Past Events

March Chapter Meeting

If you missed the March chapter meeting, you missed a fun one. Dr. Gerry Spinelli from the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UCANR) gave a hands-on lecture about improving irrigation for fruit trees, complete with volunteers from the audience, pop quizzes by show of hands, and plenty of props passed around.

We learned about porosity of soil based on type, and why it matters when watering our trees. There was math (how much does your irrigation system supply in one hour) and we saw how evapotranspiration (EVT) numbers can help us calculate when to water next. We also explored how water pressure is affected by where on a hill your tree is, and why a pressure-compensating emitter might be a good idea.

Gerry’s presentation is available in the Members’ Area.

View more in the Members' Area

Dr. Spinelli explains a test the volunteers will perform to explain soil porosity

2025 Grafting Event

This year’s grafting event was held outdoors on a beautiful Saturday. We had experts at tables located around Norway Hall each demonstrating and sharing how to effectively graft using the techniques that worked best for each of them. Members purchased root stock (we sold out) and had a chance to graft their own apple, pear, or peach trees with more unusual varieties.

Shown: an animated .gif of a member cutting into root stock using a box cutter and a "finger saver" (large washer) under the guidance of grafting instructor Cory. Check out the member newsletter for other images at the event, including a successful "graft" of two participants whose fingers were grafted to each other.

animation of a member cutting into rootstock under the direction of instructor Cory