It is officially California avocado season! California avocados are available from spring through summer, peaking in June during California Avocado Month. Listen and learn all you need to know about choosing California avocados at your local grocery store or farmers market.

Rick Shade’s family has been farming in California for six generations, and growing avocados for three. Nowadays Rick’s wife and one of his sons are involved in his avocado farms, making it four generations of California avocado growers.

Growing California avocados sustainably is important to the Shade family, who maintain conservation buffer zones in groves to help protect local biodiversity (plants, animals, and insects).

They are part of an irrigated lands management group and use a variety of water conservation methods from computer-controlled irrigation and soil moisture sensing instrumentation, to high-density planting and drip irrigation.

Rick has been very involved with California avocado growers, serving multiple terms as chair of the California Avocado Commission Board of Directors. But first and foremost, he is an avocado farmer. Rick likes to say that being a farmer combines many professions into one package, and the more he can look at the dirt beneath his fingernails, the more he takes pride in an honest day’s work.

We discuss:

·     The history and source of avocados

·     Understanding varieties like Hass, Zutano, Gem, Fuerte, Bacon

·     How to best choose avocados at the grocery store

·     Sustainable farming practices

·     The truth about growing avocados from seeds

·     What you need to know if you dream of growing avocados

Learn more about Rick Shade’s avocado family farm at https://www.shadefarmmanagement.com

Learn more about in-season California avocados and varieties at https://californiaavocado.com

Website: Learn more about High Vibration Living with Chef Whitney Aronoff on www.StarseedKitchen.com

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