What kind of contingency plans are NAFEXers making for their plantings? I'm
thinking mostly of those explorers who are doing increases on their
collections of great selections, and breeders who are making crosses and
looking 20 or 30 years ahead. For example, a plum breeder could lose a year
just because of a cold at blossom time. Examples from the list include a
nursery owner who had a temporarily disabling bike accident, & someone who
had to move a 10-year-old orchard because of a land-use dispute, and most
recently the death of Tom V of "Applesource" (which is a service rather than
an orchard, but same principle applies.)
I have a couple nice chance-seedling apples which I hope I'll share with
enough people (and how many are "enough"?!) before I quit gardening in 4 or
40 years. But I'd like to learn what the more serious explorers & breeders
have planned for preserving/continuing their work.