The informal association of Backyard Fruit Growers began in 1990 as an exchange of information for amateurs and others in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, who wish to produce excellent fruit for the family, and to respect the backyard environment. Members get together four times a year at seasonal meetings (Winter, Spring Grafting, Summer Orchard Tour, Fall Apple Tasting) to share ideas and fellowship. Members also receive a newsletter, Backyard Fruit Grower, which has a circulation of about 350. If you live within driving distance of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and if you would like to participate in our seasonal events, subscribe to the seasonal newsletter to receive schedules and directions. To subscribe to the seasonal newsletter, print out and fill in this subscription form, or read through this online copy of the Backyard Fruit Growers brochure, send $15 for 2 years and snailmail to Chris and Sarah Manning, editors;  5276 Steelville Rd.;  Steelville, PA  19310.  E-mail byfg@epix.net

WOODBANK 2008 IS ONLINE!!
Members can also download a copy of Woodbank 2008 in pdf format by clicking here. You can get the depositor list here.

2008 Dates

Woodbank 2008 is a listing of cultivars fruited by members of the BYFGs who offer to swap scionwood with other listed BYFGs during our seasonal get-togethers. Deposit your varieties with Steve Shambeda by 12/1/10 and join the swap. Woodbank 2008 will be free to all depositors who list in 2008. If you are not yet a listed depositor, you may pick up Woodbank copies at seasonal meeting for $5.00 each. Members can also download a copy of Woodbank 2008 in pdf format by clicking here. You can get the depositor list here. You will be prompted for a username and password which you can obtain from your most recent issue of Backyard Fruit Grower newsletter or you can email Chris. The username/password is the same for the newsletter. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader if you don't already have it installed.

The following BYFGs invite you to call or write ahead and arrange a visit:

• Bill Dailey , Broomall, PA 610-356-5348, dailey@sas.upenn.edu . Intensive orchard of antique and new apples trained as espalier and cordons. Also berries, pears, and peaches.

• Warren and Margretta Frey, 2015 Ridge Rd., East Berlin, PA 17316-9107. Combination of bird sanctuary, wild flower garden, water garden, and orchard of 25 young and mature trees

• Eric Habegger, Akron, PA 717-859-2521. Many apple varieties grafted to standard roots, dwarf espaliers, Swiss Cultivars, pear, plum, peach, cherry, etc.

• Tucker Hill, Etters, PA (717) 938-6090.  Jujubes, nut trees, and nut tree grafting

• Aaron King, Fairview Fruit Farm. Write or drop in: 96 Paradise Lane, Ronks, PA 17572. Antique and new flavor cultivars, trellises.

• Ed Mashburn,707 Front Street Northumberland, PA 17875, (570) 473-9910.  Largest collection of ribes (currants and gooseberries) on the East coast.  Annual open house is the first Saturday after the  fourth of July. 

• Steve Shambeda, Etters, PA 717-932-5713,shambeda@epix.net. Apple, peach, pear, quince, pawpaw, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, trout stream, dwarf and semi-dwarf espaliers.

• Rick Stuby, New Tripoli, PA (610) 760-2306. www.holyrootfarm.com. Apples on vertical axis.  Honeybees.
  

• Joe Volk, Golden Pond Nursery and Orchard, Mohnton, PA 610-777-2131. Common and uncommon fruits too numerous to list including the famous Volk Red Raspberry.

Highly Recommended Sites

• Best Resources for Backyard Fruit Growers  - The best books, periodicals, etc nominated by our members.
• Picture Gallery - the beginnings of a library of images about fruits and fruit cultural practices
• Pictures from the Grafting Workshop 2005 - See what the fuss is all about!
• Images from the 2001 Winter Meeting - Lots of apple pictures from an apple tasting.
• Tasting Results from the 2001 Winter Meeting (in pdf format)
• Tom Burford's Top Twenty Desert Apples (in pdf format)
• Backyard Fruit Grower Online (January 2007 BYFG Newsletter is online in PDF format.  The username and password is the same as for Woodbank 2005)
• The Online Pennsylvania Tree Fruit Production Guide
• Pennsylvania Small Fruit Production Guide
• Plum Pox Alert for Pennsylvania
• The BYFG Pawpaw Page - a page devoted to that most misunderstood fruit. Check out the 1997 BYFG Pawpaw Tour photos !
• Applesource - a unique service that allows you to taste test a wide variety of apples by mail order. Many apple descriptions with ripening dates. Highly recommended
• Kearneysville Experimental Farm Home Page has a great set of links with lots of pictures of diseases and bugs, and links to the Mid-Atlantic Fruit Loop. Highly recommended!
• North American Fruit Explorers (NAFEX) publishes the quarterly Pomona.
  
• MidFEx Home Page - a local NAFEX group out of Chicago.
• Northern Nut Growers
• Marc's Gooseberry Site- An excellent site with variety descriptions and pictures.
• Virtual Orchard (University of Vermont and Rutgers University)
• California Rare Fruit Growers
• Pollination Home Page
• Corvallis Germplasm Repository
• USDA-ARS Tree Fruit Research Laboratory
• Oregon State Extension Northwest Berry and Grape Infonet Page
• NYSAES WWW Server

• Big Horse Creek Farm  A North Carolina Nursery specializing in old southern apples but has many, many varieties and online descriptions.
• Henry Leuthardt Nurseries  A Long Island family nursery with great prices on fruit trees and soft fruits.  Also one of the few places that grows and sells various espalier forms of apple and pear.
• Whitman Farms - A great source for currants, gooseberries, other unusual fruits and landscape plants.  Good prices and service.
• Raintree Nursery - Excellent service and selection on all kinds of fruits.
• Burnt Ridge Nusery and Orchards A Washington State nursery with good selection and prices.
• Bear Creek Nursery - Unfortunately now out of business.  Here are some scanned pages from one of their old catalogs showing how to graft, t-bud, and chip bud. These are the main methods of propagating fruit trees.
• Southmeadow Fruit Gardens Hundreds of modern and antique fruits available by mail order with a descriptive online catalog. NOTE- a change in ownership has apparently made this an unreliable nursery. See here for customer concerns.
• Cummins Nursery Wide variety of fruit trees. Carries some new releases from Cornell.
• Peterson's Pawpaws - Neal Peterson's selected and patented pawpaw clones Shenandoah, Susquehanna, and Rappahannock available by mailorder. Lots of information on growing pawpaws.
• Stark Brothers Nursery A source of many fruit plants.
• St. Lawrence Nurseries Online Catalog - many apple variety descriptions.
• Edible Landscaping Online Catalog. Many unusual fruits.
• Brandt's Fruit Trees
• Burchell Nurseries
• Pense Nursery - Arkansas nursery specializing in small fruits and very low prices.
• Benner's Gardens - Products for deer and varmit protection.  Almost invisible fencing.
• Classical Fruits - Alabama family nursery.
• Bay Laurel Nursery - California nursery specializing in Dave Wilson creations.  Many, many fruits.
• Nourse Farms - Massachusettes nursery specializing in small fruits.  Good prices.
• Indiana Berry - Many small fruits.
• TRECO - Wholesale rootstock sales, also trees.  Minimum order of 100 rootstocks.
• Nafex Nursery/Supply Source List - The North American Fruit Explorers listing of suppliers.

• A very interesting and information-packed Web site about solitary bees
• USDA-ARS Carl Hayden Bee Research Center
• The Orchard Mason Bee Page from Knox Cellars
• Solitary Bees - A great bunch of links and information from Idaho.
• Alternative Pollinators: Native Bees
• SOURCES FOR BEES and RELATED MATERIALS
• Mason Bees and supplies, books, etc.

• NAFEX Fig Page maintained by Ray Givan.
• California Fig Growers Page.

• Joe Volk's "Fruits for Home Gardeners"
• Bill Dailey's Espalier Bibliography from February 2005
• Rick Stuby's Integrated Pest Management Talk from February 2005
• Good Fruit Grower - online magazine
• Iowa State Univ. Extension Service - Tree Fruits section
• The National Clonal Germplasm Repository - the USDA ARS genebank at Corvallis, Oregon
• OSU Farm & Production Agriculture: Fruit Section - from Ohio State University
• Pear Pages - from the Pear Bureau of Oregon, Washington, and Californina
• Pruning Fruit Trees - a guide from the Nebraska Cooperative Extension site (file is in PDF format)
• USDA-ARS Tree Fruit Research Laboratory (Wenatchee, WA) - fruit tree disease & disorder information and links
• Washington Apple Commission - apple recipes, apple variety information, and apple facts
• The Virtual Orchard (Univ. of Vermont and Rutgers Univ.) - apple production information, and some research links
• Washinton State University Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center.
• Washington State Fruit Commission

• Burpee - the seed company's Home Gardening Pages with lots of good information.
• Pinetree Garden Seeds A TREMENDOUS online catalog featuring many different kinds of seeds and some fruits. Great prices.
• The Garden Web - a collection of gardening resources, including an on-line seed/plant exchange service

• Fruit Facts Individual Pages on Fruits From the California Rare Fruit Growers
• Online Horticultural Databases
• National Agricultural Library
• USDA Home Page

• A great French pomological site by Alain Roueche. MANY pictures and descriptions of apples and pears, much translated in English.
• The Real Cider and Perry Page Everything you wanted to know about making cider and perry.
• The Whittenham Hill Cider Page Excellent page with lots of information about small scale cider production.
• Biocontrol Contents
• CropEXPERT
• Disease and Insect Management in the Home Orchard
• Espalier Information
• Trellis Espalier Information
• A Listing of Horticultural Web Pages Probably about every horticultural web site in the nation is listed here !

• Lakeside Orchards (Manchester, Maine) - offering apple gift packs and Pear Care and Apple Advice
• Methow Valley Pride - offering apple gift boxes and Washington apple information