Welcome.
Well I made it finally. Looks like Scotts put a lot of work into this thing!
Welcome Jag. You must have seen my invitation.
Tony
It was nice readingeveryoneās backgrounds. I am commercial electrician and I am a total newbie to gardening, as my only experince with growing anything is buying potted flowers at the store, bringing them home, watering them once and then walking by everday as they die a slow painful death. Then about a year and a half ago, i bought a house in portland oregon with 1/2 acre. Mostly what i have is lawn and an area of forest. I only have one area of my lot that is almost full sun and isnt lawn. Ive manged to cram 17 trees in the space, along witb 5 grape vines, 2 kiwi vines, 5 blueberry bushes, strawberries, raspberries. Now im pretty much out of space for trees, so in grafting to get more variety. Im pretty excited for this summer, as i should get my first crop of fruit from several of the trees i planted. Ive learned quite a bit in the last year, but still constantly have to use the forums for information.
Welcome Jimmy!
Hello all! My name is Kurt and I have been a long time lurker over at GW. I have come to respect so many of the people over there such as Scott, Harvestman (Alan), Olpea, and so many others. Iām so thankful for Scott and his dedication to this new forum and that so many knowledgeable people have joined.
A little about me: I live in SE Idaho and I have a small orchard with just a little over a 120 trees. I have around 40 different varieties of apples, multiple types of peaches, plums, apricots, pears, and cherries. Along with the trees, I have about 400 feet of Canby raspberries, a row of blackberries, blueberries, and honeyberries. Enough to keep me busy! Iāve always had a passion for fruit and gardening but it all came to a head when my youngest was born. You see, he was born with Phenylketonuria or PKU. This is a genetic disorder of the liver that prevents him from breaking down protein which, if he eats too much protein, will make him severely mentally retarded. So fruit and vegetables will be the main staple of his diet. Meat, dairy, grain, and even most beans are completely out of the question. What an amazing little boy though. He absolutely loves spending time with me in the orchard; pruning, picking blooms for Mom, and most of all, harvesting. Being only five, he has become quite the little green thumb.
I again would like to thank all of you that have shared your wisdom over the years and I look forward to being part of Scottās new forum. Thank you!
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Thatās a great reason for growing, Kurt! And wonderful that you can spend time together in the orchard. Take care!
Welcome Truck
Hello to all old and new gardening friends. I was Quillfred once, my dogās nickname but I shortened it to Quill. What a great hobby (or business) we have. It is so healthy and fun to share with our friends and family. I am grateful to you guys for starting up this new site.
I started life just north of the Golden Gate where both parents loved to garden. We had a peach tree that volunteered out of an old compost pile. Dad did the vegetables, mom cared for the rest. I appreciate this love of gardening that they instilled in me.
I didnāt get started until I bought my first property on an island in Western Washington. Big on ideals but low in skills. The fruit trees did poorly as I was in a bit of a valley. The deer loved them anyway, especially the cherry trees. My raised bed vegetables did better behind the fence. It was fun but I needed to move back to Seattle after ten years as I was a commuting RN and I spent too much time on the travel.
My love of growing fruit trees really took off when I moved to a house on a steep east facing hill. Only a few trees and shrubs got put in the ground and I became the queen of container gardening.
Just moved again to a flat but very small yard on the Puget Sound. Great south facing sun exposure. I will keep them in containers as I will need to cart them to the back of the house and out of storms. Only a few are in barrels yet. Most are on Bud9 and 5 gallon pots. Luckily everything survived the move and the storms as of yet. I have forty varieties of apples, a couple pears, handful of cherries, a plum, blueberries, gojis, seaberries and a few others. I am assuming not everything will agree with the salt air and wind and some will perish. I am luck enough to garden organically so far but I know it is easier to do it here than many other regions.
Carole
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Thank you, Scott. I was a very active member of GW several years back when it was Spikeās place. In recent years Iāve only been a lurker. Reading this thread has brought back many fond memories of childhood years - of my fatherās veggie gardens, grape arbor, strawberry patches, and fruit trees; and of visits to grandparentsā and the pleasure their fruit trees brought. As Iāve read the memories of others, Iāve relived my own (forbidden) childhood forays through the woods and into the blackberry thickets. I donāt know how I ever expected to escape detection arriving home far too late, lugging my big buckets and trying not to spill any. Iām sure my plan was to hide the berries and all would be well. Unfortunately for me, I never could scrub out all the berry stains or remove the red clay from socks and clothes (from the also very forbidden playing in creek bed) by using the bathroom sink any better than I could hide the multitude of scratches on my arms and legs from the seeming eagle eyes of my parents. It was always worth the punishment because I did it over and over. Yes, those early experiences did create embers that were fanned by opportunity when I grew.
Iāve been planting fruit trees everywhere Iāve lived, but always wound up having to move before any trees that I planted matured enough to have a decent sized crop - until we moved here a bit over 20 years ago. Now Iāve learned enough to know that I know nothing much beyond a bunch of stuff that doesnāt work - or at the minimum, doesnāt work here. Everything grew easily out west in LA county, near the coast but Iāve been doing a bad job of here in central SC.
Iāve been trying to learn from you successful and knowledgeable people by reading from forums using āsearchā for appropriate threads. I appreciate all of the help that you have given me when youāve answered other peopleās questions. Now Iād like to come out from lurking to ask my own questions as someone less than a novice.
Oh, there is one thing Iāve been very successful with - instilling the desire in many young people to have their own home orchards and veggie gardens when they have their own homes. Now Iād like to be able to improve on that accomplishment to help them do it well from the beginning, instead of spending decades doing it poorly first.
And Scott, I actually did read all the boiler plate āstuffā before registering. And even trusted you enough to get my ātreatā while doing so. 
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Quill, Muddyā¦
Glad you found and joined us here.
Mike
Thanks, Scott. I learned so much over the years from the gw posters. I certainly am a novice, but I do grow a lot of fruitāalong w/about everything else I can put in the ground. I have over 50 assorted fruit trees (peaches, apples, pears, plums, and cherries) in my orchard and lots of wild persimmons and paw paws. I do have a few cultured paw paws as well. My trees have proven pretty difficult as Iāve been hit w/a lot of insects, disease, and bad weather in general. Additionally, I have 800 ft of assorted blackberries, 700 ft red raspberries, 200 ft black rasps, 60 assorted blueberries, a dozen elderberries, half dozen aronia, 20 assorted gooseberries, 20 black currants, 10 red currants, 100 ft of Concord grapes, and another 100 ft of assorted seedless grapes. I also grow several varieties of rhubarb. Five acres of vegetables keeps me busy along w/3,000 asparagus plants. I also grow lots of cutting flowers.
My wife and I originally bought our land for deer hunting ten years ago, but our passion for growing things soon took over and really changed our lives. Most of our property was brush and timber, but we did have a 5 acre neglected hay field. We had no water, equipment, buildings, or electricity. To pay for what we wanted for the property, we started selling all we could grow. In 2012, we dug a one acre pond out of the woods and recently just finished construction on a building. To start, all we had was a twenty-year-old front tine tiller and too much ambition. I canāt believe how far weāve come in just the last 8 years. Itās pretty pathetic, but I donāt think Iāve left the state but once since then. My āvacationā is the farm. We both work full time jobs in addition to the farm, which keeps us really busy. Itās not all work thoā as we always make time to watch our birds, critters, and fish. This winter, we sat around the wood stove probably too much.
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Welcome BrookW. Our community here is getting bigger and bigger as We speak.
Tony
Welcome brookw, I thought my 100 fruit trees and small vegetable garden was a lot to take of in my after work free time but you and your wife have taken hobby fruit and vegetable growing to a whole new level!
Like many other new members of Scottās website, I too was always a watcher, never a contributor, at Gardenweb. I did know many of you, briefly, via apple scion trades. I was privileged to meet Scott, Alan H., Mark in Montana, Chris P., Steve B., Jesse, and many others.
From these trades I have over 50 antique varieties growing as branches in my orchard. Thank you all very much!
I have copied many posts by Alan and Scott and others. The fruit tree spray schedules were especially helpful!
My interest in this website has also been a way to learn about old varieties. I love it when someone recommends an apple. I instantly want to try that apple. This leads me to what has become my passion. If you know the names Lee Calhoun, Tom Brown, Tom Burford, and John Bunker, then you know that we owe each of them a huge debt of thanks. Because of these āapple detectivesā we have over 1,500 apple varieties that were once lost and considered extinct. About 3 years ago I started doing some ājunior detectiveā work in eastern Washington state. With a lot of luck and little effort I was able to find two once lost varieties. In 2013 I found a Fall Jeneting apple tree in Colfax, WA. I communicated with all the gentlemen above and learned that John Bunker had found a Fall Jeneting the year before, in 2012. However, I received encouragement from all of the detectives as well as Dan Bussey, author of a forthcoming book (tentatively titled The Apple in North America), which describes 17,000 named apple varieties.
This past October I found another lost apple, the Nero, in an old abandoned orchard. I also discovered documentation that as many as nine other lost varieties may be nearby.
Two people I am partnering with in the search for lost apples are Joanie Cooper and Shaun Shepherd of the Home Orchard Society in Portland, OR. In case you are not familiar with their work, here is a brief description: Joanie purchased 40 acres in 2012 and has turned the land into a non-profit. Her Temperate Orchard Conservancy (TOC) is cloning our friend Nick Botnerās 4,500+ apple orchard and planting the trees on TOC land. Because of their hard work we will not lose any of the rare varieties Nick has in his orchard, which is currently for sale.
Looking forward to future harvests.
Dave B.
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Dave,
Welcome. Excited to hear of your connection with the folks at Home Orchard Society.
I have been watching the news reports of their progress trying to save the unique apple varieties in Nick Botnerās collection, which is at risk of being sold and lost to history.
One apple Iām hoping they save is a Welsh variety named āBakerās Delicious.ā
Please let us know if you ever encounter this apple. It is well known in the U.K., but very rare here in the States. I want scions!
Botner is the only source I know of. But he is no longer providing scions to anyone, though he has allowed HOC access to save what they can. I hope they will make Bakerās Delicious a priority.
Hereās another thread I started (back at GardenWeb) with more details:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1464455/bakers-delicious-apple-of-wales
Cheers,
-Matt
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I think itās worth reposting this video link on what Dave has mentioned: the Home Orchard Societyās efforts to save the largest collection of apples in the world. Kudos to you all!
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Daveā¦Iām very pleased you are here. I share your enthusiasm for the history encapsulated in these old apple trees and love the excitement of discovery, no matter how seemingly small to most people.
Matt, thanks for sharing the video link, although Iāve watched the extended videos of both (I think it was 2 separate vids spliced), I think itās very cool to share with others.
I for one think this aspect of fruit growing should be at least 1 important part of this website. I think it will as the membership is here that I think will foster that.
Matt if you havenāt already read it take a peek at this article which I posted at GW last year.
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Hey Matt in Maryland
Derek Mills at Hocking Hills Orchard lists Bakers Delicious on his scion wood list he sent me this spring. You can contact Derek here Hocking Hills Orchard
Dave B
I too share your interest in the old heirloom apples. Iām a newbie at grafting but grafted about 40 varieties of heirloom apples last year and an planning on grafting around 50 varieties this spring.
Rick
Rick,
Thanks for the tip! Iāve sent an e-mail to Derekā¦
-Matt