If you want to buy fruit trees, you’re in the right place! As well as teaching fruit growing, we also grow and sell fruit trees each winter. See the full list of trees and place your order here.
The trees are grown in the lush soil on the slopes of Leanganook (Mount Alexander), and are certified organic.
We don’t offer delivery, but only pick-up from our farm. That’s partly because the trees are grown in this climate to suit this climate (which extends to anywhere in Victoria or southern NSW).
The team includes Katie, her sister Liz Carr, and our esteemed leader and mentor, Merv Carr (who is also Katie and Liz’s dad). Together, we’re one of the enterprises that make up the Harcourt Organic Farming Co-op.
How to order your fruit trees
We sell trees over a two-month period each winter. You can pre-order the trees via the Open Food Network (OFN). Orders close on June 30.
When you visit the OFN you’ll see that the trees are listed alphabetically by tree type, (e.g., Apricot, Apple, etc.). Within each type of tree, the varieties are also listed alphabetically.
You’ll also notice a search bar just above the first tree. You can use this to search for the type of tree you’re looking for (e.g., citrus), or you can search on a variety (e.g., Pink Lady). You can also search on characteristics (e.g., cider, or clingstone).
When you click on the name of the tree it will open up a box that has info about the fruit, pollination, and harvest to help you choose the tree that will suit you best.
Order your trees by June 30. The farm will be open for pick-ups for the first two weekends of July:
- Saturday, July 3, and Sunday, July 4, from 10 am to 4 pm
- Saturday, July 10, and Sunday, July 11, from 10 am to 4 pm
There’s no need to tell us which day you’re planning on coming when you order. The trees are not available before that date for a very simple reason – they’re not harvested until just before they’re sold.
We don’t offer deliveries. Sorry about that. If you can’t get to central Vic to pick up your trees, we urge you to buy your fruit trees from a local nursery or check out one of the excellent nurseries you can find online that does offer deliveries.
If you’d like to order trees but can’t make it to the pick-up days please get in touch. We’d prefer that you come on the nominated weekends (or get someone else to collect your trees) because the sooner the trees get in the ground at your place the better. But if necessary we can hang on to your trees for a little while and arrange a pick-up time that suits us both.
How we grow our trees
We grow all our trees from scratch here on the farm.
First, we save seed from the fruit grown here on the farm and use it to grow as many of our own rootstocks as possible. Some rootstocks are grown from cuttings, also mainly from trees in the nursery. Occasionally we buy in specialty seed or rootstocks.
Then we do all our own grafting, using scion wood from the fruit trees in the nursery and orchards here on the farm. There are more than 140 varieties growing here—including many heritage varieties—which gives us the opportunity to offer a large range.
About the trees
We specialise in heritage and hard-to-find varieties and are constantly adding to our collection. Here’s what our labelling means:
* Small – less than 40cm tall
* Standard – between 40 cm and about 1.5m (this can vary). Some trees may have some branching, some may be single stems (whips)
* Advanced – these trees are usually more than 1m tall, and have enough branches to make a vase shape. This means they won’t need establishment pruning when you plant them and they’re likely to produce fruit sooner than Standard trees.
* Dwarf – only dwarf apples available. These trees are grown on semi-dwarfing rootstock (MM102) and should grow to approximately 50% of a standard tree.
* Multi-graft – these trees have more than one variety of the same type of fruit, e.g. cherries, or apples.
* Fruit-salad trees – these have more than one type of fruit, e.g. a peach and a nectarine, or a plum and an apricot.
We make every effort to supply the trees you’ve ordered. Occasionally, through misadventure when digging the trees up, or a simple case of miscounting, we get it wrong. In that case, we’ll either offer you an alternative tree or give you a full refund.
Any enquiries? Shoot us through an email.
Thanks for buying your fruit trees from us, we appreciate it!
Cheers,
Katie, Liz, and Merv
