NAFEX is Bringing Back Fruit Trials Among our Members!
Trialing different cultivars and fruit varieties among our members was once a long-standing tradition in NAFEX. In 2024, the NAFEX Board decided to bring that tradition back! This new initiative is designed to grow specifically chosen cultivars of fruit trees across North America and record how those trees do in those locations and climate conditions. This initiative will also serve to help keep specific varieties alive and to insure they won’t be lost.
Current Trials:
- Apple: Milo Gibson
- Apple: Pink Princess
- Apple: Snow Moon
In 2024, we started by having several of our members grow an apple cultivar named Milo Gibson. For those who aren’t familiar with NAFEX’s history and/or the history of this apple, it was discovered and named after our co-founder, Milo Gibson.
In 2025 we added to trials, Pink Princess, an apple cultivar bred by NAFEX’s co-Founder, Fred Jansen.
Going forward, we would like to add more new cultivars to the trial. The fruit must have been found by a NAFEX member while fruit exploring. If possible, it should have been DNA tested to ensure it is genetically unique.
For 2026, we added Snow Moon, an apple discovered by a NAFEX member. Its DNA test revealed it is Duchess x Cortland.
If you would like to join the trials you must be a paying member and agree to fill out a yearly survey about how your trial trees are doing. You may trial as many varieties as you would like. Scion wood is distributed annually. The trials will be ongoing.
Are you growing Milo Gibson or Pink Princess? Or do you have another fruit cultivar that you found through fruit exploring and would like to be considered for future trials by our members in North America? Send us an email at: admin@nafexmembers.org