Hi,
New to this site. I was formerly active with Nafex, but no longer with them. I am an active member of a sister organization Midfex. I have a small orchard in my corner lot of Morton Grove where I have been growing fruit and vegetables since the 80’s. I have lost some of my favorite apples like Freyburg and Hudson’s Golden Gem, but am replacing them with
smaller versions on M27. I am downsizing with these smaller rootstocks as I don’t need a lot of fruit and want to keep maintenance down as I get older. I am also getting away from apples and moving into stone fruits. However, I still treasure my Rubinette and Ashmead
Kernel trees. Looking forward to further info exchange with members of this group.
Sherwin Dubren
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Welcome to the forum!
Welcome Sherwin.
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welcome to your new addiction! 
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Welcome to the forum. I only knew the name of Midfex few days ago. A friend of mine went to grafting class at Botanic garden over the weekend and told me this organization afterward. Sounds like a very interesting club.
Midfex is actually a spin off from the parent club Nafex, the national organization. Many of our members belong to both organizations. You can check out more about Midfex at www.midfex.org. We have about two hundred members, although the club is really supported by a core group of a few dozen people. Most of our members are in the Chicago area, but we also have members in the states surrounding Illinois. Anyone living in our region would find Midfex a valuable resource with interesting annual events, like picnics, pruning workshops, grafting classes, etc.
I understand many of your member grow dwarf apples, I assume on M27 'cause I got M27 rootstock from Midfex. I noticed the M27 rootstock I got has very little and small roots. I am wondering how well this tree root grow in the future. Any inputs to share?
Welcome Sherwin!
Welcome! The M27 stuff by the grower on Midfex’s website always impressed me. MidFEx presents Gene’s Backyard Orchard (Introduction) - 97 dwarf apple trees in 2500 square feet
Have you had trees on M27 in the past? The only one I’ve ever seen was what I assume was a Gurney’s M27 tree in my old neighborhood (it had the “Gurneys patented” tree stake attached to it when we first moved in). I think the deer probably thought it was great. But it bore consistent crops of apples even though it was leaning badly.