Want to learn how to Graft Fruit trees ? Feb 1st

by | Jan 10, 2014

Mendocino Permaculture’s 31st Annual Winter Abundance Workshop

Saturday, February 1, 2014, from 9 am to 4 pm, rain☂ or shine ☀
at the Fairgrounds in Boonville, on Hwy 128

Seed, Scion & Cutting Exchange with Hands-on Fruit Tree Grafting

FREE TO ALL

Classes all day on fruit tree propagation, how to grow fruits & nuts, and how to do seed saving of all kinds of food plants. Learn the tricks of making your own fruit & nut bearing trees, shrubs and vines. You can make your own tree right at the event. Come spend the day with local green thumbs who understand the unique climate zones and soils of our bioregion. You can purchase an organic lunch and beverages at the event.

This is a free public service learning event. There is no charge for admission, classes, seeds, cuttings, or scion wood.

Items that will be sold: Lunch, Beverages, Tree Rootstocks, Fruit Trees & Vines.

Free classes: grafting your own fruit trees, top-working and bud grafting, cutting propagation, choosing rootstocks; planting, training, pruning, the localized holistic management perspective; seed saving for vegetables, flowers, and trees.

Seed Exchange: Seeds from local growers of vegetables, flowers, herbs and trees will be available all day, with local seed savers on hand to share local knowledge. Bring seeds to share. Labeled glass jars of bulk seed are preferred. Please label varieties by name, place, harvest date, and any pertinent cultural information. We supply seed envelopes for you to take home seeds.

Scion Exchange: Scions will be available all day, with local experts on hand to answer questions and share “local how to” knowledge. Bring scions to share. We supply over 300 varieties of fruit tree scions; also Cuttings of grape, fig, mulberry, pomegranate, currants, gooseberries, kiwi, European plums. Berries usually need a bit of root and clean soil. (See details below)

Rootstock sales: This is how we fund our free event (besides donations). We sell over 500 tree rootstocks all day of all major fruit types, for a few dollars each. We select the best rootstocks for our climate and soil so you can build your own high quality fruit trees inexpensively, by grafting your chosen scion to the right rootstock. You can also take the scions home to graft on existing fruit trees.

Plant share: everyone is welcome to use our venue to give plants away.

Trees & plants & seeds for sale by local growers, selected for our climate zone by Cool Hybrids, EastHillTop Nursery. Local vendors are welcome. Our new local seed company, Diaspora Seeds, may have seeds to sell as well.

Patrick will be selling his beautiful grafted feijoa trees, all locally tested fruiting cultivars that can not be obtained anywhere else on the planet.

Food sales by local people: the Salsitas will sell an organic lunch, and the Teen Center will sell beverages and snacks.

Schedule of Events

9:00-4:00 Open tables – Scions, seeds, cuttings and selection advice—see workshop map when you arrive

9:30 – 10:30 Class – Mark Albert on the First Level (Basic Techniques) of Making Your Own Trees & Vines

10:30 – 12:00 Class – Tim Bates of The Apple Farm on Planting, Training, Pruning and Holistic Management of Fruit Plantings

12:00 – 1:00 Lunch – Salsitas’ Organic Mexican Lunch

1:00 – 2:15 Class – Pat Schafer on Second Level (Advanced) Grafting, Budding & Topworking Techniques & Strategies

2:15 – 3:30 Class – Seed Saving Basics by Seedsaver Tom Melcher

About Scions and Cuttings
Please bring labeled scions/cuttings of your favorite trees/plants – the old local gems that we are trying to save, new varieties, and your own seedlings are also welcome. If the varietal name is unknown, just label with the scions with your name, phone, and a brief description. The best scions and cuttings are the longest, straightest, newest shoots (especially the lower half of those shoots). Cut scions 8-12” long and ziplock bag them. Free recycled ziplock bags will be available in the scion area. Cuttings for rooting should be longer, 12-24” long, bundled or bagged. Keep them damp and cold, at refrigerator temperature, like a cold spot outdoors on the north side of a building. Clean, damp new wood chips or new wood shavings are the ideal scion storage medium. Cut dormant scions on a nice January day and store them, rather than waiting until the last moment in this unpredictable season. Our dormancy period is short, so picking scions early is best.

About the Fairgrounds Venue
We have moved the event to the fairgrounds in Boonville. The classes will be in the dining hall. Scions and seeds tables will be in the Library/Arts and Crafts Building. Rootstock sales and plant exchange will be under the roof around the outside of the library building. Parking will be outside the Fairgrounds proper, in the parking lot right on Hwy 128 a few hundreds yards southeast of the Fairgrounds. Contact us for details on vehicle access via the “back parking lot” if you need to bring your vehicle in to the event for any reason. The AV Community Library will open for its regular hours.

Please bring your own plate, utensils, cups, and napkins to reduce our carbon footprint. Biodegradable sets will also be available for $1.50 each.

The Winter Abundance Workshop is co-sponsored by Anderson Valley Adult School.

For more information, call Barbara/Rob Goodell 895-3897; Mark Albert 462-7843; or Richard Jeske 459-5926. You may leave your email address by phone for an email reply.

See you there!