat that “soaks” into the concrete.

Woman in overalls and blue baseball hat showing mushrooms on a log in a shaded yard

View more in the Members' Area

Chapter Meeting

Eric Middleton, an Integrated Pest Management Advisor from University of California Cooperative Extension, spoke to us about the Asian Citrus Psyllid and Mexican Fruit Fly, with the Oriental Fruit Fly and Black Fig Fly included for good measure.

Among the highlights:

Go to www.aphis.usda.gov to see a list of hosts for each of these pests, which vary by pest.
Most of the pests enter an area because of the public moving fruit, so cooperating with and publicizing quarantines helps.
When you remove suspected infested fruit, don’t compost it – double-bag it and throw it away. Notify the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) pest hotline at 1-800-491-1899.
What you can do: keep track of quarantines, control ants, remove fallen fruit and abandoned fruit trees, and don’t transport uninspected agriculture.