Welcome to the complete organic fruit growing resource centre
You'll find more than 60 short courses and e-books to support your rapid journey to becoming a confident fruit grower. You can also access our free resources by clicking on "Free Stuff" in the Course categories box.
Altogether, the courses make up the complete Grow Great Fruit system. If you want to become a pro fruit grower as quickly as possible, the Grow Great Fruit Home-Study Program may suit you better.
The short courses cover all fruit growing topics—the focus is on results, and helping you turn enthusiasm and effort into reliable and delicious crops of fruit, every year.
The courses have between 6 and 20 units. No matter how you prefer to learn—reading, doing, listening—you'll find articles, audios, worksheets, videos and interactive hands-on activities to suit you. When you select and buy a course, you'll get instant access to all the units in that course.
Any queries, please get in touch here.
Happy growing. Hugh and Katie :)
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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.
$19.00 incl. GST
Everything you need to know about growing and eating organic apricots
Imagine that summer taste explosion of sweet, ripe apricots, straight from the tree. There's nothing quite as special as a beautiful and productive apricot tree in the garden, and even one tree can supply enough fruit for your family to eat fresh and preserve.
$19.00 incl. GST
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.
$19.00 incl. GST
Apple growing answers, from pruning to pests
Imagine never having to buy apples again! With just a few healthy and productive apple trees in your garden, it's easy to grow a year's supply for your family.
$24.00 incl. GST
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.
$14.00 incl. GST
Protect your fruit with safe and effective organic spraying
Organics is all about not using sprays or chemicals, right? That's true, but there are also some sprays that are allowable, and perfectly safe and effective when used properly, which can save your precious fruit from a range of pests and diseases.
$19.00 incl. GST
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.
$14.00 incl. GST
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.
$14.00 incl. GST
You need the right equipment for safe, efficient and effective spraying
Demystify this essential part of your fruit growing kit by discovering whether you need a 5-litre sprayer or a 50-litre sprayer, or something much bigger (or smaller).
$14.00 incl. GST
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!
$19.00 incl. GST
A system for the organic control of codling moth
With the right tools and knowledge, you'll soon learn how to keep this nasty pest under control and out of your precious apple crop—without using toxic sprays!
$12.00 incl. GST
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.
$14.00 incl. GST
These high quality e-books give you the "deep dive" into each individual topic that you'd expect from a reference guide written by professional growers. Filled with hundreds of high-res photos, your fruit tree library is now fully stocked!
$154.80 $149.00 incl. GST
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.
$24.00 incl. GST
Get on the inside track to quick success with fruit trees!
Free weekly webinar with experienced organic fruit growers Hugh & Katie Finlay.
$0.00 incl. GST
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.
$9.00 incl. GST
The one key spring activity for your fruit tree that has four major benefits.
Manage your crop load by fruit thinning like a pro. Use this easy tool to get a reliable crop every year (and solve a host of other problems to boot). Your trees, your fruit and your future crops will thank you. Fruit thinning is winning!
$19.00 incl. GST
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.
$10.00 – $500.00
Powerhouse workers in your garden
Harness the power of worms to rapidly turn your waste into nutrient-rich soil.
$19.00 incl. GST
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
$75.00 incl. GST
Grafting survival skills
Whip tongue grafting is "Grafting 101". It's the place to start because the specific cutting technique you'll learn is also used in other grafting methods.
$14.00 incl. GST
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.
$14.00 incl. GST
Bark graft mastery
Bark grafting is the technique of choice for old and large trees. When you get the basics right, it has one of the highest success rates of any grafting technique.
$14.00 incl. GST
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.
$14.00 incl. GST
Avoid gluts and spread your harvest by growing the right varieties
Imagine not having to buy fruit—ever! Think of the money you'll save, and the comfort of being able to eat free, nutritious, home-grown fruit all year, not just during summer.
Plus, you'll dramatically reduce your food miles and help to save the planet. Learn how to plan for fruit self-sufficiency in your own backyard.
$19.00 incl. GST
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.
From: $30.00 incl. GST / week for 12 weeks
Manage pests and diseases the organic way
You want to feed your family home-grown organic fruit with no chemicals, right? You need these simple strategies for keeping your trees healthy and preventing pest and disease outbreaks. No matter how big or small your orchard or garden, they work!
$19.00 incl. GST
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.
$19.00 incl. GST
Growing a mixture of flowers under your fruit trees, in your vegetable patch or in fact anywhere in your garden can help you have healthy soil, healthy trees, happy bees—and even a healthy gut, particularly if you include edible flowers in the mix.
This guide includes more than 100 edible flowering plants that grow well with fruit trees; most (but not all) are suitable as understorey plants. It forms the perfect companion to The Under Story Masterclass presented by Dr Christine Jones.
$15.00 incl. GST
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.
$19.00 incl. GST
Use earth's precious resources wisely to grow food in dry climates
Growing fruit in dry conditions is hard—but not impossible. Producing your own food is even more important in a drought, so you'll love learning how to use every precious drop to keep your fruit trees alive and fruitful.
$19.00 incl. GST
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.
$19.00 incl. GST
Capture the nutrition from garden waste
Close the nutrition loop in your backyard and save on fertilisers by safely recycling garden waste.
$14.00 incl. GST
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.
$14.00 incl. GST
Recognise and prevent diseases that damage fruit trees
Fruit tree diseases are common but often misunderstood, ignored or mistreated—usually because of a simple lack of knowledge. Learn how to identify, prevent and treat common diseases, a basic fruit growing skill that will put you ahead of the pack.
$19.00 incl. GST
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.
$19.00 incl. GST
Harness the positive power of weeds in your soil
Save time and money and improve the health of your soil by embracing the positive power of weeds, instead of constantly fighting a losing battle against them.
$19.00 incl. GST
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.
$14.00 incl. GST
Feed your trees an organic diet
Apply knowledge about basic soil health to plan how to feed your fruit trees through the year, without breaking your budget or spending unnecessary money.
$19.00 incl. GST
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
$0.00 incl. GST
How to care for your peach trees from pruning through to harvest
OK, who has a special peach or nectarine memory? These versatile fruits are a popular garden tree for very good reason—with the right care (at the right time) they'll provide abundant crops of delicious fruit year after year.
$19.00 incl. GST
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.
$29.00 incl. GST
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.
$19.00 incl. GST
Choose the right trees, prepare the site and plant properly
It's important to set your fruit trees up for success. Luckily it's also easy, when you know what to do! Learn how to choose the right site and the right trees, get your soil ready, and plant properly to give your trees the head start they deserve.
$14.00 incl. GST
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!
$19.00 incl. GST
Everything you need to know about growing organic plums
Plum trees just about grow themselves—of all the fruit, they are the ones that need the least specialised care. Which may be why they're so often ignored or underestimated!
Properly valued, plums are a practical and easy addition to your garden, and can add huge variety and colour to your dining table.
$14.00 incl. GST
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!
$19.00 incl. GST
Strategies to keep birds and other flying pests away from your fruit
Our fruit trees are part of the natural environment, but that doesn't mean they have to feed all the neighbourhood birds!
Discover the right systems and techniques to keep your fruit safe from different types of birds.
$14.00 incl. GST
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.
$49.95 incl. GST
Enjoy confident pruning in simple steps for success and self-reliance
There's no such thing as "right" or "wrong" when it comes to pruning, just cuts and consequences. This short course makes pruning feel simple by teaching you the pruning principles, which trees to prune in winter (and how to do it), and how to plan your pruning for the year.
$19.00 incl. GST
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.
$14.00 incl. GST
A masterclass presentation by Andrew Jessup
Is your fruit being damaged by Queensland Fruit Fly (QFF)? Are you completely confused about traps, sprays and nets? Are you sick of losing your crops to this destructive pest, or afraid of the threat of fruit fly in your area?
In this 1.5 hour online Masterclass, guest expert Andrew Jessup will teach you everything you wanted to know (and a few things you'd probably rather not know) about QFF.
By the end of the class you'll be armed with a toolbox of simple and effective strategies to protect your fruit and vegetables.
$14.95 incl. GST
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.
$0.00 incl. GST
Be a wise water warrior
Grow amazing fruit with a sensible amount of water. Sound good? Then throw the "rules" out the window and get back to basics: learn how to adjust water needs for different aged trees, understand how weather affects water use, and set up an easy watering system.
Save water, save money and save yourself some work!
$19.00 incl. GST
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).
$19.00 incl. GST
Imagine ... easy pruning techniques for cherry and apricot trees
Pruning is really important, and really hard—or is it? Everything will fall into place when you understand the difference between summer and winter pruning, and know how to successfully summer prune the right fruit trees.
$19.00 incl. GST
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!
$19.00 incl. GST
Supercharge your soil
Become a skilled soil builder with this little-known but valuable technique for rapidly building soil fertility.
$19.00 incl. GST
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.
$29.00 incl. GST
Efficient Fruit Tree Irrigation
In this ebook we demystify watering, giving you the information needed to not only monitor your watering, but also set up a system that works, is efficient, makes the most of our most precious resource, and gives the best chance of getting a good return.
$24.95 incl. GST
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!
$19.00 incl. GST
Free weekly fruit tips newsletter
Stay up to date with what you need to be doing each week to ensure a bumper harvest
$0.00
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.
$39.95 incl. GST
Common Diseases of Deciduous Fruit Trees
This handy ebook will help you identify and treat more than 25 common diseases and conditions of deciduous fruit trees, including strategies for avoiding all the common diseases like Brown rot, Black spot (Apple scab) and Blossom blight. Colour photos will help you identify your fruit tree problems
$39.95 incl. GST
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!
$99.00 incl. GST