North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Steve N. Dulaney" <dulaney@wvi.com>]

Hello John,

I do not like to badmouth companies, but I have had difficulties with 
Southmeadow.  Getting hold of them is one of the real complaints.  I 
quit dealing with them a couple of years ago after I could get neither 
the batch of trees that I ordered, nor get a refund.  I called, e-mailed 
and wrote letters, but nothing worked.  I still have a couple of holes 
in the ground that I dug waiting for those trees, though I have filled 
most of them with trees from other places.

Regards,
Steve N. Dulaney

Sgroppino Farms wrote:
> Dear NAFEX:
>  
> I'm about to place orders with 4 or 5 different fruit tree retailers for 
> apple trees for my home orchard.  I'm pretty much a neophyte when it 
> comes to growing or buying fruit trees.  Not knowing much about the 
> reputations of the various growers, I did a search on the Net last night 
> to see if I could find any information about other people's 
> experiences--good or bad.  I hesitate to bring up the topic of 
> companies' reputations because it's so subjective, but I'm about to sink 
> a good chunk of money into buying from tree nurseries about which I know 
> very little.  I don't want to have any regrets about not having done my 
> research in advance.
>  
> I ran across a website last night called Plants By Mail 
> (http://plantsbymail.net/) that looks to be a clearinghouse of 
> information about companies that sell, not surprisingly, plants by 
> mail.  I was a bit concerned when I read the feedback posted about one 
> the companies from whom I'm looking to buy half of my trees--South 
> Meadow Fruit Gardens.  SMFG looks to have a very impressive collection 
> of trees on their website.  I've also had a couple of very helpful 
> conversations with the folks at SMFG, once I've been able to get them on 
> the phone.  Yet the vast majority of feedback people posted about this 
> outfit was a bit alarming.  I have to give them the benefit of the doubt 
> and just assume that the disgruntled people who decided to write about 
> them were a very small minority of South Meadow's happily satisfied 
> customers.  Nevertheless, I would very much appreciate any information 
> people may be willing to share about their experiences buying apple 
> trees from this particular nursery and any others whom you may feel need 
> to be addressed.
>  
> Please e-mail me directly with your thoughts if you don't mind.  Thanks 
> in advance for your info.
>  
> Sincerely,
>  
> John A Gasbarre
> Sgroppino Farms
> Vinalhaven Island, Maine
> sgroppino@sgroppino.com <mailto:sgroppino@sgroppino.com>
>