Woodbank

Woodbank 2023 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 December 29th of every year. Hardcopies will be updated/uploaded and distributed on the even numbered years at the January meeting, and electronic copies will be updated/uploaded on odd numbered years. Woodbank 2023 will be free to all depositors who list in 2023. 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 2023 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. The username/password is the same for the newsletter.

Visit Other BYFG Orchards

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

• Chris and Sarah Manning, 5276 Steelville Rd. , Steelville  PA  19310, byfg@epix.net. Apples, plums, pears, kiwis, figs, and keep pastured laying hens and grow a large vegetable garden using integrated pest management methods. Also sollitary polinating bees.

• Bill Dailey, Broomall, PA  dailey@sas.upenn.edu. Intensive orchard of antique and new apples trained as espalier and cordons. Large selection of various gooseberry cultivars. Also other berries, pears, and peaches.

• Bass Samaan , Bethlehem,PA, bassgarden@gmail.com. Over 150 cultivars of figs, jujubes, kiwis, persimmons, etc. on a third of an acre. Also visit his website: Trees of Joy

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

Links to other pages of interest to BYFGs

New Additions to the site: (BYFG'ers can email me suggestions to add to our pages) 

• Grafting and Propagating Fruit Trees A great pdf brochure from Penn State.
  
• Vegatative Propagation Techniques A great pdf pamflet on all aspects of plant propagation with many pictures.
  
• Nigel Deacon's Excellent site Nigel Deacon's excellent site on all things apple. Check out the apple breading pages!
  
• Wild Pollinators of Eastern Apple Orchards and How to Conserve Them. A great booklet from the Cornell IPM Center.
  
• Big Horse Creek Farm Scionwood- Many old apple cultivars. $3.50 per stick with 2 stick minimum, plus $6 postage.
  
• Red Manse Farm apple scionwood
  
• Fedco sells apple scionwood
  
• Apple Scionwood from Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boston. $3 per scion with 4 stick minimum. Many very old cultivars.
• Masonville Orchards in Colorado sells scionwood for $3 per stick plus shipping. Apples, Pears, and a few plums.
• Maple Valley Orchards offers scionwood for $3 per stick plus shipping. Many apples, pears and a few plums.
• Skipley Farm offers scionwood for $5 per stick plus shipping.
• Temperate Orchard Conservancy offers scionwood for $6 per stick plus shipping, over 5000 apple varieties!
• Heirloom Orchardist. A listing of resources including scionwood, trees, etc.
• Cornell Fruit website- An outstanding resource from Cornell University. Includes many fruits. Nice IPM manuals for apples and grapes.
• www.organgepippin.com is an excellent site with descriptions and pictures of many apples. While based in the UK, there are links to US sources for many of the trees.
• Gooseberry and Currant culture information with excellent information and some links. It's a pdf file.
• A Grower's Guide to Organic Apples
• Production Guide for Organic Grapes
• Excellent website on bagging apples for pest protection
• Joe Volk's "Fruits for Home Gardeners"
• Blog for New Hampshire Fruit Growers

Highly Recommended Sites

• www.NorthernNutGrowers.org - Northern Nut Growers Association: Founded in 1910, this 100-year plus association is dedicated to advancing knowledge of nut tree culture.
• www.GrowOrganicApples.com - Michael Phillips site.
• www.VeggieGardeningTips.com -Kenny Points Gardening site from Harrisburg. He has many articles and blogs on gardening. 
• 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)
• The Online Pennsylvania Tree Fruit Production Guide
• Pennsylvania Small Fruit Production Guide
• 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
• Washington State University Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center
• Oregon State Extension Northwest Berry and Grape Infonet Page
• NYSAES WWW Server
• The Core Historical Literature of Agriculture library at Cornell - A huge number of old books are online, like Small Fruits of NY, Apples of NY, etc!!

Online Catalogs, Sources, etc

• 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.
• One Green World- Another Northwest nursery with 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Hartmann's Plant Company- 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.

Bees, Bees, Bees

• Pollinator Paradise- An excellent sournce of solitary bees, resources.
• Wild Pollinators of Eastern Apple Orchards and How to Conserve Them. A great booklet from the Cornell IPM Center.
• Information on Solitary Pollinating Bees 
• A very interesting and information-packed Web site about solitary bees
• USDA-ARS Carl Hayden Bee Research Center
• Solitary Bees- A great bunch of links and information from Idaho.
• Alternative Pollinators: Native Bees
• Mason Bees and supplies, books, etc.

Figs

• Trees of Joy - Bassam Samaan's site in Bethleham PA. Lots of info on figs.
• Figs4fun - excellent page with propagation and other information 
• Encanto Farms Nursery - Many figs available as scions or plants
• California Fig Growers Page.

Fruit Production Information Links

• Darren Gordon's description of "bagging" fruit to protect from insect damage. Excellent!
• 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
• Pear Pages - from the Pear Bureau of Oregon, Washington, and Californina
• 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
• Washington State Fruit Commission

Gardening Links - Seeds

• 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

Miscellaneous Pages of Interest

• 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
• Fruit Facts Individual Pages on Fruits From the California Rare Fruit Growers
• USDA Home Page

Orchard Links

• North Star Orchard- Ike and Lisa Kirschner's wonderful orchard and vegetable Farm located in Cochranville, PA.
  
• Lakeside Orchards (Manchester, Maine) - offering apple gift packs.