Posted by The Humboldt Permaculture Guild (HPG) has been hosting The Fruit Tree Scion Exchange annually since 2014. This yearly event allows our community to come together to share graft wood (aka scion) from fruit trees, bushes and vines that are growing in our greater bio-region.
Through the combination of access to inexpensive root stock, free grafting education and community scion, this event is meant to not only empower our community to grow more of their own food but to give them access to unique plant varieties that have been cultivated in Humboldt County and surrounding areas for generations.
This yearly event is held at the Bayside Community Hall on the second Saturday in February from 11 am to 2 pm. This event is free and open to the public. The HPG provides labeling materials (bags, labels, markers), root stock sales, tables for scion placement and provides two educational presentations, which are held in the kitchen (11:30 and 12:30). Scion is sourced and provided by the attendees. Sharing of cuttings from all fruit producing plants is encouraged.
Tips for participating in our Scion Exchange
- Cut last years growth while plants are dormant.
- Bundle and properly label scion (variety, qualities, location, when ripe).
- Japanese plums and peaches are first to wake so cut these first.
- Keep cuttings moist and store in plastic bag in a dark and cool location until ready to graft or share.
- Scion from apples, peaches, plums, pears, nectarines and cherry need to be grafted onto new rootstock or established trees.
- Other plants such as; grapes, kiwis, figs, currants, raspberries, goumi, Chilean guava and various other fruit producing vines and bushes can be reproduced by rooting cuttings and don’t need a rootstock.
- Try and do research on your varieties and if you can, show the fruit in question to local experts and try find out if it is a known cultivar. If not, please take note of the fruits qualities like sweetness, size, color, texture, storability, disease susceptibility and time of year that fruit ripens.
Questions? You can contact our event coordinator Marlon Gil at fogwoodworking@gmail.com.