Organic citrus growing tips from professional growers

A lemon tree is one of the most loved backyard fruit trees, and one of the most useful trees you can grow. Learn how to look after all your citrus trees with this informative masterclass, and then make the most of your harvest with the bonus recipes.

Get the theory and practice of turning a glut of apples into a range of drinks that can be enjoyed by kids and adults alike.

Do you grow or forage apples? Would you love to learn some new ways of converting your harvest into a range of delicious—and health giving—products?

In this 1.5-hour Masterclass, guest expert Paul “Speedy” Ward shows you how to turn your apple crop into juice, cider, apple cider vinegar, and shrub.

He explains easy-to-use techniques that don’t need loads of expensive equipment, because this Masterclass aims to return the lost art of cider and vinegar making to the home-grower, where it belongs.

Learn when you need two trees for pollination, and how to attract bees for abundant harvests

Two things are needed to get great fruit crops—the right pollinisers (trees that need to be planted together to get a crop), and enough bees. Learn how to ensure abundant harvests by creating a bee-friendly garden and understanding pollination.

Develop your "green thumb" and use plants to heal the soil

Master the organic fertility technique of planting green manure crops to improve soil nutrition, crowd out weeds, and heal the soil of diseases.

Get the juice on growing and preserving organic cherries

Cherries are tiny taste bombs! They are one of the most health-giving fruits to grow, not to mention the most delicious! Find out how easy it is to care for your cherry trees, and how to fill your pantry with delicious cherry treats.

Make your own "black gold" and capture the nutrition from garden waste

Learn how to make your own high quality, reliable compost—every time! Turn garden waste, food scraps, animal waste and even newspaper and cardboard into nutritious compost full of organic matter, nutrients and healthy soil microbes. Close the "nutrition loop" in your backyard and save on fertilisers at the same time!

Build resilience with good drainage and a flood recovery plan

In an increasingly changeable world, extreme rain events (and even floods) are more likely, and fruit trees can easily die if their roots become too wet. Prevent the tragedy of drowned trees with good drainage and a flood strategy.

Save money with home grown and hand made

Fresh fruit is healthy and full of vitamins, especially if you've grown it yourself, using organic methods.

Learn how to preserve and store fruit to eat over winter without losing all those wonderful life-giving nutrients.

Animal helpers for fruit trees

If you love animals and love growing your own fruit, this course is for you. Discover how your pets or farm animals can enjoy life more while helping you with the fruit trees.

Give the gift of knowledge

Do you know someone who could benefit from an online course? Experience the warm inner glow of setting someone on the path to fruit self-sufficiency.

September is grafting time, and because we want EVERYONE to learn how to grow their own fruit trees for free, we've bundled together of all our grafting short courses.

Growing your own trees is easier than you think - these are skills that anyone who can hold a knife can learn.

The bundle includes all 5 courses:
- Grow Your Own Fruit Trees for Free
- Whip-tongue grafting
- Cleft grafting
- Bark grafting
- Bud grafting

Master cleft grafting 

Cleft grafting is a simple and effective technique that comes into its own when there's a mismatch between the size of the grafting wood and the tree you're grafting onto.

Enjoy new grafting skills

"Budding" is the only grafting technique done in summer, and is a cheap and easy way to get the most out of the fruit trees you already have in your garden. You'll quickly increase the amount of fruit you grow without having to buy a new tree.

Finally, the fruit tree course you’ve been waiting for…

You’ve got fruit trees, but you’re not quite sure how to look after them, right? Or you're tired of growing fruit that’s spotty, or gets eaten by pests.

Are your trees unhappy, unhealthy, or don’t grow properly? Are you worried that you’re pruning wrong, or just sick of endlessly looking for reliable information you can trust?

We hear you!

The Grow Great Fruit program is a complete, easy-to-use system that covers everything you need to know to keep your fruit trees happy and healthy, every year.

But it's never overwhelming, it rolls out gently throughout the year (as you need it), and we're there every step of the way to help you.

You can choose the exact level of support you need, with monthly or annual membership options to fit your budget.

Never buy a fruit tree from a nursery again

Learn the ancient skills of growing your own fruit trees from seed or cutting, and then grafting your own trees—useful and fun techniques that will turn you into a truly self-sufficient gardener able to preserve heritage varieties and create something from nothing. You'll feel incredibly empowered when you master this forgotten art and become self-sufficient for fruit trees.

Plan where to put your fruit trees for long term success by understanding your climate, weather, soil and garden.

With good planning and design, you can have fresh deciduous fruit from late spring to early winter in a temperate climate, if your fruit trees are in the right place with the right protection.

Nurture young fruit trees

The period after planting a new fruit tree is key to its long-term success. Protect your investment of time, money and space in your garden, and put your young trees on the path for a long healthy life with these simple checklists and tasks.

Start here for soil basics

Growing amazing organic food starts and ends with the soil. Understand what soil is and whether yours is healthy, and learn simple, practical skills to support the fruit trees and other plants in your garden.

Read what your trees are telling you about disease, nutrition and the seasons

Tune into nature and learn to read what your fruit trees are telling you.

This free but underutilised technique of learning what to look for (and when) will give you the "heads up" about key ways to care for your fruit trees in every season before the problems happen.

Free water: how to store rainfall in your soil!

As gardeners, water is one of our most precious resources, and for some of us, an increasingly scarce one. These clever and simple techniques will help you go beyond merely good design to masterful eco-planning.

A professional manual for organic citrus growers, by David Madge

Citrus are one of the most common and loved backyard fruit trees, but can also be some of the most problematic. We tracked down this incredible free resource, which draws on the knowledge of experienced organic citrus growers from around Australia, to answer your in-depth citrus questions.

© 2009 Rural Industries and Research Development Corporation

Use the permaculture system for better living

Do you yearn for a simpler, more abundant life? A life where you provide more of your own food and produce less waste? Permaculture provides practical, "do-able" solutions for living lighter on the earth, using a design process that works with nature. Whether you're growing food on a balcony or a farm, permaculture will help you create the lifestyle you long for.

Timing, technique and storage tricks to harvest perfect fruit to be proud of

You've got ripe fruit on your tree...now learn the all-important (but tricky) skill of choosing the perfect time to pick it. Back it up with great technique and proper storage and you'll make the most of your precious fruit.

Growing tips and recipes for organic pears and quinces

Longing for fresh fruit that will grow in autumn or winter? Do you want fruit that's easy to grow with minimal input? Pears and quinces ripen late, store well, are hardy, and preserve marvelously; they deserve to be included in every serious food-grower's garden!

Strategies to stop pests from damaging your fruit

Pests that eat fruit are a fruitgrower's nightmare! You've put a lot of love and energy into growing perfect fruit, now it's absolutely vital to learn simple strategies in place to make sure YOU get to eat it, and not the pests!

A guide to pruning deciduous fruit trees 

The ebook starts with the parts of a fruit tree, basic aims of pruning, and the 10 Key Pruning Principles. We talk you through deciding what shape you want your tree to be, and give clear, concise instructions about how to care for your tree as it grows. There's also details on what to do with monster trees (the ones that got away!) and includes a wide variety of training systems.

Prune young trees for success

Pruning young trees into the right shape when you plant them is super important, as it sets the tree up correctly for the rest of its life.

The tools you need to protect your crops from the dreaded Queensland fruit fly

Queensland fruit fly can be incredibly destructive to fruit and vegetable crops, and demoralising to growers. But it can be beaten! This free resource pack will give you a complete "tool box" of tricks to beat this pesky and persistent pest.

Become an earth lover by unlocking the secret world of microbes beneath your feet

Understand the amazing world of soil microbes that are key to the Natural Fertility System, and how to make your soil a welcoming home to healthy microbes (and not the nasties).

Imagine fields of flowers under your fruit trees ... what a beautiful addition to your garden. But did you know that flowering plants can also help you have a healthy gut, healthy soil, healthy trees and happy bees?

In this 2 hour Masterclass, guest expert Dr Christine Jones explains the truly amazing connections between fruit trees and the plants, soil and microbes beneath them— and your gut health.

Despite minor technical issues (for example the sound is a bit ropey for the first few minutes), Christine delivered a wonderful presentation that warrants repeated viewing. Highly recommended!

Imagine ... it's possible to heal our agricultural soils.

What would that look like? What ecological processes would we need to activate? What practices would be required? Where would we start and how would we know we were making progress?

In this 90 minute online Masterclass (plus some incredible extra resources), guest presenter Dr Christine Jones explains exactly what soil needs in order to thrive, have high water-holding capacity and support highly nutritious crops and pastures.

Dr Jones is an acknowledged world leader on this topic. This Masterclass is a rare opportunity to spend a couple of hours hearing directly from Christine about soil fundamentals, and then delve deep into the detailed written answers Christine supplied after the live event.

Rethinking weeds as edible and medicinal herbs

Enjoy the many benefits of nature's bounty provided in your backyard. Tap into the wisdom of the past to learn how the plants you think of as weeds can actually be used as an abundant free source of nutritious food and home remedies. And they're good for your soil!

Common Insect Pests of Deciduous Fruit Trees

This handy ebook features more than 15 common pests of deciduous fruit trees including a description of each pest (with photos), the type of damage it does, its life cycle, what to look for, and a range of strategies for prevention, control and treatment.

Give your fruit trees the best possible start in life.

The first 3 years of your fruit tree's life are the most important, from site selection through to planting, pruning and aftercare. Caring properly for young fruit trees will set them up for a lifetime of productivity and health.

This bundle includes the six courses that all new fruit tree owners need, plus a hefty discount so you can save yourself a bundle!