The 2022 NAFEX Virtual Conference, Good Fruit: From the Ground Up, was a great success!
This year’s conference featured eight inspiring and informative online sessions over three days, online via ZOOM and by phone. See the complete schedule, topics and speakers below.
The conference included the 2022 NAFEX Annual Meeting and Member Show and Tell.
Join NAFEX today to watch the recorded sessions and access bonus materials from our speakers.
Current Members: Access to webinar recordings and downloadable resources is FREE for all NAFEX members in good standing. Members automatically received daily emails with session links and call-in numbers. No registration needed.
Non-members: Membership is only $19 and you’ll receive full access to conference recordings and resources, plus full member benefits for one year!
Keynote Address by Steven Edholm of Skillcult
Generously Sponsored by:
Conference Schedule
Download and Print the Conference Schedule
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THURSDAY, NOV. 10
(Two Sessions)
SESSION 1
2 pm PST / 5 pm EST
Opening Session:
NAFEX 2022 Annual Meeting and Member Show and Tell
Join us for our brief Annual Meeting followed by a fun and informal session where members are invited to share tips, creations, successes and failures in your orchard or fruit farm. Annual meeting agenda includes board elections, 2023 look ahead, and other topics of interest. Bring a story to share!
Moderator:
Kris Heeter, NAFEX President
SESSION 2
4 pm PST / 7 pm EST
Growing High-Yield Fruit Using Espalier Methods
It’s possible to grow abundant fruit in smaller spaces and with manageable heights using classic Espalier training and pruning methods. This decorative, usually two-dimensional form, offers high yields of high quality fruit on a plant or plants that can be free-standing, decorating a wall or fence, or even creating the fence itself! Author Lee Reich will describe which fruit plants work best and share techniques that create and maintain espaliers that look good and yield especially delectable fruit.
Speaker:
Lee Reich, Author (New York)
Moderator:
Leslie Wade, NAFEX Director and Programs Chair
FRIDAY (morning), NOV. 11
(Two Sessions)
SESSION 1
9 am PST / Noon EST
Backyard Orchards for Homestead and Community
Growing fruits can be both enjoyable and rewarding. In this session, we’ll look at how to create successful backyard orchards for home, market and community by learning from our speakers’ successes and initial failures. These lessons can help you fast-track your dreams of picking fresh fruit straight from your backyard and sharing it for fun, profit or community benefit.
Speakers:
Zen Kai, Tiny Urban Farm (Georgia)
Tonia Lordy, Home Orchard Education Center (Oregon)
Moderator:
Nick Kasko, NAFEX Director
SESSION 2
11 am PST / 2 pm EST
The Dirt on Building Healthy Soil
Good fruit starts from the ground up. Join Jeff Lowenfels, the author of the popular Teaming With Microbes/Nutrients/Fungi/Bacteria book series to learn more about building healthy soil for more abundant and disease-resistant fruit crops.
Speaker:
Jeff Lowenfels, Author (Alaska)
Moderator:
Kris Klueg Heeter, NAFEX President
FRIDAY (afternoon), NOV. 11
(Two Sessions)
SESSION 3
2 pm PST / 5 pm EST
Managing Pests and Diseases with Minimal Inputs
Healthy fruit trees and shrubs can better defend themselves from pests and diseases, but it requires good planning and management, whether you have a few trees or a larger commercial orchard. We’ll look at management strategies including orchard sanitation, how to add value with imperfect fruit, and how to measure leaf brix to determine the health of your plants.
Speakers:
Tom Murray, SLO Farm (Oregon)
Dr. Tom Dykstra, Dykstra Laboratories (Florida)
Moderator:
Chris Homanics, NAFEX Director
SESSION 4
4 pm PST / 7 pm EST
Permaculture Orchards: Polycultural Design and Regenerative Practices
Let’s talk about how to integrate microbes and companion plants into your orchard that will have added benefits such as food, medicine, carbon sequestration, and more. We’ll explore what works and what doesn’t, whether to include animals, and the realistic costs and benefits.
Speakers:
Robert Frew and Juan Carlos Arango, Sobremesa Farm (Indiana)
Erik Hagan, Savanna Institute
Moderator:
Kris Klueg Heeter, NAFEX President
SATURDAY, NOV. 12
(Two Sessions)
SESSION 1
9 am PST / Noon EST
Reconstructing the Apple Family Tree
Apple identification is both an art and science. We’ll look at traditional methods of apple ID and newer genetic testing methods that are reconstructing apple pedigrees and yielding surprising results.
Speakers:
John Bunker, Apple Historian (Maine)
Nick Howard, Fresh Forward (Netherlands)
Cameron Peace, Washington State University (Washington)
Moderator:
Eric Bina, NAFEX Committee Member
SESSION 2
11am PST / 2 pm EST
Closing Session and Keynote: Grassroots Apple Breeding: How Small Scale Growers Are Rebuilding Apple Diversity
Join Steven Edholm of Skillcult as he demystifies apple breeding and selection for the common person, moving toward improved quality and variety. We’ll look at how to regain genetic diversity and counter the current, narrow industrial apple breeding and food paradigm. He’ll erode common myths about breeding apples and other fruit and share why plant breeding is the pinnacle of our agricultural heritage. Learn simple methods to breed, select and classify new apples on any scale, as we chart a path forward for broader grassroots fruit breeding.
Speaker:
Steven Edholm, Skillcult (California)
Moderator:
Chris Homanics, NAFEX Director
2022 Speaker and Moderator Bios
Conference Details
Session Times
Thursday, Nov. 10 (2 sessions) – 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Eastern
Friday, Nov 11 (4 sessions) – Noon, 2 p.m., 5 p.m., 7 p.m. Eastern
Saturday, Nov. 12 (2 sessions) – Noon, 2 p.m. Eastern
All sessions are 90 minutes in length including participant questions and answers.
Audience Participation
Participants will be able to submit questions via the ZOOM chat during Q&A at the end of the seven speaker sessions.
Notifications and Conference Links
NAFEX members in good standing will be emailed the conference ZOOM links daily. Please check your spam folder if you did not see the email in your inbox or email us at admin@nafexmembers.org
ZOOM Information
New to ZOOM? It’s easy to set up your own free account and access the conference from your phone, computer or tablet. Here’s a link to ZOOM’s how-to guide.
Session Recordings
All sessions will recorded and made available to NAFEX members for viewing after the conference.
Conference Culture
NAFEX is committed to creating a conference culture of reciprocal learning that is non-judgemental and engaging of all people. We request that all participants respect themselves and one another, honor different views and opinions, and create a welcoming environment for learning and sharing.
Questions?
Please email questions to admin@nafexmembers.org. Please allow 1-2 days for a reply as all of our conference organizers are volunteers as well as busy fruit growers.
About our Sponsors
Trailblazer Sponsor
One Green World is a family-owned retail and mail order nursery located in Portland, Oregon that specializes in fruiting trees and shrubs from all over the world that are well adapted to the Pacific Northwest. In addition to the many fruiting trees and shrubs they grow, they also stock a large number of climate-adapted Mediterranean plants, perennial vegetables, and orchard companion plants.
Discoverer Sponsors
CopenHaven Farms has been growing high-quality rootstock and seedlings for fruit trees on their family farm in Gaston, Oregon since 1982. CopenHaven is located in Oregon’s fertile Willamette Valley, halfway between the city of Portland and the Pacific Ocean, where their plants benefit from a climate ideally suited to growing rootstock. In addition to great natural resources, their knowledgeable and hardworking team ensures their plants are healthy and their customers happy every step of the way. Their rootstock are certified virus-free through the Oregon Department of Agriculture.
Edible Landscaping is a year-round world wide, mail-order nursery and online gardening company located in Afton, Virginia, in the beautiful foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Founded in 1979, Edible Landscaping was one of the first nurseries to ship potted, low-maintenance edibles. They have spent many years growing, grafting and testing hundreds of varieties and have selected only the easiest to care for plants, which need little or no preventive maintenance and look terrific in your yard. Contact them for plant purchases, group tours, workshops, or private lectures.
Forager Sponsors
OrchardPeople.com was created by journalist, filmmaker and urban orchardist Susan Poizner to make fruit tree care easy though articles, podcast, books and premium online courses. Susan has been involved in training new growers since 2013 and over the years has trained thousands of people from coast to coast. Based in Toronto, Canada, Susan teaches in-person workshops and hosts live webinars on Orchardpeople.com. She also hosts an informative fruit tree care radio show and podcast that reaches thousands of listeners around North America and beyond.
Southern Cultured Orchards & Nursery was founded by long-time NAFEX member Larry Stephenson. Based in Coldwater, Mississippi, Southern Cultured Orchards & Nursery cultivates heirloom Southern apple trees that are for sale at local and regional markets and available for shipping as potted or dormant bare root trees. Larry is proud to offer yesterday’s fruits grown today for tomorrow’s generations.