Continuing the discussion from How should we post about scion offerings?:
I think youāre getting a little too complex and basically creating a lot of mini forums within the forum.
Every onesā growing experiences are going to be different based on location, techniques, knowledge
and experience level. Brix levels can be all over the place and can vary during the day. I think what
weāve been doing works very well.
You asked for opinions so I hope you are not insulted by this. This is one opinion. Growingfruit is a great website. I donāt see any need for another alternate. There are already multiple websites for growing fruit and it just wastes time going from one website to another to stay informed. Also there are already multiple websites for scion exchange. No need for more. Perhaps there is another better way but it is such a simple process I canāt imagine a better way than posting a simple message.
Ray, Dan,
I agree. There are a lot of variables, and a place to gather data (like the site I put together) could never replace the knowledge sharing on this site.
That said, there are a lot of threads on here where it feels like weāre rehashing a lot of the same āwhat are you growingā, āwhat brix levels are you gettingā, etc. Personally, I would love if I could just refresh Alanās, Bobās, Fruitnutās page on the site I put together and see what theyāre growing. If I noticed that Alan had some off the charts brix last year, Iād probably come back here and start a thread to see how itās coming this year.
As for a scion exchange, I personally like the idea of just keeping a standing list of what varieties Iām looking for and perusing what others are looking for too. The scion exchanges that happen on here and previously Gardenweb get confusing fast. I was just trying to bring a little order to the process.
I guess I just want you to look at the site how itās intended: itās not designed for discussion. Thatās what we do here. I personally like tracking my garden, taking notes, uploading photos, etc so I can see how my trees are progressing. I realize thatās not for everyone, but I thought it might be useful for some.
I do appreciate the opinions. No offense taken.
Chris, your site looks clean and easy enough to use. Thatās a nice project youāre getting started there. It sounds like youāre still thinking it through and intending to continue to tweak to add information categories.
My own intention is to stick around here where I feel like I know most of the members. If you were to see my total time spent on this forum in the Users stat breakdown, youād understand that Iām rather devoted to this place and am reluctant to sign up anywhere else for fear of spending too much screen time. There are others, Iām sure, who greatly appreciate multiple venues for trades and such.
Since you are in CA, a highly populated state which prohibits incoming shipments of vegetation without proper and expensive authorization, have you considered initiating something like this on a more local level? I realize that it is reasonable to have a subsection within a larger format, but such an exchange site might be particularly helpful within restricted areas such as yours. Just a thought. I wish you well in your project, and admire initiative. After all, we wouldnāt have this Growingfruit forum if it werenāt for Scott taking the initiative and putting in the time, thought, and effort to get it going.
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Muddy, thanks for the comment. I actually am the same as you. Iām a constant lurker on here, and consider myself a GrowingFruit loyalistāI donāt browse any other sites anymore. I actually envisioned my site as something of a companion site.
The scion exchange aspect of it was really an afterthought. My main goal was to have a place where we could track our gardens. I donāt know about everyone else, but Iām a naturally data-inclined person and like to have a log of my efforts. I also think itāll be fun to look at pictures I upload over time to see how my trees are maturing.
I knew that. 
Even if I knew nothing else about you, your handle and location make that an intuitive assumption.
Yes, that can be quite an encouragement. Unfortunately for me, I donāt have any devices that allow me to take photos and upload them. The few pics I post come from me harassing one or another of my kids to take them when they have available time. Besides, if I were to post pics of my fruit trees, everyone would see what a sad job Iāve been doing at growing them. 
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Youāre being modest, MuddyMess! 
I like reading your stuff too!
Agreed. I think of Muddy as one of the pros.
I have to step in here and say somethingā¦am I high on crack? Have any of you who have commented visited the site or am I missing something here? I donāt really see any forum discussion message boards here. It is like he says which I really like! It is more like an archive/library that we contribute to and appears to be very appealing to me at least.
I do not see this as an alternative to Scottās site but a companion/addition to it like Chris says. Canāt tell you how many times I go to peopleās profiles to see what people are growing and unfortunately I donāt remember everyone and only look at posters here who often post. I know there are others who may be just growing a cultivar that I grow or want to grow and these people get passed over because they are not a frequent poser.
The site appears to be set up pretty good for this type of function and would be very easy to use versus trying to sift through many posts here trying to find out who said what about a particular cultivar and whether or not they grow it.
Iāll just shut up now and put my beer goggles back on. 
p.s. Friends donāt let friends surf the net drunk, but then I have none so Iām free to do this. hahaha 
I have to edit this post because I just got reminded by someone hopping through the room that I do have one friend and his name is Chief Sitting Lion. He said post to his pic and itās not an optical illusion that you only see three legs.
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Lance, thank you! It sounds like you understand my vision. I have to admit, I was a little surprised by the lukewarm reception. I thought I had a pretty good pulse on the community here and felt like there was a need for something like this. Like you, I always find myself pouring through old posts to find something I remember being discussed months back. Iām always curious what everyone was growing.
Anyway, Iām going to keep building on the site and weāll see where it goes. In the meantime, anyone who has signed up (I saw a couple of you registered) please feel free to let me know if there are any other data points youād like to record or features that would improve it. Iād be happy to build out the site in any way that makes it more useful. Next step is to add veggies to the catalog.
PS - Big thumbs up to whoever registered with the name Rick Grimes 
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Actually, yes. I believe I was the first to read it last night according to the counter on the link at the time. My comments were that although it is not appropriate for me at this time, due to understanding my own propensities for spending too much time online as it is, reticence at exchanging items with completely unknown entities (not that I have anything theyād value, and I prefer to straight out give whenever I can), and my foreseeable inability to utilize the anticipated future attraction of keeping a pictorial log. However, I also see a potential usefulness for other people.
My mind is only fogged by the lateness of the evening, a full belly, and autumn allergies.
Thanks, but even though Iāve got lots of experience, the bulk of my knowledge about growing anything in this time and specific place is more along the lines of the bulk of Edisonās time spent creating a working light bulb; I have learned a myriad of things that donāt work well here. What worked for me in NoVa or was easy in coastal SoCal, doesnāt play well here in central SC. Iām gradually improving and also becoming more adept at growing plants out of their hardiness zones, Iām still more of a muddler than a pro here.
Ha ha! You never know. Iāve met a number of people whose parents have given them unfortunate names.
Well, I really like it! It reminds me of a site I really like called www.fruitiers.net except itās actually in English, not French, so I donāt have to hit the translate button 5 million times! Thanks Chris! I just registered.
Cool site Chris! The problem is getting traffic to it, Axel of Cloudforest put a huge amount of effort in a similar database but never got a critical mass of contributors. If it gets traffic it would be very useful.
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Thanks Scott! I hope you also know I meant no disrespect by posting about it on here. I donāt see it as a competitor to the Growing Fruit forum you put together.
Iām planning on doing some tours of local orchards and urban farms next year to gather data. Iām also going to work on building a web scraper that will load vendors, descriptions, etc of various varieties. Hopefully by automating some of the data collection I can make it more valuable to new members so there are data points in there already when they show up. Iāve seen a few other attempts at something like this online, but they all look to be at least partially abandoned. An advantage I have is that itās not a business so I donāt need to reach any kind of critical mass to make it worth my time.
Weāll see how it goes! Iāve been toying with the idea for a few months and only really got serious about it a couple weeks ago. At the very least itāll be an interesting project.
Iāve been making exciting progress progress over at gardenregister.com and wanted to share since you all are the siteās target audience!
There are now 6 or 7 GrowingFruit members registered over on Garden Register, with a 3 actively involved.
The swap page now functions more intuitively than it did when I first introduced it. Iāve already got my first trade as a result! http://gardenregister.com/swap/
(PS hereās my swap pageā¦ Any offers? http://gardenregister.com/swap/user/2/)
Iām also working on an algorithm for predicting harvest dates based on data entered by users. Eventually Iām going to compile it into the mother of all harvest charts but I need help from all of you! Create an account and log your harvest dates, please! The algorithm updates dynamically and the more data, the more accurate it is.
An example of harvest date estimator can be found here: http://gardenregister.com/plant/339/SpiceZeeNectaPlum/
Then thereās the blog. Iād love to post intelligent articles from some of the more experienced folks here. The fruit reports from Fruitnut, Scott, etc would be great additions! Let me know if you want to write something. http://gardenregister.com/blog/
And thatās it for my shameless self promotion. Thanks to Paul, Lance, Ryan and others who have been providing great feedback on how to improve the site.
Sorry, one last thing!
Iām also piloting a searchable catalog of product listings for online nurseries. So far I have Raintreeās and St Lawrence Nurseriesā catalogs loaded. Iād like to say thanks to Connor at St Lawrence Nurseries for allowing me to use some of his catalog product descriptions on the site.
If any members here run small (or large) nursery operations and want me to list their products, Iād love to talk to you!
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Nice looking site Chris. From my first impression it looks user friendly and that is a must to get people interested . Love the scion exchange format the way it is color coded for someone to quickly find the type of scion they are looking for and not have to look at a bunch that are not! From someone that knows , it is a lot of work getting a web site off the ground .
And yes I do plan on signing up when I get a little more organized with my stuff !
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Muddy we all love this site. I think the new site is just what it aims to be an organized site for trading scion wood. How do we get to see the āuser statā part of this site? Just think, if you could only order trees, seeds and plants from just one catalogue! Its fun to see what people have learned here and expanded upon.
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