CORVALLIS - THIS FRIDAY (FEB 2) 9 AM TO AROUND 2 PM ! - Corvallis agrariansharingnetwork pear collection open 2024 -visit the 2200 tree rare pear collection!

General Fruit Growing
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@Megmck from the Agrarian Sharing Network has made some updates to this post. Please check in with Chris Homaniacs. See the link below to the facebook group.

Corvallis has made a generous offer this year everyone should be aware of. I will warn you in advance if your not in Oregon roads might be difficult to travel this time of year Agrarian Sharing Network | ! CANCELED DUE TO WEATHER RELATED USDA CLOSURE - RESCHEDULED TO FRIDAY FEB 2 | Facebook

SCION COLLECTION PARTY NEXT WEEK AT THE USDA PEAR REPOSITORY IN CORVALLIS - FRIDAY (JAN 19) 9 AM TO AROUND 2 PM

This season they were gracious to allow us to come in earlier in the year to collect which will allow us to collect better wood of Asian pear, Quince, Medlar, and more.

The address for the repository is

33447 Peoria Rd SW, Corvallis, OR 97333

This year they are asking us to enter at the entrance located at this Google maps pin just below due to construction. After entering, proceed to the “tee” in the road and turn left. Follow this road past the buildings on the left and continue on forward the pear orchard at the end of this road. You will see people and vehicles. We will all check in there.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Z2BAmJTcEPz8hggw8

Please come at 9 am sharp, preferably prior. Please check in with us prior to coming and look forward to seeing you!

This Friday we are headed to the world’s largest collection of pears in the world (~2,200 accessions!) which stands in Corvallis, OR. While so many quality pears exist, Bartlett, Anjou and Bosc account for 94% of all pears grown in the US! Let’s help change that by collecting from a targeted list of quality bio-regionally appropriate cultivars for our bioregional network of volunteer-driven plant propagation fairs.

Many of these selections bear from the fruits, so-to-speak, of years of analysis walking the rows sampling pears with juice dripping down our chins. Samples taken for winter storage trials as well as fruit tastings in five ripening windows. These are pears which ripen from July to all the way in March after a long period of cold storage. Pears for every use from fresh eating, of course, to cooking, perry, and more. While there we will be also be collecting quince and medlar.

This season, we will likely have a shorter timeframe than in the past to accomplish our task as well. We only have access for about five hours. Many hands make light work. If interested please let us know here so that we can coordinate.

What to bring? Clothes to withstand the cold and wet. Boots or sturdy shoes. Trusty pair of pruners. Rubbing alcohol and spray bottle if you have one. Pole pruner if you have one.

An orchard saw might be useful. A lunch or snacks to share if you’d like.

Joseph Postman, retired USDA curator of the Pear Repository will be joining us again. If you have not met Joseph yet you are in a treat - what a kind and knowledgeable fellow.

Special thanks to Jane Olson who helped coordinate this for us!

#agrariansharingnetwork

@murky @Seedy i know this is a hobby of yours some years.

** Update **

“ The agrariansharingnetwork have a predefined list based on years of trialing”

“The agrariansharingnetwork would like the people listed to check in first”

“The primary focus of this event is to collect material for events. However, the agrariansharingnetwork can help locate stuff people are interested in as long as it doesn’t disrupt the whole flow”

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Are any GF people attending this? It seems like a huge opportunity.

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It’s really bad timing for me, and so last minute of a notice as well. I only found out a couple of hours before Clark made this post, they tagged me about 4 days after the post was first made.

I am making sure that people understand what is going on, it’s a gathering of people to help collect cuttings, they not only need help pruning, they need help choosing what to collect too. They especially need help collecting the earlier varieties, because it’s very unusual that this USDA orchard lets people collect cuttings that early in the year, normally they start allowing people when it’s too late in the year to collect the earlier varieties, so this is a great opportunity to get those earlier varieties.

This sort of event is to collect cuttings to distribute for future trades that this group will do later in the year, I suppose they can not stop people from taking a cutting or two home with them, yet the main goal is to distribute in the future, not in the now. They like to have organized trades, a lot like ‘California Rare Fruit Growers’, does, I don’t know if they require membership or not.

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Also obviously anyone who attends should do a proper job in identifying and labeling collected scion.

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@alanmercieca

Thanks to you notifying me that maybe some members can attend. I’ve got hundreds of pear trees, and corvallis was kind and sent me a few pears i needed already. Many other people really need or want many of these pears and now have a great opportunity.

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You are welcome, I myself understand what it’s like to see varieties that they have, and not be able to get them, there is one Asian pear they have that I especially have a strong interest in trying, that I know of no one that has it, one of my online friends may have it, yet I lost touch with that person, and many of that person’s plants were destroyed by storms, not sure if that tree was spared by the storm.

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@alanmercieca

Maybe someone can pick up “Doitsu” asian pear for you if they attend the event.

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That would be great, maybe.

Enough to do two grafts would be enough, that way if one graft failed, I’d still have one surviving. One year they sent me every cutting that I requested, sadly every graft failed that year, last year most of the grafts succeeded. Last year I got a grafting tool that worked way better for me, I stopped using the one that caused all the grafts to fail, I only used that one for one year, after all those failed grafts I had enough, LOL. I personally prefer using a grafting tool, because it speeds up the grafting for me, and I am way less likely to get cut. I don’t have steady hands a lot of the time.

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@alanmercieca

Some grafting tools dont have sharp blades and bruise the scion excessively instead of making sharp clean cuts. This is my favorite but i have not used one in years Italian Grafting Tools: Grafter's Tool, Arborist's Grafting Tool . They are very fast if doing bench grafts.

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Unfortunately, like most years I can’t make it because its on a Wednesday and I have to work. They do this every year.

The Agrarian Sharing Network is aptly named. They collect the scions to share through events. I assume they will collect similarly to how the HOS did and of course label and bag as they go.

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I think that I will be going, which varieties should I prioritize?

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@horna

Sounds like @alanmercieca has his heart set on Doitsu, and it may well be a very good asian pear. Beyond that, i will let others answer. I’m sure he would appreciate you picking him some up. Joseph Postman will be there and he knows his pears! He may have some great suggestions!

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So different USDA divisions just make up policy wily nily. Pffffffffft.

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They each have their own staffing and particular challenges.

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If anyone @horna @murky @seedy wants to take a look ahead of time here is the pear catalog for Corvallis.

https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/20721500/catalogs/pyrcult.html

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Perhaps. But every one of the units should be staffed and prepared for one standard only. Complete and unrestricted public access. Not just tools of the rich and academic.

Not seeing how a nominal fee {$10-15-20} per item, 10 item limit per facility per year is a big deal.

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@murky has a great point @dannytoro1 the budgets of great programs like this are cut and there is never enough money allocated to them. We all love that a program like this exists at all. I hope as you say that at some point their budget grows and people have more access to what they want and need. I would love to see a persimmon repository at some point equal to the pears at corvallis. The program really helped many people.

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For those outside the southern valley, things are really bad in Eugene, and I believe Corvallis is worse. They’re supposed to get up to a half inch of ice tonight. So hopefully things are clear by then, but timing may change.

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@Evenfall

At one point i read there were even trees down.

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@clarkinks
There aren’t many trees up around here :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:. Fruit trees have faired fine and we have zero damage in our pears, but roads are very dicey and still have an inch of ice before today. Peoria Rd has a lot of trees along it. Everything should be melted by Thursday, so clearing will hopefully be quick.

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