Bill Brandt just harvested these organic Baldwin pears from his Thousand Oaks backyard tree. He chooses varieties of fruit trees to plant in his garden that are suited for the climate in Ventura County!

Every variety of fig grows well in Southern California! Diana Lovejoy’s young mission fig tree is producing yummy organic figs!

 Bill Brandt has harvested these lovely Bourjasate Gris, Figo Preto, Penache, and Stroz fig varieties from his backyard!

Bill’s lychee tree has Bengal and Brewster varieties. Both do well in Southern California. Lychee fruit taste sweet with a citrus note and a floral flavor. Peal back the skin to eat the treat.

Bill grows three different varieties of organic seedless grapes in his garden that are perfect for Southern California gardens: Shelly, Jupiter, Concord. Through the years Bill has shared these grapevines by growing new ones from cuttings and giving them to members of the Organic Garden Club, friends, and neighbors.

Locally grown by a neighbor, these white sapote fruit taste like sweet creamy custard. To eat it, peal back the skin and scoop the center out with a spoon, avoiding the large seeds.

At our recent Organic Garden Club Board Meeting, Bill brought eight different varieties of apples harvested from two multiple grafted apple trees in his backyard. Varieties included: Newton Pippin, Baldwin, Orlean’s Reinette, Hudson’s Golden Gem, Esopus Spitzenberb, Kid’s Orange into Red (sibling of Gala), Braeburn, and Jonalicious. Every time we have a tasting, there is a different favorite variety; this time, it was Jonalicious!