The Central Coast California Rare Fruit Growers Association (CRGF) recently visited the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District’s Agriculture & Farming class at the Mark Richardson Career Technical and Education Center to teach students in the importance of and how to graft trees.

The CRGF is the largest amateur fruit-growing organization in the world, with members in 48 states and U.S. territories, and in 35 countries.

The Central Coast Chapter provides student scholarships and tours of local orchards and businesses.

Members teach grafting to local schools, organizations, and the general public, as well as how to prune trees. They also hold an annual scion exchange in February that is open to the public.

“It was so fun. I enjoyed grafting the trees. I never imagined it’d be so easy to do.” said Brisia Ochoa, a 12th-grade student from Santa Maria High School.

The CRFG and MRC Ag Farm students grafted a total of 100 trees and five different varieties with the hope of potentially planting them into a future orchard at the Mark Richardson Center farm.

“It was interesting to learn how to mix a plain tree and turn into a fruit growing tree,” said Eric Castaneda, a 12th-grader from Pioneer Valley High.

“Grafting is an industry norm. Almost 100% of fruit trees are grafted,” said Steve Gambril of Agriculture Farm Pathway. “So, it’s a valuable skill to learn. It’s also something people can do for the rest of their lives. Understanding how plants grow and how to join them together.”

The Santa Maria Joint Union High School District has nearly 40 Career Technical Education Pathways and about as many industry partners.