You’ve come to the right place, tree nerd.
We are talking resilient, climate-adapted (drought/heat-tolerant), AND agriculturally productive perennial plants for the Mediterranean-climate coast, valleys, and foothills of California and the Western US!
“Sweet” Acorn Oaks (Quercus spp.)
THE dominant native tree species throughout the most agricultural and hospitable regions of California could be retrofitted for both agriculture and restoration, selected for “sweetness”, and processed as indigenous people around the world have done for millennia.
Chestnut (Castanea spp.)
After the American chestnut blight, nearly all chestnuts in America were gone. But with minimal blight in the western US, the Mediterranean foothills of California have the chance to replicate the culture of climate-analogous regions of European with thriving chestnut cultures (like Ardèche, France).
Sorbus, Service Tree
(Sorbus domestica)
These prolific fruit trees need only 20 inches (minimum) precipitation per year, as a perfect Mediterranean climate-analog for coastal and foothill California and beyond! These trees may be confused with Oaks when seen from afar due to their size, growing up to 65 feet tall, and living several hundred years!!
Jujube
(Ziziphus jujubus)
Abundant, drought-tolerant “desert apples” for Californian and Mediterranean agroforestry! Very popular fruit in Asia that is gaining popularity in the West.
The Ecologist Cowboy 