Hundreds of fruit growers gathered online for an exciting series of eight interactive sessions with some of North America’s leading fruit growers, breeders, and soil experts.
The NAFEX 2023 Virtual Conference featured three days of inspiring and informative online sessions, Nov. 9-11, via ZOOM and by phone.
Keynote Address
Soil Food Web expert Dr. Elaine Ingham delivered the closing keynote address. See the complete schedule, topics and speakers below.
Annual Meeting & Member Show and Tell
The conference included the 2023 NAFEX Annual Meeting and Member Show and Tell on Saturday, Nov. 11.
Watch the Recorded Sessions
All sessions were recorded. Real time participants had the opportunity to ask questions, engage with our speakers, and share information with fellow fruit growers. Watch the interesting Q&A after each presentation.
Free with Your $19 NAFEX Membership
Access to conference recordings is included with your $19 NAFEX membership. Join or renew today.
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 is 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!
Generously Sponsored by:
Trailblazer Sponser
Discoverer Sponser
Forager Sponser
Explorer Sponsers: Michael Weber – Out on a Limb Apples – Head, Hands and Heart Nursery & Fruittreelabels.com
Conference Schedule
Download and Print the Conference Schedule
(Add a Reminder to your Calendar)
THURSDAY, NOV. 9
(Two Sessions)
SESSION 1
2 pm PST / 5 pm EST
Integrating Tree Vegetables and Perennial Staple Crops into the Orchard
Learn how to expand your edible orchard beyond fruit and nuts by integrating other trees and plant species that can serve as vegetables, medicine, fuel, fodder, and help build healthy soil. Author and farmer Eric Toensmeier will share his permaculture-based approach to the creation of perennial farming systems and solutions for orchards and gardens of all sizes.
Speaker:
Eric Toensmeier, author of The Carbon FarmingSolution, Perennial Vegetables, Paradise Lot and co-author of Edible Forest Gardens (Massachusetts)
Moderator:
Chris Homanics, NAFEX Vice President
SESSION 2
4 pm PST / 7 pm EST
Apples Around the World
The apple is the most widely cultivated fruit across temperate regions of the globe. Discover the many types of Malus species around the world as Dr. Gayle Volk shares the USDA’s Malus germplasm collection and discusses how genetic level testing has improved the collection and USDA’s international exchange program. Derek Mills of Hocking Hills Orchard will share how his collection of over 1,800 varieties helps him connect with other apple lovers and play an important citizen role in Malus exploration and preservation.
Speakers:
Gayle Volk, USDA (Colorado)
Derek Mills, Hocking Hills Orchard (Ohio)
Moderator:
Josh Fuder, NAFEX Director
FRIDAY (morning), NOV. 10
(Two Sessions)
SESSION 1
9 am PST / Noon EST
The Business of Growing Fruit – Part 1
Join us for the first of two exciting sessions about the business of growing fruit. In this session, we’ll learn about establishing a successful U-pick operation from Kathy Dice and Tom Wahl of Red Fern Farm; how to create a CSA (community supported agriculture) distribution system with legendary apple grower John Bunker; and how to create value-added products or collaborate with businesses who are end-users of fruit with Megan and Anthony Gossett of Ferm Fresh kombucha.
Speakers:
Tom Wall & Kathy Dice, Redfern Farm (Iowa)
John Bunker, Out on a Limb Apples CSA (Maine)
Meg & Anthony Gossett, Ferm Fresh Kombucha (IN)
Moderator:
Ryan Raes, NAFEX Director
SESSION 2
11 am PST / 2 pm EST
The Business of Growing Fruit – Part 2
In our second session on the business of growing fruit, we’ll get an inside look at the challenges and rewards of starting a nursery business with Michael McConkey of Edible Landscaping; how to sell fruit trees and shrubs at a regional level via farmers markets and events with Larry Stephenson of Southern Cultured Orchard and Nursery; and how to make a business of teaching and educating fruit growers with Susan Poizner of Orchardpeople.com.
Speakers:
Michael McConkey, Edible Landscaping (Virginia)
Larry Stephenson, Southern Cultured Orchards (Miss.)
Susan Poizner, OrchardPeople.com (Toronto)
Moderator:
Leslie Wade, NAFEX Officer and Program Chair
FRIDAY (afternoon), NOV. 10
(Two Sessions)
SESSION 3
2 pm PST / 5 pm EST
Restoration Agriculture and Low-Input Orchards
Looking to have a low input orchard? This is the talk for you. Mark Shepard, author of Restoration Agriculture: Real-World Permaculture for Farmers will be talk about his developed “Sheer, Total, Utter, Neglect” (STUN) method for breeding and selecting cultivars that are adapted to his microclimate and biome. This method can be used to select for flavor, disease resistance and vigorous growth, among other traits.
Speaker:
Mark Shepard, Author, Restoration Agriculture: Real-World Permaculture for Farmers (Wisconsin)
Moderator:
Kris Klueg Heeter, NAFEX President
SESSION 4
4 pm PST / 7 pm EST
All About Hybrid Persimmon
Join persimmon grower Timothy Lane for an overview of recent persimmon hybridizing efforts in Ukraine and the United States. Many of these cultivars have bigger fruit, better flavor and increased cold hardiness than some of their popular predecessors, Rosseyanka and Nikita’s Gift. Timothy will share a detailed account of hybrid persimmon fruit, foliage, cold-hardiness and care.
Speaker:
Timothy Lane, Ockoo MicroFarm (Massachusetts)
Moderator:
Chris Homanics, NAFEX Vice President
SATURDAY, NOV. 11
(Two Sessions)
SESSION 1
9 am PST / Noon EST
NAFEX 2023 Annual Meeting / Member Show & Tell
Join us as we take a brief look back at 2023, look ahead to 2024, and review our Board of Directors candidates. Bring your stories about fruit growing for the always-fun member Show and Tell. The Show and Tell will emphasize discovering or breeding fruit but all stories are welcome – as are new members.
Moderator:
Kris Klueg Heeter, NAFEX President
SESSION 2
11am PST / 2 pm EST
Closing Session and Keynote:
Healthy Fruit from Healthy Soil: Understanding the Soil Food Web
Dr. Elaine Ingham, the soil microbiologist who coined the term “Soil Food Web,” will discuss growing healthy fruiting plants from the ground up, using regenerative growing practices to restore the ecological functions of soil and improve nutrient levels and yields in fruit production. The Soil Food Web is the community of organisms living all or part of their lives in the soil. It describes the complex living system in the soil and how it interacts with the environment, plants, and animals. Dr. Elaine will help fruit growers understand how artificial fertilizers affect soil and plant health and how soil biology determines a plant’s ability to unlock and utilize nutrients. If you want to learn more about how to improve your soil to grow better fruit, you won’t want to miss this talk.
Speaker:
Dr. Elaine Ingham, Dr. Elaine’s Soil Food Web School (Oregon)
Moderator:
Kris Klueg Heeter, NAFEX President
2023 Speaker Bios
Conference Details
Session Times
Thursday, Nov. 9 (2 sessions) – 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Eastern
Friday, Nov 10 (4 sessions) – Noon, 2 p.m., 5 p.m., 7 p.m. Eastern
Saturday, Nov. 11 (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.
Fedco Seeds offers a large selection of certified-organic cultivars and regional heirloom varieties. Located in Clinton, Maine, they are a cooperative – one of the few seed companies so organized in the United States. Fedco has five divisions: Seeds, Potatoes, Onions and Exotics, Organic Growers Supply, Trees, and Bulbs, and sends out two catalogs annually. The cooperative has been in the seed business since 1978. They took on the Tree order from John Bunker in 1983, added fall Bulbs in 1984, picked up potatoes from Tom Roberts in 1985, and the Organic Grower Supply order from the Maine Organic Farmers and Growers Association in 1988. Fedco ships trees and perennial plants in the spring.
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.
Explorer Sponsors
Michael Welber
Out on a Limb Apples CSA
Head, Hands and Heart Nursery and Seed / Fruittreelabels.com