Oct 13, 2021

Fruit growing conference announced by North American Fruit Explorers

The nonprofit North American Fruit Explorers, or NAFEX, announced its annual conference will be held online. The year’s theme is, “Fruit Forward: Growing for Tomorrow.”

The virtual event will be held Nov. 15-20, 2021, online via Zoom. It includes 24 speakers in 12 sessions over six days.

“This year we’re planning an exciting series of interactive sessions with some of North America’s leading fruit growers, explorers and preservationists including seminars and exciting keynotes,” Kris Klueg Heeter, associate scientist of biology at Indiana University and NAFEX president, said in a news release.

Conference topics include: organic orcharding, getting started in fruit growing, permaculture orchards for changing climates, agroforestry, plum breeding, pear growing, peaches grown by Southwestern Native Americans, growing pawpaw and persimmon fruits, fruit foraging, and heirloom apple preservation.

NAFEX has secured renowned horticultural author Michael Phillips to be a keynote speaker. Phillips is an organic orchardist, consultant, and writer who has written major fruit growing books including, “The Apple Grower” and “The Holistic Orchard.”

“While Apple Trees have been in the news lately from newly re-discovered ‘lost varieties,’ this conference will continue to focus on the NAFEX mission to support small farmers, orchardists and hobbyists who seek to be sustainable self-sufficient producers of a wide variety of fruits for the good of all,” said Klueg Heeter.

The 2021 NAFEX conference will include 12 online sessions on topics ranging from getting started in fruit growing and foraging for wild fruit to fruit breeding and genetics. Some of the other 24 conference speakers include Reagan Wystalucy, Extension Assistant Professor with Utah State University, on rediscovering peaches in Navajo and other First Nations foodways; Rachel Spaeth, Garden Curator at the Luther Burbank Home & Gardens, on the legacy of Burbank’s eminent plum breeding program; and Dan Bussey, author of the definitive seven-volume, “Illustrated History of Apples in the United States and Canada,” (2016).

The conference is free for NAFEX members and only $19 for non-members. Sign up and conference information is available at NAFEX.org.

Conference Schedule