Introduction

From Santa Cruz to the north to San Louis Obispo to the south, the central coast is broken up into many different microclimates. In some places, notably the bottom of valleys protected from the ocean influence, summers are warm but winters are plagued by sometimes heavy frosts which make the cultivation of some subtropicals difficult if not impossible. But these same locations become very conducive to the cultivation of northern crops requiring many chill hours. On the other end of the spectrum are locations on hillsides which are exposed to the ocean influence, and as a result benefit of a year-round, warm and relatively frost free climate. Such a mosaic of climates brings about a wide range of possibilities, and as a result, our list of fruits and crops is quite long.
Even though conditions vary for each microclimate, Some general notes apply to the whole region, namely, that the climate is very reminicent of the highlands of the Andes of South America. Nights are cool, and days are warm but not hot. With the exception of those valley floors and drainage basins which are expsoed to heavy frosts, the region overall is relatively frost free. But, because of the proximity of the ocean, there isn't much summer heat, and some very ocean exposed areas are completely devoid of any semblence of summer warmth.
The biggest challenge is to identify which crops have a good chance of success and which crops are doomed to failure in your microclimate. Often, plants are rated according to their hardiness, but on the central coast, that is just not enough data. Just because a plant might survive a winter in a given area does not mean it will thrive, let alone bear any fruits. Two pieces of data are generally needed: frost hardiness and heat requirements. Often, those areas which have the most ocean exposure and thus the least amount of winter frost also happen to have so little summer heat that the plant cannot grow, or fruits do not ripen, or are of inferiro quality.
While there is ample data on the frost hardiness of various crops, data is limited on which crops will still thrive in those microclimates with the coolest summers. The situation becomes even more complex when we take into account the fact that a plant's hardiness is further affected by the amount of summer heat it is exposed to.
Unfortunatly, it turns out that most new crop trials since the turn of the century took place in inland areas where killing frosts are more likely, but where summer temperatures are also much higher. This means that there really isn't much data for our area. Furthermore, it turns out that there are many crops which require cool summers and tolerate only a limited amount of frost. Such crops have not been given the right amount of attention they deserve simply because they are unsuite to inland areas.
When I first started my exploration for new fruits, I inevitably came across passion fruits, which are without a doubt the most successful rare fruit crop on the coast. It didn't take long for me to follow the passion fruit trail right to the Ecuadorian highlands, and with that, I quickly discovered a whole number of additional crops which thrive along the central coast.
Of course, many of the fruits that grow well on the coast come from other areas besides the Andes. All the crops described in these pages are grouped according to their geographical origin. But for the Andean fruits, I would like to aim a bit further by providing as much cultural background as possible. Only once we learn more about the ceremonies, festivals, and cultural significances which surround the fruits we grow can we gain a true appreciation for the new sights, smells and flavors they bring to the table. The Andean crops lead us straight to the Incas and those cultures that preceeded and followed them. All ethnobotanical information is still quite limited, as I am still learning a great deal on this subject.

1) The highland of the Andes.
Since this web site is specialized around these crops, this list is the most complete. Because of the similarity of the coastal climate with that of the highlands of the andes, this list includes lots of delicious fruits which will ripen with excellent flavors along the coast of central California. These include the Lucuma, the highland ice cream bean, pepinos, the tree tomato, the cape goosberry, the moras of the andes, the Ugni, the naranjilla, the capulin cherry, the Ecuadorian Walnut, the highland papayas, the coquito, and last, but certainly not least, the cherimoya. The passion fruits also belong in this category, but because there are so many varieties with so many wonderful flavors, the passion fruits have a page of their own.

2) Eastern South America
Several crops of interest for the coast come from the mountain regions of the mountaineous regions of Southern Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. I don't have any familiarity with the climate information for these plants, but they have the nice property of being quite hardy and they produce superior quality fruit along the central coast. This includes the Strawberry Guava, the Jaboticaba, the Feijoja, the surinam cherry and the jelly palm. The Feijoja in particular is known to produce fruit wich is of infinitely better quality in the most heat deprived regions. (Apparently, for many Feijoja cultivars, the cooler the temperatures are, the less likely it is that the fruits develop a "soapy" flavor.

3) Asia
Lots of fruits that do well on the coast also come from Asia. Again, I have not found any climactic data that might suggest why this is the case, as most weather stations from the regions seem to suggest rather hot summers with cool, temperate winters. Yet most of the fruits in this list are included because of hard evidence demonstrating their adaptability to coastal conditions. The list includes the loquat, many citrus, the longan, and new oddball fruits such as Decaisnea Fargesii (Purple sweet pod from China) the Chinese Mombin, the Himalayan damarru Tea, Stautonia Hexaphylla, Golden Everberries. Fruits such as the Lychee and the Jujube are not in the list as they require far too much heat to ever be successful along the central coast.

4) Mexico and Central American Highlands
This list includes most notably the Avocado, which has proven to be a prolific producer of rather delicious fruits. Central coast regions provide enough late winter nights in the 40's to induce heavy flowering. The success with Avocado suggests another candidate for this list, namely the White Sapote. So far, I have Suebelle and McDill as trial cultivars.

5) Tropicals
Most real tropical fruits are definitely borderline and will succeed only in very select microclimates. This includes the mango, the tropical papaya, and the lychee among others. However, there are three tropicals that have proven their worth along the central coast and are worth growing in most places: the tropical guava, the banana, and the carambola. All are hardy enough to survive all but the worst century frosts. The bananas probably won't produce the greatest fruits, but their ornamental value are reason enough to grow them. The jury is still out on carambolas, but the fact that they produce quality fruits even during the cool season in southern California, and reports of successful carambola cultivation in Morro Bay suggest this fruit may be worth growing here. For the tropical guava, the verdict is already here: they do produce delicious fruits even in the ccolest coastal microclimates. The plant is a compact grower and therefore deserves a spot in any rare fruit garden.

Northern Fruits
Finally, lots of decidious fruits will thrive in even the most summer heat and winter chill deprived microclimates, and these fruit deserve a page of their own. These include plums, select varieties of peaches, and pretty much all berries including kiwis, blackberries, blueberries, gooseberries, and rasberries among others. Of course, many of the central coast microclimates including most notably the low-lying inland valleys of the Santa Cruz mountains are too cold in the Winter for most subtropicals, and receive enough chill to grow just about any decidious fruit.
If reading through all this is too much, I do have a few recommendations for the concervative gardener in the coolest microclimates such as La selva Beach or Morro Bay. The following crops wil produce exellent fruits without any protection whatsoever from wind or frost: feijojas, capulin cherries, hardy avocados such as Zutano or Mexicola Grande, Ecuadorian walnuts, berries of various sorts, Loquats, curubas, lemons, the jelly palm, and the Coquitos.
The remaining crops need to be grown with at the very least some protection from coastal winds in the coolest microclimates. Some will do best with the provision of some reflective heat from a wall or fence.