North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["gorgon zolla" <lazolla@hotmail.com>]

I've just  joined NAFEX after growing fruit for many years.  I learned some 
of what I know by tending my father's plantings when I was younger.  I live 
a few miles from Nerstrand, Minnesota, USDA zone 4a.

Though we grow a little of everything, my real interests are melons and tree 
fruit.  The season is really a little too short for melons, for us, but we 
do what we can and usually get at least a partial crop.

We presently have about 40 fruit trees -- apples, tart cherries, plums, 
apricots, and pears.  Most of these are the common cold-hardy cultivars for 
the Midwest, though we have started adding a few more unusual trees.  Our 
oldest trees were planted in 1998 and are just starting to bear.

We also have 20 of these little hybrid hazelnut bushes from Badgerset, which 
have been in the ground for two years now.

Recently I've taken an interest in cider and perry, and am planning to plant 
suitable trees next spring.  Not much info on perry pear hardiness, so I am 
planning on setting out a dozen different kinds on the theory that, with 
luck, two or three will produce.

Steve Dunlop

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