The California Rare Fruit Growers Association (CRFG) is an organization of rare[1] exotic fruit enthusiasts, hobbyists and amateur horticulturists based in California. The CRFG, founded in 1968, promotes rare fruits in the Southern California marketplace, according to a 1997 article in the Seasonal Chef online newsletter. [2] As of 2008 the CRFG has 3,000 members in approximately 35 countries[2] with 20 Chapters in Western US[3] and is said to be the largest amateur fruit-growing organization in the world.[4]
The California Rare Fruit Growers was co-founded by Paul Thomson and John Riley in 1968.[2] Thomson was a self-taught botanist and fruit farmer based in San Diego's North County, while Riley was an engineer with Lockheed from Santa Clara, California.[2] Both Thomson and Riley shared an enthusiasm for rare fruits and plants which had not been previously widely cultivated in California. Riley and Thomson soon began collaborating to publish a newsletter on tropical and subtropical fruits[5] using a mimeograph machine.[2] In 1968 they expanded operations to found the CRFG.[5] Membership was swelled by a rapid influx of newcomers to California who were "without prejudice to what could not be grown" in the state.[2]
The CRFG publishes[6] a bimonthly magazine called The Fruit Gardener, an outgrowth of the early newsletters published by Thomson and Riley.[2][5]