Grow Your Own Chocolate?

It's not easy, but it can be fun

Jacob Margolis covers science, with a focus on environmental stories and disasters, as well as investigations and accountability.

Published December 18, 2023 2:39 PM

Cacao fruits are seen growing on cacao trees on a traditional cacao farm on Dec. 2, 2021 in Cuernavaca, Colombia.

(

Jan Sochor

Getty Images

)

Topline:

Who would ever decide to keep highly temperamental trees comfortable at a specific temperature and humidity for multiple years, pollinate thousands of small flowers by hand, ferment, roast, winnow and grind beans into a perfectly smooth paste, all for a few wonderful bars of chocolate? A couple of people down the street from the LAist studios, it turns out.

The hardest part: Because cacao trees are usually pollinated by gnats that don't exist in SoCal, each flower has to be pollinated by hand.

You can do it: Why not give it a go? We've got more information on what can be your most ambitious DIY project.

Anytime you snap a bar of chocolate, sink your teeth into a Reese's or sip Swiss Miss from a mug, the cacao that makes up the best part of each of those sweet treats likely came from within 20 degrees of the equator. As far north as Vietnam and Hawaii, and as far south as Madagascar and Bolivia.

A picture of a bunch of trees from the base of said trees.

Theobroma cacao, the trees from which chocolate comes, are picky about their environment. They prefer warm and humid conditions with a lot of rain, thriving in partial shade where they’re afforded a whole lot of protection from strong wind and sun.

All of which makes the environment here in Southern California — dry, windy, at times both brutally hot and cold — less than ideal for them if you’re going to try and grow them outside. Which is why I was surprised and thrilled when I found out that there are multiple people who've figured out how to both grow cacao and make chocolate from the beans nearby.

Given that the cacao industry is threatened by climate change (and rife with abuse), might locally grown chocolate be a viable alternative?

After talking through the process with three different people, it’s not easy by any means, but maybe if you’re up to it you too can give it a go. I know I’ll be trying in my backyard (with the proper greenhouse setup) sometime soon.

Think of this less as a how-to guide and more so a post meant to get you excited to go on an experimental cacao journey of your own.

The intrepid DIY-ers

One of the things I love about the rare fruit-growing community here in Southern California is that it attracts all kinds of different people interested in ridiculous experimentation in less-than-ideal environments.

When it comes to cacao trees, I found two groups taking on the challenge of going from dirt to bar.

The open entrance to a lab, where one can see cacao trees growing in steel drums.

The first group is down the street from the LAist studios in Pasadena, in a nondescript warehouse. Seamus Blackley, physicist and creator of the Xbox, is growing several trees with his creative partner Asher Sefami, a trained microbiologist. They took on the process as distraction to get their minds off of the other super-secret engineering work they're doing at the same location.

Meanwhile, up in Santa Barbara, Mike Orlando, the owner of Twenty-Four Blackbirds, has been making boutique chocolate since 2009. He recently began importing cacao pods, sprouting the beans and growing his own trees in a nearby greenhouse.

So, what can we learn from them?

Step 1: Growing the trees

First, you need to get your hands on some trees.

You can pick them up from rare fruit nurseries in L.A., like Mimosa, or you can sprout your own.

Colorful pods and seeds with white stuff around them are being worked on and handled by a pair of brown hands in this top-down shot.

If you get your hands on some fresh pods, pull out the seeds, wash off the pulp, peel off the outside skin and stick them along with a moist paper towel in a plastic bag. Keep them in a warm environment, somewhere between 80 to 90 degrees, and wait.

Seeds of various colors rest on a brown towel.

Each pod has 30 to 50 seeds, so you'll have a lot of opportunities.

Once you have your cacao tree, you need to plant it.

Sefami stuck theirs in oil drums with standard potting soil.

In a well-lit environment, cacao tree sit in small drums on a table.

Orlando planted his in a greenhouse.

One of the most critical components of this process is controlling the environment the trees live in, as they prefer moist and warm conditions with dappled light.

Orlando shoots to keep his greenhouse from 60 to 80 degrees at about 70% humidity, though he's seen the trees survive in 40-degree weather.

In Blackley's climate-controlled lab, a nearby water jet keeps the humidity up and grow lights above the trees give them at least 12 hours of sunlight. They had a problem with aphids, so they tried to remedy the issue with thousands of ladybugs before eventually just using pesticides.

For fertilizer, Orlando sprays the leaves with a kelp mixture and sprinkles Miracle Grow Osmocote every three months or so, depending on how they look.

As you'll find if you start growing plants, a lot of it's a feel thing.

Step 2: Pollinating tiny flowers (the hardest part)

In the wild, cacao trees are often pollinated by biting midges, which don't exist here. So, you'll need to pollinate each tiny flower by hand, using pollen from different plants.

Orlando hasn't quite gotten to this point in the process, but Sefami and Blackley have, after about two years of trying to figure it out.

"The first pod we got, we were through the moon," said Sefami. "And it got to about the size of a Tic Tac and then it just falls off. And it was like ... it was one of the most painful moments."

This up-close shot shows a small branch with cacao flowers growing on it.

"The hard part is when you have tweezers and you're trying to decide if this plant and this plant are different enough genetically, they might work. And you spend half an hour pollinating, and maybe it works or maybe it doesn't, and you don't know what's going on, and the tree is dying, and you're not sure why," said Blackley.

"Basically you need to take the flower apart into its constituent parts. We remove the pollen and then we have to rub it on the other flowers in a way that just touches where it needs to go,“ said Sefami.

"The flower needs to be at just the right stage of development. Within about a day, they fall off. It’s really hard to get it right."

Turns out the biting midges are quite effective, said Blackley.

Step 3: Harvest and ferment the beans

If you get to the point where you're harvesting the pods, next you've got to ferment them.

Blackley and Sefami pulled the beans out of the pods smushed them into a bowl and stuck them in a proofing box.

They kept the beans at about 83 degrees Fahrenheit, around 80% humidity and mixed them once a day. There was so much microbial activity that the temperature of the beans climbed to 115 degrees before dropping down over the course of about a week.

"At first it smells ... doughy and bready. And then the fermentation process gets taken over by bacteria that produce essentially vinegar, so it starts to smell kind of sharp," said Blackley.

"And then one day you open up the fermentation chamber and it starts to smell like chocolate. It's completely strange."

After they were done fermenting, they dried them to 3% moisture to get them ready for roasting.

Step 4: Roast, grind and temper the cacao

While you can purchase all sorts of different specialty roasting equipment, Orlando recommends you just throw them into your oven at about 250 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes until they start to smell like brownies.

Then, separate the nibs from the shells, blend them in a spice grinder and then grind them into as fine a liquid as you can get them to in a mortar and pestle. This is when you'll add your sugar — 30% by weight will give you 70% dark chocolate.

Alternatively, you can purchase a wet grinder, which uses stone wheels to pulverize the cacao into a smooth chocolate liquor.

"If that was your first time making chocolate, you'd be pretty impressed. It tastes pretty good," said Orlando.

Step 5: Make the bars

Finally, you can temper your chocolate, which gives a bar its characteristic snap when you bite into it.

You then pour it into molds, wait for it to harden and enjoy.

Step 6: Taste the chocolate

If you get this far, you've probably since spent years of effort and thousands of dollars for something you could've purchased at the store for about $12. And we should be friends because it's the kind of absolutely insane experimentation I love.

"I'll tell you, growing chocolate from seed is quite an adventure, but it's the kind of thing you should do in your life. Don't you want to know how to do that? Make chocolate from dirt? Come on," said Blackley.

So how did their chocolate taste?

Absolutely delicious! It was fruity with notes of cinnamon and I could've kept eating it. Though, considering the investment each square was probably worth its weight in gold, they only gave me a tiny piece.

If you want to just buy already-made chocolate, you can also check out Twenty-Four Blackbirds in Santa Barbara.

Two workers filling a plastic tray with chocolate.

Resources for DIY-ers

This is far from a comprehensive guide, but if you do go on a dirt-to-bar chocolate journey, there are some great resources out there to guide you through the chocolate making part in particular.

Chocolate Alchemy is a reliable resource with links to equipment suitable for a DIY-er.
Making Chocolate: From Bean To Bar To S'more written by the creators of Dandelion Chocolate illustrates the process well.
California Rare Fruit Growers has chapters throughout the state, filled with people passionate about growing unconventional plants.

If you do any of the above, let me know! I'm always looking for excuses to get paid to go eat chocolate.

News

Iran protests in LA

Photos from DTLA and Westwood

Fiona Ng is LAist's deputy managing editor and leads a team of reporters who explore food, culture, history, events and more.

Published March 1, 2026 7:39 AM

People wave flags against the backdrop of a clear blue sky and palm trees.

A man raises the historical Iranian Lion and Sun flag during a rally in the Westwood neighborhood on Saturday.

(

Genaro Molina

Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

)

Topline:

Angelenos took to the streets of downtown Los Angeles and Westwood on Saturday in response to the U.S.-Israeli military strikes in Iran.

Details: Local demonstrations protesting U.S. intervention took place outside City Hall in downtown Los Angeles, as well as in Ventura and Orange counties. In Westwood, Iranian Americans gathered to celebrate the strikes. More demonstrations are planned for today and tomorrow.

Read on to see photos from Saturday's demonstrations.

Angelenos took to the streets of downtown Los Angeles and Westwood on Saturday in response to the U.S.-Israeli military strikes in Iran.

Read: What you should know about local protests, reaction and law enforcement actions

A coalition of organizations, including the National Iranian American Council, the ANSWER coalition and 50501, held protests nationwide in reaction.

Local demonstrations took place outside City Hall in downtown Los Angeles, as well as in Ventura and Orange counties.

In Westwood, Iranian Americans gathered to celebrate the strikes. More demonstrations are planned for today and tomorrow.

Here are photos from Saturday.

Westwood

A group of people holding Iranian flags on a city street.

A group of people holding Iranian flags and a busy street intersection.

Group of people marching with Iranian flags and large banner reading 'CHANGE' featuring the Iranian flag

Group of people holding large Iranian flag and protest signs on a city street

Downtown Los Angeles

A person holding a protest sign that reads, "Drop the files. Not the bombs."

A crowd gathered in front of a park in a protest. They hold up a sign that reads, "No War, No Iran"

A woman with a scarf wrapped around her head holds up a photo of Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Protest signs that read "No New US War in the Middle East."

A man holds a sign that says "War Pig" with a photo of President Trump with pig snout and ears.

A hidden theater

Inside, instead of a tangle of cables and cords, red crushed velvet covers the walls from top to bottom.

A gilded clock and gold-framed pictures of two other electrical boxes (“possibly its mother, and its great-grandfather”) adorn the tiny interior, inspired by one of downtown’s oldest and grandest movie palaces, the Los Angeles Theatre.

“The first time I went into that theater, the feeling that I had, I wanted people to have a similar feeling when they opened this up,” she said.

Like the theater, the box is meant to bring audiences together. Mero invites performers to step inside, and since its installation a few weeks ago, some 30 poets, magicians, puppeteers and clowns have reached out about using the space.

Many are female artists.

“Maybe it's because of the scale of it, they feel like they can actually have a chance to get inside,” Mero said.

A tradition of unexpected art

The box theater sits on the 800 block of Traction Avenue, across the street from the historic American Hotel, an early hub for artists in the neighborhood.

Jesse Easter, the hotel’s night manager, has a front-row seat to the box theater performances.

“The Arts District is still alive,” he proclaims.

Easter first arrived in the neighborhood in the 1980s, a blues and rock musician who also professionally installed art.

He said the Arts District has long been known for unconventional public art. Famously, in 1982, artist Dustin Shuler pinned a Cessna airplane to the side of the American Hotel with a 20-foot-long nail.

“I was one of the people that was in the hotel that saw the room that the nail came down into, went through the brick wall, into the floor and stopped,” Easter recalls.

Easter says Mero’s installations boldly continue that tradition of guerrilla street art in the neighborhood.

After graduating from USC in 2011, she started to make sculptural works with overlooked street fixtures, exploring issues such as addiction and homelessness.

An oversized wooden mailbox sculpture labeled “U.S. Mail” stands on a tall post along a sidewalk.

Before the theater box, Mero installed an oversized mailbox at the same corner, towering over passersby, symbolizing a housing market that remains out of reach for many Angelenos.

Elsewhere in the Arts District on Rose Street, she has installed a 13-foot-tall parking meter sculpture, commentary on the overwhelming nature of parking in the city.

Realizing a dream

The box theater is perhaps the piece that has invited the most participation.

A man in a black jacket sits on an open utility box, tuning a guitar in front of the red velvet-lined interior beneath a lit “Electrical Box Theatre” sign.

Last week, Mero asked Easter and other local artists to perform there. He played a blues song he wrote more than 40 years ago when he first moved to the Arts District.

“It was sunset, and I was thinking, this kind of is the bookend,” he said.

Other participants performed spoken word poetry and played saxophone.

One performer, Mike Cuevas, discovered the theater by accident.

An Uber driver, Cuevas was waiting for his next delivery order by the box theater as it was being prepped ahead of the night’s performance.

Mero recalls him getting out of his car to look at what she was doing.

“He's like, what's going on here? This looks so cool,” Mero said. “He said as he's driving throughout the city, in between his rides, he writes poetry.”

Cuevas, who goes by the pen name Octane 543(12), left to make a delivery in East L.A., but he said “something in his heart” told him to return that evening.

After watching others perform, he stepped up to the box and read his poetry in public for the first time, a piece about Latino pride.

A man gestures while looking at a phone by an open utility box theater with red velvet walls, as two saxophones rest on stands nearby at night.

“Another generation will pass through,” he recited. “And they'll understand why we honor with proud delight, the continuous fight for the history of our brothers and sisters.”

Cuevas didn’t know Mero by name or anything about her work, but thanked her for giving him a venue.

“I just felt something beautiful with her art,” Cuevas said. “It's time for me to start expressing myself. She inspired me to do exactly what she's doing, but through poetry.”

He now plans to read again at an open mic in downtown L.A. next week.

An overture to look inside

Mero says the project has spoken to her personally, too. Growing up in Minnesota, she loved art as a child but later focused on playing lacrosse and hockey. At USC, she studied public relations.

“Once I started getting so into art, everyone was kind of shocked,” Mero said. “That's why I really want to encourage people to go inside themselves and see what's there, because you never know.”

Mero is hoping for a long run for the box theater. Its predecessor, the supersize mailbox, stayed up for five years, only toppled, she heard, after skateboarders accidentally ran into it.

In the meantime, the small theater sits unassumingly on the sidewalk waiting for its next performer, its exterior starting to collect graffiti like any other utility box.

Explore LA

Total lunar eclipse

Here's what to know about the Tuesday event

Dañiel Andres Martinez is an associate producer for LAist.

Published March 1, 2026 5:00 AM

The City of Los Angeles is seen from a distance at night. A "blood moon" can be seen in the night sky. Palm trees are in the foreground of the picture. In the background city lights, most prominently from skyscrapers in Downtown Los Angeles can be seen.

A Super Blue Blood Moon hovers over Los Angeles in 2018.

(

FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

AFP

)

Topline:

A total lunar eclipse is happening this Tuesday. That's when the earth will move directly between the sun and moon, casting a “blood” red color onto the moon.

What: It's going to be the first lunar eclipse of the year. The process is slated to start around midnight and last until dawn on Tuesday. It’s called the “Blood Moon” because of the red hue the earth’s atmosphere refracts onto the lunar surface as light from the sun passes through it.

When: Although the eclipse begins around midnight, it won’t reach totality until 3:04 a.m., at which point it will be visible to the naked eye for about an hour. All of Southern California should be able to see it.

How else can I watch: The Griffith Observatory will be hosting a live virtual broadcast of the celestial event from midnight to dawn.

What's next: This isn’t the only lunar eclipse happening this year, but it is the only “total eclipse,” according to NASA. Another one is set to occur in August, but it will only be partially visible in North America. A solar eclipse will occur Aug. 12.

News

Whale watching

Where to spot them near LA

By Alec Castillo | The LA Local

Published March 1, 2026 5:00 AM

A large blue-gray colored whale pokes its head out of the water with a bright blue sky above.

An adult gray whale and its calf approach tourists.

(

Courtesy José Eugenio Gómez Rodríguez

)

Topline:

With warm — relative to Alaska — spring waters, migratory rest-stops and great feeding grounds, Los Angeles County’s coast is considered part of the “Blue Highway,” a crucial whale migration corridor and one of the best places to spot the gentle giants.

What might you see? Cetacean species you may spot in our waters include humpback whales, orcas, blue whales and dolphins. Your best chance, however, is spotting a gray whale. As school-bus-sized gray whales migrate back and forth between Alaska and Baja, they consistently hug LA’s coastline.

Read on ... for tips on where and how to spot whales near you.

It’s whale watching season, which always makes me think of the novel Moby-Dick.

In the book, Captain Ahab chased a whale for vengeance. I recently chased whales off the coast of Los Angeles, but in my case, it was in pursuit of the beauty and majesty of the natural world.

With warm — relative to Alaska — spring waters, migratory rest-stops and great feeding grounds, Los Angeles County’s coast is considered part of the “Blue Highway,” a crucial whale migration corridor and one of the best places to spot the gentle giants.

According to Cabrillo Marine Aquarium program director Jim DiPompei, many whales can be seen right in our backyard.

“There’s a little over 90 species of cetaceans (marine mammals) in the world, and we see about 30% of the species we could possibly see here in Southern California,” DiPompei told The LA Local.

Cetacean species you may spot in our waters include humpback whales, orcas, blue whales and dolphins. Your best chance, however, is spotting a gray whale. As school bus-sized gray whales migrate back and forth between Alaska and Baja, they consistently hug LA’s coastline.

But where should you go to actually get a good look at whales? Don’t worry — I got you. Here’s The LA Local guide to cruising the Blue Highway.

Top spots to watch whales from shore

Point Vicente Interpretive Center
31501 Palos Verdes Drive West, Rancho Palos Verdes
Free, laid-back, on the mountains!

At the Point Vicente Interpretive Center in Rancho Palos Verdes, you’ll find an overlook dedicated to whale watching. While this is a great free spot for amateurs to come and look out for whales, this is no playground. Professionals conduct the annual whale census here, tracking the migration of whales.

This is a great place to bring a picnic basket and some binoculars to relax while scanning the ocean. Even if you don’t spot any whale action, you can visit the free natural history museum inside, which focuses on the region and its most famous inhabitants: whales. Afterward, step outside and chat with a museum docent accompanying the census watch.

If you want to see whales, stick to the coastal canyons. Canyons aren’t just massive structures above water — they are also mountains beneath the surface, offering depth, cold water and nutrients that attract food for whales. Gray whales tend to follow the canyons to stay away from the dangerous orcas.

Whale spotting 101

Whale watching season typically runs from December through May. It peaks from January to March.

When looking for a whale, try to spot their water mist blowing above the water. Gray whales typically surface for air every five minutes. When they do, they’ll blow out a water mist — that’s your chance to spot and track them until they surface again.

Get on a boat!

If you want to get eye-to-eye and really feel a cetacean’s scale, there are plenty of whale-watching cruises. They typically depart from Marina Del Rey, Redondo Beach, Long Beach, San Pedro, Dana Point and almost anywhere with a port.

Many cruises have a naturalist on board to answer questions and provide expert context to ocean wildlife.

On my tour departing from Long Beach, we saw five gray whales and a swarm of common dolphins feeding.

But be warned: If you get seasick easily, this trip might not be for you. On our two-and-half-hour trip, the boat rocked emphatically as we approached feeding sites. It’s fun if you can imagine yourself on a see-saw, but it might not be that enjoyable if that sounds nauseating.

While boat captains are not allowed to approach the whales too closely due to environmental protections, the whales can approach the boat if they choose. Sometimes the whales seem curious and watch us in return — it’s up to them and how they are feeling.

Get involved

Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
3720 Stephen M. White Drive, San Pedro

If you really catch the whale-watching bug, you’re in luck.

At the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, they offer a whale-watching naturalist program where you can volunteer and train to be a naturalist on board whale-watching cruises.

DiPompei said they train anyone over the age of 18 “who’s interested in learning about whales and volunteering their time to be on these whale-watching boats to talk to the general public and to talk to students.”

This program was started in the 1970s by John Olge, one of the founders of Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, with an emphasis on education and showing schoolchildren the beauty of our natural world.

The aquarium is also a great place to introduce whales to children. With kid-sized exhibits and educational programs throughout the year, it’s an ideal way to show young ones just how big and beautiful our oceans are.

Hey, LA listener!

The Brief

The intrepid DIY-ers

Step 1: Growing the trees

Step 2: Pollinating tiny flowers (the hardest part)

Step 3: Harvest and ferment the beans

Step 4: Roast, grind and temper the cacao

Step 5: Make the bars

Step 6: Taste the chocolate

Resources for DIY-ers

Westwood

Downtown Los Angeles

A hidden theater

A tradition of unexpected art

Realizing a dream

An overture to look inside

Keep up with LAist.

Top spots to watch whales from shore

Whale spotting 101

Get on a boat!

Get involved