Central Coast Chapter Meetings & Other Events
Our Newsletter Keeps Everyone Up To Date. Send Us Your Photos & Events! Let others know what's going on by sending your articles, photos, and event info to: crfgccnewsletter@gmail.com. Please submit your items by the 15th of each month for inclusion in the next newsletter.
What You Can Do:
-
Sign the petition: https://c.org/dX6g9XF9pd
-
Write to the people mentioned in this blog:
https://tinyurl.com/w7rjawp4
Loss Of Prime Agricultural Land:
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, is considering a plan that could replace nearly 40 acres of prime agricultural land—currently used for hands-on student instruction—with a hotel conference center, senior housing, student housing, and more.
This land is a living classroom that advances Cal Poly’s “Learn by Doing” mission. It gives students and the public opportunities to learn about plants that grow to our area, along with essential care practices for fruiting plants in general, such as pruning, grafting and propagating.
Please help protect our orchard and all of this irreplaceable Ag land for future students and the broader community. Sign the petition and write to the community leaders listed in the blog (link above).
Learn More:
Act Now!
Save Cal Poly's Prime AG Land!
Orchard Maintenance Day: 9am - 11am
Joe Sabol Celebration of Life: 11am - Noon
Saturday, November 7, 2026
Event
9am - 11am: Help clean up the Demonstration Orchard for the winter.
We will be planting newly donated trees, eradicating weeds, cutting back the passion fruit vine at the back of the orchard (now is the time to get cuttings to propagate your own!), cutting off dead tree branches, checking the fence for any needed repairs, etc.
11am - noon: A Celebration of Life Honoring Joe Sabol
Please join us as we celebrate the life of Joe Sabol and the lasting contributions he made to the California Rare Fruit Growers, especially our Central Coast Chapter. Joe passed away on October 8th, 2026.
Joe helped our chapter grow through his enthusiasm for fruit growing and sharing knowledge. He hosted the chapter’s earliest scion exchanges at his home, bringing people together to share varieties, learn from one another, and nurture a growing community.
Through the school apple-grafting program he started in 1998, Joe taught thousands of high school students how to graft apple trees—sharing not only a skill, but the excitement of growing a tree of their own.
Together, we will honor Joe’s life, his generosity, and the many connections he helped cultivate. Please bring your favorite memories and stories to share.
Bring
-
Your folding chair, water bottle, hat, sunscreen, and name tag.
-
Your favorite pruning and weed eradicating tools.
-
Snacks to share.
-
Wear flat, stable walking shoes for walking on dirt.
-
No alcohol or dogs.
Location
The orchard is located on the Cal Poly campus, off of Highland Drive. We will have signs out to help guide you.
Directions:
1. In San Luis Obispo, take Santa Rosa St. (aka Hwy 1) to Highland Drive.
2. Turn east onto Highland Drive.
3. Proceed until you see a CRFG parking sign on the right. Park in the dirt area along the fence, out of the way of the bike lane and foot path. This is the area marked in red on the adjacent map.
4. Walk back up Highland Dr. to the orchard.
November Meeting: Stardust Grove, Cambria, CA
Saturday, November 14, 2026
Event Details
More details will be posted here once they are available. Stay tuned!
Location: 6115 Santa Rosa Creek Rd, Cambria, CA 93428
The public is welcome! Bring a friend.
Restroom will be available.
Bring
-
Your folding chair, water bottle, hat, sunscreen, and name tag.
-
Snacks to share.
-
Wear flat, stable walking shoes for walking on dirt.
-
No alcohol or dogs.
Schedule
(Note: all times are approximate and may change slightly due to actual time needed.)
12:30 - 1:00 Set up crew.
1:00-1:30: Socializing and refreshments. Share your harvest with other attendees, and bring home-grown fruit, if you have it, or a snack to share and your own water.
1:30: Chapter business meeting.
1:45-3:00 Presentation and tour of property.
Other Future Chapter Meetings & Events
Please note that these future meetings are subject to change. Recheck this page closer to the date of each event.
More information about these events, including address details and times, will be provided here closer to each event.
All meetings are on Saturdays unless otherwise noted below.
December 12, 2026 Meeting: Annual Potluck & Plant Exchange
Members only.
More details will be listed here closer to the date of this event.
Location info will be emailed to members only.
January 9, 2027 Meeting: Annual Pruning Workshop
Learn how to prune your fruit trees! Guest speaker followed by hands-on pruning experience in our demonstration orchard at Cal Poly. More details will be listed here closer to the date of this event.
February 27, 2027 Meeting: Annual Scion Exchange & Grafting Workshop
Grafting demos and scions of many types and varieties. Rootstock and grafting supplies for sale. More details will be listed here closer to the date of this event.
March 13, 2027 Meeting: Annual Propagation Workshop
Grafting and other types of propagation demonstrations. More details will be listed here closer to the date of this event.
CRFG Demonstration Orchard Workdays
Be sure to check here the morning of each workday for rescheduling or cancellations.
Orchard cleanups usually involve removing weeds, spreading wood chips, pruning trees, raking leaves, mending fences, cleaning the kiosk, reorganizing tools in the tool shed. It's also a good opportunity to chat with your fellow CRFGers, learning and sharing helpful hints for growing your fruiting plants.
Sat Nov 7th, 2026: 9am - 12pm (end-of-year cleanup)
Our Chapter Is In Need Of Volunteers!
Members, we are seeking additional volunteers to support the effective operation of our chapter.
At present, a small number of individuals are carrying out many of the responsibilities required to sustain our activities, and we would like to to ensure that this workload is shared more broadly.
Please review the list of available volunteer positions and consider whether you might be willing to serve in one of these roles. We will provide all necessary information, training, and support to help you fulfill your responsibilities with confidence.
If you are interested in any of these positions, please contact Terri Monell at (805)-440-5818 or terrimo59@gmail.com.
We Have Pheromone Loops For Sale!!!
Pheromone loops are available and are plentiful! Codling moths are key pests of apples and pears. Pheromone loops deceive the male moth, thereby helping to disrupt the mating cycle. Place 2 to 3 loops in the top third of your apple and pear trees. Petals should be about 90% off and small fruit is setting before you loop your trees!
Please contact Terri Monell at 805-546-8981 (landline) or 805-440-5818 (cell) if you are interested. Terri is available to sell loops ONLY until April 24th and then again from May 1st on.
Meetings
Our meetings are usually held on the second Saturday of the month, with the exception of the February meeting which is held on the fourth Saturday. (The February meeting is the annual scion exchange and grafting workshop.) In general our group gathers initially for refreshments and socializing, followed by the meeting. This is not always the case though, so check this web page or our newsletter for details on each meeting.
Most of our meetings are open to the public. We encourage the public to join us and learn with us!
Please read our "meeting manners" below prior to attending. No pets at any meeting, please.
Our Best CRFG Manners While Visiting Homes, Nurseries, Growers, etc.
-
We never bring pets to meetings/tours and we never even ask if we may!
-
We do our best to use public facilities or our own restroom before the meeting.
-
We do our best not to ask to go inside the hosts’ home.
-
We never pick fruit, flowers, foliage, weeds, seed pods and we never even ask.
-
We do our best to car pool and park with great respect to our host and the neighborhood.
-
We never talk when our host is talking. We do our best to stay up close when given a tour.
-
We never “take over” the tour and tell everyone how we do it at our home!!
-
We have thoughtful questions but try not to ask questions that embarrass our host.
-
We do our best to help our host feel good, feel appreciated. We clean up our mess.
-
We stay on the path, with our host …and never go walking around on our own unless given permission by the host.
-
At the end of the tour, we make a special effort to thank the host. We “gather up” and have some sort of “closure” to the tour.
-
We even write thank you notes when we get home, especially if we asked a lot of questions, were impressed, were surprised, were treated well. We write thank you notes even when we are not the leader.