 Every
month we are going to share a different Plant.
Plant of the Month 2008
The Stein Family
Farm Museum is very proud of our plantings. We have
several trees and some shrubs that date back to the original Stein family's
residence (1900 to 1950). When the Farm was turned into a museum, a landscape
specialist identified what was present. Many plants that were not considered
historically correct were removed, and now the policy (with some exceptions) is
to plant varieties that were in existence more or less around the turn of the 20th
Century. Some of the exceptions may include current varieties of vegetables and
flowers.
The Farm also participates in planting activities that you can participate in.
We have regular Saturday gardening activities that includes regular weeding,
pruning, watering, planting and harvesting from our community garden plots, and
you can work in our compost piles and worm bins. We also celebrate Arbor Day
with tree planting, during Farm Days children can plant potatoes, and May Day
includes making flower filled May baskets.
If you are going to come in a group larger than a family of 4, please let us
know before you show up, or we may not have enough tasks to spread around!
We
will feature a different special plant at the Farm each month. "Old" plant
articles will still be at the site, you can find them at our
Flower Archives
July
Olive Trees
(Olea europaea)
We
know Charles Stein planted the olive trees in the boulevard along the north end
of the Farm property; he had to get special permission from National City's City
Council to remove the eucalyptus that were there earlier, in 1902. Two other
olive trees on the property may also have been planted by him. One is near the
walkway to the south of the house. The other is an unusual variety with very
tiny fruit, located in the picnic area. Olives were a particularly important
crop in the early days of National City.
The Olive (Olea
europaea) is a
species of
small tree in the
family
Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern
Mediterranean region, from
Syria and the
maritime parts of
Asia Minor and northern
Iran at the south
end of the
Caspian
Sea. Its fruit, the
olive,
is of major agricultural importance in the
Mediterranean region as the source of
olive oil.
Picture and specifications by
Plant Archive
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