Thayer Reno
The front yard fruit garden!
Decades of apartment + small home living had given me a dream of
having a generous, sun-filled yard in which to grow my own fruits.
The front yard of this home gets a ton of sunlight, so I joined the
"California Rare Fruit Grower's Association" and got to work :)
Some pictures of the fruit garden
After a few years of TLC, the garden started bearing fruit -- literally!
Pineapple guava:
These little fruits taste like a mix of pineapple, guava, and mint, with a hint of bubblegum?
The skin is technicaly edible, but I recommend scooping out the insides instead.
They are ripe when they fall on the ground, so harvesting's a snap!
Loquat:
For the first year, I thought this little guy wasn't gonna make it... and then in year 3: BAM!
It shot up, but most importantly, produced several clusters of delicious loquats.
A loquat to me is most like a small, tart version of an apricot, with a hint of muscat flavor. Messy to eat, but yummy.
Passionfruit:
Probably my favorite tropical fruit, hard to find in supermarkets and pretty expensive when I can find them (like $4 each!).
I love this fruit so much that I planted three of them -- one in the front, two in the back. Two purple, one yellow.
This one here isn't ripe yet -- when they ripen they shrivel up, and have a tart, tropical orange inside.
"Ice Cream Bean" tree
Yet another exotic favorite that can be hard to buy in stores. I've seen them for sale online or in farmer's markets for $10 - $20 each (!!!)
When the pods ripen, they open up to have large seeds surrounded by a fluffy white fruit that yeah, sort of tastes like ice cream!
It takes some practice to nibble around the seeds, but it's worth it.
Fun fact: this tree actually ADDs nitrogen back to the soil, improving it!
"Atemoya" tree
The "atemoya" is a hybrid between a cherimoya and soursop (aka "guanabana" or "sugar apple").
This tree required a lot of TLC, but it's been in the ground now for about two years and is now thriving!
Full disclosure: these trees can take up to 5 years before they start fruiting. I've had some initial flowers on this guy, but no fruit yet. It's the only tree I have that has not yet matured to fruiting - might need another couple of years of patience?
If you're curious what it will taste like, the local 99 Ranch market sometimes has its relative, the cherimoya, for sale. I think they cost about $8 each... so you can get a sense of what you're waiting for :)
(Placeholder for image;
I forgot to take a picture of this one last week -- it's to the left of the avocado and loquat .. it's a smaller tree, still growing) I'll add an image soon!
"Oroblanco" grapefruit:
Spanish for "White Gold", these grapefruits are uncommonly sweet, and lack a lot of the unpleasant acid flavor that other types of grapefruit sometimes have.
They tend to ripen by around November / December.
There's also a red graprefruit tree in the very front of the yard.
Pomegranate
This little tree still has some growing to do, but it gave us its first few harvest of modest pomegranates this year.
Three different types of tangerines
The one to the right of the house is a "Kishu" mandarin... they are small but honestly the sweetest I've ever tasted (and seedless too!). I need to look back in my files to find the other 2 types -- those are more standard ones.. the tree (and fruits) grow larger than the Kishu... I put those around the permiter so that they'll do dual-duty as privacy hedge as well.
"Little Cado" Avocado
Like the pomegranate, avocado trees can take several years until they grow fruit, but behold!
This is a good sign for the upcoming years!
UPDATE!!!! As of April 29, 2026, there are a TON of baby avocados currently growing!!! You know when you walk down the street and see an avocado tree dripping with fruit? Well, my darling Little Cado looks like it's on its way to becoming a prolific producer! I'm such a proud momma!!!
Also! There is a lime tree in the front yard that I forgot to take pictures of -- it's got babies now too, so you can make your own guacamole if things keep up!!!
