We're happy to be able to find a venue where we can adequately explore the world of apples and tailor the class to both the novice home gardener and the orchard owner.  The course will cover:

Apple History and Varieties

When pioneers staked out a new homestead, often the first thing they would do is plant an apple orchard.  We will explore the history of apples in America and the important place they had in pioneer life, including our local mountains.

It is sad that the more than 17,000 varieties of apples once cultivated in America by 1925 have been condensed down to a half-dozen supermarket varieties.    We’ll look at a cross-section of apple varieties, their uses, and discuss which ones are suitable for warm climates like our hot inland valleys (you may be surprised at which ones are).

Apples have more varieties of dwarfing rootstocks available than all other tree fruits combined, each with different purposes and characteristics.  We will explore these so you can decide which one is best for you and your garden or orchard.

Apple Culture

Southern California is a wonderful place to grow apples, and they are one of the easiest tree fruits to grow.  We will discuss planning, planting, training, watering and fertilizing, pruning, pest and disease control, fruit quality, and harvest.  Special emphasis is given to high-density planting and strategies for growing many different varieties in very little space.

Hands-on Orchard and Grafting Experience

One of the benefits of meeting at an apple farm is being able to go into the orchard to see examples up close and also get some hands-on grafting experience.  We will de-mystify this valuable and ancient art and open up whole new horticultural worlds for you to enjoy.

Itinerary:

10:00 to 10:45- History and Varieties lecture and PowerPoint presentation

10:45 to 11:00 Break

11:00 to 12:00 Varieties and Rootstocks

12:00 to 1:00 Lunch (bring your own or purchase from Riley’s)

1:00 to 1:45 Apple Culture

1:45 to 2:00 Break

2:00 to 3:00 Orchard tour and grafting lab