Jack Elliott's Santa Barbara Adventure

Alligator Pears First Successfully Introduced To USA In Santa Barbara

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Jack Elliott

Morning dew on an avocado leaf in my small backyard orchard.

“. . .the avocado became definitely established [in California] through the introduction of three trees from Mexico in 1871 by Judge R. B. Ord of Santa Barbara. Two of the three trees of his importation bore fruit for many years in Santa Barbara and served to create interest in further plantings.”

—Robert W. Hodgson, “The California Avocado Industry” (1930)

According to the California Avocado Commission, Judge R. B. Ord is credited with not just establishing avocados in Santa Barbara for the first time, but his trees represent the first successful introduction of the bumpy skinned fruit, sometimes called an “alligator pear,” to the United States in general.

It can be said that the roots of the California avocado industry, which today produces about 90 percent of the nation’s half-billion dollar domestic crop, were sunk in Santa Barbara and that the blossoming of the nation’s love of the fruit began with three trees planted in the sunny seaside town known as the American Riviera.

Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing: A Santa Barbara Original

Earth Day Founding Inspired By Visit To Santa Barbara

Posted in Santa Barbara | Tagged Alligator Pear, Avocados, Farming, Food, History, Horticulture | Leave a comment

Fish Falls, Santa Ynez Mountains

Posted on August 1, 2014 by Jack Elliott

The large emerald pool below Fish Falls might be the best summertime swimming hole on the frontside of the Santa Ynez Mountains in Santa Barbara County. It’s deep enough to dive into from the top of the waterfall, if you’re good, and wide enough for several people to comfortably swim around.

Even in the current severe drought in the middle of summer the perennial pool remains clear cool and clean, and home to a number of decent sized rainbow trout or steelhead.

Prior to man-made obstructions in the lower watershed which bar access to the upper reaches of the creek, I believe this waterfall stood as the natural end point for native trout swimming in from the Pacific Ocean into the mountains to spawn. It must of been like a sandstone barrel ‘o fish back then.

Posted in Santa Barbara County | Tagged Creeks, Hiking, Hiking (2), Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Santa Ynez Mountains, Steelhead, Swimming Holes, Trout, waterfalls, Wildlife | 13 Comments

Arrowhead Springs, Drought Resistant Summer Seep

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Jack Elliott

The Chumash pictograph panel at Arrowhead Springs. The arrowhead-shaped mineral stain surrounding the rock art points down to a spring issuing from under the boulder.

Santa Barbara county-wide precipitation for the 2013-14 water year stands at 41 percent of normal or 8.03 inches. The driest year on record was 2006-07, which measured in at 6.41 inches. (Third driest was 1924 with 6.43 inches.) (County of Santa Barbara)

Last season’s county-wide rainfall totaled 46 percent of normal and the year before that it was 66 percent of normal. Not only has far less than normal precipitation fallen in the last three seasons, it has gotten drier each consecutive year.

Earlier this month it was reported that 80 percent of California was in “extreme drought.” Santa Barbara County is now experiencing even worse conditions and has reached the next official level, “exceptional drought.” In addition, it was also reported that from January through June, the vast majority of the county was unusually warm with “record high temperatures.”

One of several bedrock mortars at the spring site.

On a recent July visit to Arrowhead Springs Chumash rock art site, I found the spring no longer held standing water above soil level, but the ground was still damp. I was able to dig out a couple inches of gravel and water quickly filled the small hole.

Would a body be in need of a drink, the spring would provide in this exceptionally dry summer season. Though unlabeled on an official USGS map, and certainly not a perennial gusher, Arrowhead Springs appears to be a fairly reliable seep. The well-hidden shady spring with views of the Pacific Ocean and Santa Cruz Island was obviously of great value to some Chumash Indians for this reason.

The degree of severity of the current drought in California has not been seen in over 120 years, according to NOAA. It’s a good year to witness the nature of these exceptional times in the Los Padres National Forest, and to measure them against past experiences during rainier years, and to see how the drought affects the land, its plants and animals.

A view of the seep at the base of the boulder, moist but no pooled water.

Reaching back under the boulder, digging out a couple of inches of sediment with a stick, the seep filled a small depression with water within seconds.

Related Post:

Arrowhead Springs Chumash Rock Art

Posted in Santa Barbara County | Tagged Archaeology, Bedrock Mortars, Chumash, Drought, Hiking, Indians, Los Padres National Forest, Nature, Photos, Pictographs, Rock Art, Santa Ynez Mountains | 4 Comments

Calochortus Fimbriatus, Rare Wildflower

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Jack Elliott

Calochortus fimbriatus, the late-flowered Mariposa lily, is in bloom at the moment in the Santa Ynez Mountains. A patch of the flowers thrives in the droughty dryness and summertime heat on a south facing rocky hillside at this particular location.

This variety of Calochortus or lily is listed by the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) as being rare throughout its range. Observational information about rare, threatened or endangered native plants and animals can be submitted to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife via their Native Species Field Survey Form. The data is added to the California Natural Diversity Database, which according to CNPS is “the largest, most comprehensive database of its type in the world. It presently contains more than 65,000 site-specific records on California’s rarest plants, animals and natural communities.”

Posted in Santa Barbara County | Tagged Calochortus, Flora, Hiking, Hiking (2), iPhoneography, Los Padres National Forest, Mariposa Lily, Nature, Photos, Rare Plants, Santa Ynez Mountains, wildflowers | 2 Comments

Eddy Fields’ Initials, Manzana Creek (Circa 1900)

Posted on July 22, 2014 by Jack Elliott

Blue skies and golden grass along lower Manzana Creek Trail at the Pratt homestead site.

“The Pratts homesteaded just below Cold Spring on Manzana Creek. They had a stepson by the name of Eddy Fields. At the site of the Pratt house you can still see a large “E” and “F” carved into the trunk of a live oak tree.”

-Historical Overview of the Los Padres National Forest, E.R. “Jim” Blakley and Karen Barnette (1985)

The oak is fairly thin and ordinary, unremarkable, another tree in the forest like so many others. Not like the oaken hulks aside the grassy flat several miles away on the west end of Sunset Valley in lower Munch Canyon, which in their height and massive girth draw attention and would make good targets for a bored mind and idle hands.

The oak must of been a relatively minor tree a hundred years ago when he carved his initials into it. I wonder why Eddy chose it. Maybe it just happened to stand between his family’s cabin and the nearby uncommon pocket of the creek that holds a perennial pool, where I imagine he might of played.

The Pratts stayed only a short time on Manzana Creek and apparently never proved up on their homestead claim. They sold their stove to Edgar B. Davison, a forest ranger who used it to outfit his Fir Canyon station on Figueroa Mountain: Edgar B. Davison’s Fir Canyon Cabin (circa 1900).

The E

The F

Eddy’s oak on the left.

There is a pocket of clear cool water in the creek by the oak. This in the month of July during a record drought while most of Manzana Creek is dry. At the moment of this writing a stack of rocks sits on the bank above the pool to note the uncommon availability of good water for passing hikers in an otherwise dry landscape. It wasn’t a bad choice for a site to stake a claim as a homesteader.