Pictures from the National Heirloom Expo

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Via Root Simple in Instagram, some pics from the 7th Annual National Heirloom Exposition in Santa Rosa. I’ll do some more in-depth posting later in the week, but a few short takeaways from my sixth trip to the expo: yes, you can grow paw paws and chestnuts in California, dahlias are amazing and we sure need more biodiversity in our supermarkets. And, to Kelly’s dismay, I came back with a cutting from one of Luther Burbank’s spineless prickly pear cactus varieties (that aren’t really spineless and caused a scandal in 1907).

#lutherburbank #pricklypear and spineless!

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#bittermelon

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Who knew that you can grow paw paws in California?

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A post shared by Erik Knutzen (@rootsimple) on

A post shared by Erik Knutzen (@rootsimple) on

A post shared by Erik Knutzen (@rootsimple) on

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7 Comments

  1. Thank you for the stunning photos! The collection of eggs is really beautiful, especially the very dark brown ones. Any idea what breed lays eggs that color?

    • Marans are famous for them. There are others. I have a Barnvelder that’s supposed to lay a really brown egg but she’s still too young so I don’t know yet if her eggs will be as chocolate as a Marans’.

    • I have a flock that’s a cross between Barnevelders and Ameraucanas. As I recall the Barnevelders in the flock they came from laid a darkish egg, maybe not as dark as Marans.

  2. Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos. I so wanted to make the Heirloom expo this year. Next year for sure. I used to have Marans and their eggs were a deep brown color … almost reddish brown. Really enjoy your blog and podcast.

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