The Reading Warehouse

CLICK HERE to download the chapter on "Growing Backyard Fogs" from the book From Tree to Table

From Tree to Table celebrates the satisfaction that comes from planting and enjoying fruit trees in the maritime Pacific region. It's a collaboration between the authors and amateur gardeners, horticultural experts, and dedicated chefs from up and down the West Coast. The result is a charming and accessible guide for local plant and food lovers that dispels the myth that gardeners in sun-challenged climes can never find happiness with fruit trees

With advice that's suitable for drizzly Seattle backyards and frosty Portland burbs as well as often-sunny Marin or foggy Richmond, the authors offer both anecdotal and expert advice for raising everything from apples to plums, lemons to figs, and much more in some of the most difficult conditions -- heavy soils, overcast and rainy weather, cool summers, and relatively mild winters.

In addition to describing growing, planting, and pruning tips in each fruit-specific chapter, From Tree to Table features recipes from the West Coast's best and brightest chefs, including San Francisco's Tom McNaughton, and two Seattle icons, Tom Douglas and Ethan Stowell. Readers will discover that it takes little technical know-how, minimal upkeep, and very little space to participate actively in the sustainability solution. After all, what could be more local and enduring than fresh apricots or Fuyu persimmons from a backyard tree that can feed generations to come?

MARY OLIVELLA has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past couple of decades. One of the first things she did when moving to her new home was to plant a cutting from a precious Black Mission fig tree that had grown at her old house. This cutting is now a fourteen-foot centerpiece in the front yard. When able to leave the garden and go indoors, Mary has been one of the founding members of MomsRising.org, an online grassroots movement advocating for a more family-friendly America through legislation and social change. Previously, Mary was the director of health promotion at UC Berkeley's health services, where she conducted research and published articles on emergent public health issues. Writing as Mary O'Donnell, she was the lead author for Lesbian Health Matters, a groundbreaking title published by the Santa Cruz Women's Health Collective, and is the author of several peer-reviewed articles in public health journals.

BARBARA EDWARDS is a potter and gardener who planted her first West Coast fruit tree 34 years ago when her first child was born. She taught public school for 20 years and initiated a garden and nutrition project in the school, growing organic fruits and vegetables with kids, incorporating this food into the school lunch program, and writing a monthly educational newsletter about the project for the community. Barbara was an early member of the Center for Ecoliteracy promoting gardens and sustainability projects in schools. She helped author a child's guide to the plants and animals of Berkeley and now blogs about ceramics and gardening, teaches ceramics to adults (with an emphasis on garden art), and currently has 19 fruit trees on her very small urban lot. Her dog, Gerti, tries her best to keep the squirrels away from the apples.