Join us as we honor the Year of the Dragon with our Mandarin Magic Pick-n-Kitchen this Saturday, February 10 from 9AM - 2PM in the Glen Green cul-de-sac. 

Oranges and tangerines play an important role in Chinese New Year traditions, and this year we’ve got a bumper crop here in the canyon. We’ve also got a busload of friends coming up from A Place Called Home. So, all we need to add to the mix is you!

With all the lovely rain this week, our local citrus should be even sweeter and juicier when the sun comes out on Saturday. So we’re gonna need a lot of hands both picking and kitchening!

Here’s the scoop. We’ll break into two crews: Harvest and Kitchen. You can select your crew below. The Harvest Crew picks trees in our neighborhood ­– fruit that would otherwise go to waste – and brings the haul back to our home base in the cul-de-sac. Then the Kitchen Crew collectively prepares a portion of the fruit in our pop-up kitchen. This year we’re making Spiced Mandarin Oranges!

At midday, both crews will reunite for a delicious New Year’s themed lunch. Finally, the rest of the harvest will be sorted and boxed up for delivery to others in our community. We’re talking tons of citrus saved and brought directly to the people who need it most.

And where does the fruit go? The bulk of our harvest is shared with partners like A Place Called Home, an incredible community center in South Central LA, and the Downtown Women's Center, the only organization in LA exclusively dedicated to addressing the needs of women overcoming poverty and homelessness on Skid Row. We also work with Council District 4 to get fruit to folks in need right here in Hollywood.

Have a fruit tree that needs picking? Let us know and we’ll send a crew over.

Wow! What a rainy season!  After years of working to get a decent cover crop going on our groves of Orchard Trees, Mother Nature really gave us a hand. The mix of native and non-natives we’ve planted at the Mini-Grove, the Upper Mini-Grove and the Hollyridge Grove have really taken off! And now that some of them are starting to go to seed, it’s time to rein them in a little. In year’s past, we would’ve pulled them out. As if they were weeds! Now, thanks to all our Soil Sponge friends, we know better.

It’s time to Chop and Drop the Cover-Crop! 

That’s right, we’ll trim down the bulk of our cover crop plants, and leave them to mulch right where they fall - returning those nutrients to the soil, while leaving all those roots in place and the network of soil-building organisms undisturbed.

Pretty amazing stuff. And we can use your help! 

We’ll be Chopping and Dropping and even doing a little Composting next Saturday, April 29 from 9am to 1pm. Starting at the Mini-Grove, then moving to the Upper Mini-Grove and the Hollyridge Grove.

Bring hand-pruners or garden shears if you have them, wear good gloves and we’ll get right to work! We’ll help build the soil so that the trees we’ve planted really thrive!

Look forward to seeing you there!

Join us on Saturday, March 11 from 9AM - 1PM for our Citrus Bliss Pick (Part 2). This is a follow-up event to glean more fruit for our charities A Place Called Home & Downtown Women's Center. 

We will gather for the pick (and subsequent tasting of our Orchard-made water kefir) at the home of Tom & Nancy Amandes at 2751 Pelham Place, Los Angeles, CA 90068. This event will take place outside so please bring water and hand pruners (if you have them) and wear layers and sunscreen. Please let us know if you can make it!

Do you have a citrus tree that’s got more than you can handle? Let us know and we’ll send over a crew of neighborhood volunteers to pick it. And don’t worry, you control how much we harvest. We’ll only take as much as you want to share. If you prefer to pick the tree yourself and donate, that’s great too! Just let us know if you’ll be dropping off, or if you’d like to arrange for us to pick it up.

Back at our big January Composting Weekend, we had the good fortune to meet neighbor Sirach Fortuna, who runs the One World, One Nation Community Garden in Hollywood. Sirach brought a bunch of bottles of his delicious, homemade Water Kefir, in both lemon and pomegranate flavors – two fruits that The Orchard now grows plenty of!

Water Kefir is a delicious, healthy, slightly tangy, lightly fermented beverage that is reminiscent of a lighter, more refreshing kombucha. Goes down very easy!

This Saturday, Sirach has offered to come by and show us how it’s done! Normally, we do our Farmers' Circles outside. But with lots of lovely rain in the forecast, we’re moving this event to the Amandes' place on Pelham Place – outside if it’s dry, inside if it’s not. We’ll make a big batch of the first fermentation, then share it with everyone after the second fermentation in a couple weeks’ time.

Stop by and we’ll raise a glass to the Rainy Season!

The Details: Our Water Kefir Demo Farmers' Circle will take place on Saturday, February 25 from 10AM – Noon at Tom and Nancy Amandes' house at 2751 Pelham Place, Los Angeles, CA 90068. RSVP if you please.

We've really missed you! After three years of small and often distanced harvest, soil, and tree work, we want to have fun together again at one of our big community picks! Being with you is truly our bliss!

This time, we'll be gathering home-grown oranges, tangerines, lemons, and grapefruit that have valiantly flourished, despite the severe drought, to our basecamp at the Glen Green cul-de-sac in Beachwood Canyon. There we will use a small portion of the harvest to do some fruit-crafting, so you will learn a new recipe and have something to take home!

The vast majority of the fruit we pick together will go to our longstanding beneficiaries at Downtown Women's Center and A Place Called Home.

If this is your first time picking or kitchening, no worries -- we’ll teach you all you need to know to participate in whichever crew you choose to join. And while we ask that you select one, there is usually plenty of help needed in the kitchen once the picking is through. This event is entirely family friendly, and all ages are welcome. We just ask that small children only engage only in age-appropriate activities.

More details to come ... Please won't you join us? We'll be out there, rain or shine!

Harvest Crew: please bring a pruner/fruit picker (if possible), large canvas bag & water bottle and wear gloves, long sleeves & sturdy shoes

Please note: Our Citrus Bliss Pick-n-Kitchen will take place on Saturday, February 11th from 9AM-2PM in the Glen Green Street cul-de-sac in the Beachwood Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles. This event will take place outside so please bring water and wear layers and sunscreen.

Do you have a citrus tree that’s got more than you can handle? Let us know and we’ll send over a crew of neighborhood volunteers to pick it. And don’t worry, you control how much we harvest. We’ll only take as much as you want to share. If you prefer to pick the tree yourself and donate, that’s great too! Just let us know if you’ll be dropping off, or if you’d like to arrange for us to pick it up.

Greetings from the Pacific Southwest! The forecast for this weekend shows a chance of actual sunshine on Sunday morning! So much like Mom always said: take a break from your dang screens! And go outside and play with your friends! (Your friends from the Orchard, of course.)

We’ll gather promptly at 9am at our very lush Mini Grove, for a quick dedication of a couple special trees. Then we’ll hike down together to Beachwood Drive, where Orchard favorite Nora Anilian has promised Armenian goodies to go along with our coffee and baked goods! We’ll plant a number of fruit trees with Nora and a couple other adoptive tree parents nearby, to further add to our growing Virtual Orchard!

Then we’ll sit back, and hope that Mother Nature continues to supply more of this wonderful liquid sunshine to get our plantings off to a good start!

So come get your hands dirty! (Or muddy, as the case may be.) Rain or shine, we promise you won’t regret it. Bring gloves and work clothes, maybe a light jacket that sheds a little rain. 

One good turn deserves another, so the next day Trees & Soil Chiefs at Hollywood Orchard, Lora Hall and Tom Amandes will lead a smaller composting session at the Glen Green Mini Grove, followed by a hike through the hills to check in on a bunch of the fruit trees we've planted in seasons past, in order to prepare for our upcoming Diggin' In planting event January 15.

Your fresh veg & fruit scraps are very welcome for the compost pile, as are fresh grass cuttings and leaves. Again, dress for dirty work, wear good walking shoes or boots, bring some gloves, some water, a hat, maybe some garden shears, and we'll supply the rest.

We’ll be working with our favorite APCH students to do a thing or two with Poms & Persimmons from our recent picks. Our first hands-on, in-person event at APCH in years!

We could use a handful of adult volunteers to help the groups of kids with the activities. Please RSVP if you can join us to help make this day special and go smoothly.

Feeling a little cooped up? Come on outside and play! (Safely, of course.) We’ve got a bunch of trees to plant and more at our annual Diggin’ In Plant-o-rama!

Over the last seven or so years, Hollywood Orchard has planted over a hundred trees with loving adoptive tree parents throughout the neighborhood. This weekend, we’re going to add to that number with the first Diggin’ In day of the year.

We’ll start at the Mini Grove where we’ll fill in a number of available slots, and add to the thriving cover crop with a selection of native plantings. (Those of you who helped with the Soil Sponge work last month, you won’t believe all the sprouts coming up! We couldn’t have timed the rain any better!) Time permitting, a handful of us may run over to the Hollyridge Grove to plant a couple trees there.

Safety first: We’ll require masks and recommend vaccinations and boosters for all. Please bring gloves and water. Please RSVP below.

Thanks for all the volunteers who came out last Sunday. That was fun, but we have more work to do! Join us THIS SATURDAY at our Hollyridge Grove. We’ll be revisiting our plantings there, just two years after putting them in. And it’s all looking really good (especially after our three inches of rain this week)!

We’ll be Chopping & Dropping, Composting, Seeding and Mulching – all in preparation for our Diggin’ In next month. So come lend a hand, and play in the dirt. You’ll be glad you did. If you’d like to join us, please RSVP today.

These cooler months are always a good time to prepare our trees for the coming year. So we’ve got work days planned for pruning, cover-crop seeding, mulching, composting and even planting fruit trees to replace those we’ve lost during the drought.

First up is a safe, in-person event at the Mini Grove on December 12th at 9AM. RSVPs are limited and social distancing and masks are required. If you’d like to join us, please RSVP today.

From Surviving to Thriving

Our Mini Grove trees have been hanging in there, but with the weather getting hotter and drier, we know they’re going to need our help getting truly established and vigorous. And it all starts with the soil. Come lend a hand, and see how creating a Soil Sponge can help our hillside bloom, bear fruit and retain water better than ever.

We’ll be hosting a safe, in-person event at the Mini Grove on November 7th at 9AM. RSVPs are limited and social distancing and masks are required. If you’d like to join us, please RSVP today.

Growing Sub Tropical and Unusual Fruit with Steve Hofvendahl
Online Workshop/Webinar
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM (pacific)

Fruit Enthusiast Steve Hofvendahl will discuss his experience with odd and rare fruit. Wanna know the difference between White, Black, Chico and Mamey Sapotes? (Hint: none are related to each other). From exotic mangos to upstate New York paw paws and from vining kiwis to multi leading guavas (all 3 kinds of guavas), etc. – he’ll share the failures, surprise successes and valuable lessons learned in the 20 years of his Altadena fruit growing experiment. 

Steve Hofvendahl is an actor, Master Gardener, and was the Nursery Manager and Fruit Tree Kahuna at TreePeople for eleven years where he administered the successful distribution of over 50,000 fruit trees to Los Angeles County Angelenos.

You must RSVP in order to receive login details.

$10 suggested donation.

Urban Beekeeping 101 with Paul Hekimian, Director of HoneyLove
Online Workshop/Webinar
Wednesday, October 7, 2020
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM (pacific)

Are you interested in raising honey bees and reaping the benefits of having local honey? Does having your own beehive sound intriguing? If yes, then this class is for you. Urban Beekeeping 101 will cover everything you need to know on how to get started!

We will cover local bee ordinances, what urban beekeeping is or is not, where to place a hive, what equipment is needed, choosing a type of beehive, where to get bees, how to harvest honey and how to find a mentor. Join this webinar and learn from Paul Hekimian, 2nd generation beekeeper and director of HoneyLove.org, as he walks you through how to become an urban beekeeper.

You must RSVP in order to receive login details.

$10 suggested donation.

Integrated Pest Management with Dan Berry
Online Workshop/Webinar
Sunday, September 20, 2020
10 AM – 11:30 AM (pacific)

Integrated Pest Management or IPM is an ecosystem-based strategy that focuses on long-term prevention of pests or their damage through a combination of techniques. IPM minimizes risks to human health, beneficial and nontarget organisms, and the environment. Dan will discuss how to use IPM to approach pest issues in your home garden and, of course, on fruit trees. 

Dan Berry recently retired as nursery manager at The Huntington. While at The Huntington he created and implemented an IPM system for the famed rose garden, collaborated with researchers at UC Riverside for invasive shot hole borer and worked as part of a collaborative horticultural  team with professionals at Disneyland, The Getty, San Diego Zoo and other institutions.

You must RSVP in order to receive login details.

$10 suggested donation.

Seasonal Fruit Tree Care with Lora Hall
Online Workshop/Webinar
Saturday, September 5, 2020
10 AM – 11:30 AM (pacific)

While temperatures may still be scorching, autumn is approaching. Most fruit trees are done fruiting for the year and it is time to give them some loving attention to ensure a crop for next season and to promote overall tree health. Join arborist and Hollywood Orchard board member Lora Hall to learn about what kind of pruning can be done now, how to deep water trees and seasonal fertilizing regimes.

You must RSVP in order to receive login details.

$10 suggested donation.

Oh, how we wish we could spend a Farmers' Circle morning with you, drinking coffee, eating delicious baked goods, and discussing tree care. But while we can't gather in person, we can still come together to learn.

We are excited to introduce our new webinar education series. 

We are starting off our digital education efforts with a presentation on how to grow citrus fruit. Whether you are just starting out with a few new trees in pots on a balcony or have mature trees dating back to L.A.'s agricultural past, there will be valuable information on how to care for your trees. 

Growing Healthy Citrus Trees
Online Workshop/Webinar
Thursday, May 21, 2020
11AM –12:30 PM (pacific)

Topics covered will include soil health, watering, trimming and some basic information on pests and diseases. The format will be approximately a 45 minute presentation with half an hour for Q&A and discussion afterwards. We’ve missed you, and we really hope you’ll join us.

You must RSVP in order to receive login details.

How much water should I give my tree? What is mulch? What kind of fertilizer should I use? This Farmer's Circle will feature a brief presentation on how to select and care for citrus trees. Whether you have a hundred year old lemon tree or want to grow tangerines on your balcony we will cover the essentials of organic tree care. The morning will start off with coffee, pastries and neighborly chit chat. 

The Canyons are home to a variety of tough, well adapted plants that help prevent erosion, provide food and shelter for local wildlife and are often fragrant and beautiful too!

In this workshop we will work with plants found locally in the Hollywood Hills – lemonade berry (Rhus integrifolia), California sagebrush (Artemesia californica),  and black sage (Salvia mellifera) – and learn how to propagate them via cuttings. Each participant will go home with a small tray of plants to care for and, of course, instructions on how to do so. 

We ask for a $10 donation to cover the cost of materials. Please do so by Wednesday, March 18 so that we can plan for adequate supplies. 

SPACE IS LIMITED.
Please make your $10 donation to
reserve your spot and ensure attendance at this event. 

The Mini Grove is a project we started 5 years ago, to grow fruit trees on a steep, eroded hillside using log terracing, reclaimed water and home-made compost. And against all odds, the trees are thriving! But the Grove needs some TLC. Burrowing squirrels just brought down a chunk of the hill. We need to reclaim that dirt, mix it with straw and water, then pack it back in place. Dirty work, for sure, but also a great way to kick off a Sunday.

We'll meet on Sunday, March 1 at 9:00 AM at the Glen Green Street Mini Grove in the Beachwood Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles. When you walk up Glen Green Street, veer to the left at the cul-de-sac. Parking is limited. If you must drive, park on Beachwood Drive. Please wear work clothes and sunscreen, and bring water and gloves.

This year’s citrus crop is so good, our Jamboree barely put a dent in it! We need a spirited squad of Fruit Rangers to harvest a fresh supply of home-grown fruit for our amazing partners downtown. Please join us for a Citrus Quick Pick on Saturday, February 15 from 9AM-12PM. 

Please note that this is a pick only. We'll meet at 2470 Gower Street (map). Please bring gloves, water, and hand pruners, if you have them. RSVP below.

It's citrus season! Winter in L.A. means cool, crisp weather and an abundance of jewel-toned lemons, grapefruits, and oranges hanging from the trees. Join us in celebrating this abundance at our Citrus Jamboree Pick-n-Kitchen on Saturday, February 1 from 9AM-2PM. Our Pick-n-Kitchen events are a great opportunity to engage with neighbors and give back to our community. And we’re very excited to have families from A Place Called Home join us on our pick this year. We know this will be an incredible day of community engagement — you won't want to miss the fun! Plus everyone can bring home some freshly squeezed juice!

Is this your first Pick-n-Kitchen? Here’s the scoop. We'll break into two crews: Harvest and Kitchen. The Harvest Crew will pick fruit from trees in our neighborhood (most of which would go to waste) and bring the haul back to our home base. The Kitchen Crew will collectively prepare a small portion of the fruit in our pop-up kitchen. We'll juice some of the fruit and turn it into Creamsicle Jelly, but the rest will be sorted, boxed, and delivered to others in our community. We're talking TONS of citrus saved and delivered to people who will eat it!

And where does the fruit go? The majority of the citrus harvest is donated to A Place Called Home, an incredible community center in South Central LA, and the Downtown Women's Center, the only organization in LA exclusively dedicated to addressing the needs of women overcoming poverty and homelessness in Skid Row. Both of these organizations use the fruit to feed their communities.

Not an early bird? Have a previous morning engagement or just prefer to sleep in a little on a Saturday? You can still join us! Our crews will be going strong until about 2PM and we could always use extra hands to help sort and box the fruit for donation. Join us whenever you can!

Kitchen Crew, please bring:

8 oz jar for juice

Harvest Crew, please bring:

Hand pruner/fruit picker (if possible)

Large canvas bag & water bottle

8 oz jar for juice

please wear:

Gloves, long sleeves & sturdy shoes

Please note: Our Citrus Jamboree Pick-n-Kitchen will take place on Saturday, February 1st from 9AM-2PM in the Glen Green Street Cul-de-Sac (map) in the Beachwood Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles. There is no parking on Glen Green Street. If you must drive, please park on Beachwood Drive. This event will take place outside so please bring water and wear layers and sunscreen.