Store

Heirloom Fruit and Nut Explorers

Scroll to the bottom of the page to order Amigo’s book Know Your Soil.

FYI, There is a ghost in our website.  If you see the Dr. Van Fleet Rose for sale, it is the ghost. We can’t see it on our end, but some folks do and have tried to order it.  Until the rest of our plants go live, it is not available. So, consider yourself special if you do see it.  Sorry for any inconvenience. 

All of your purchases fund our Non Profit, and your your tax-deductible donations help keep us going! Thank you for whatever ways you support us!

We should be back on track with our bareroot sales starting November 1, 2023. Be sure we have you on our email list for notifications about when our plants are available.

We will repost all variety information and  pictures soon 

We have about 262 varieties of 21 species and offer around 150 of those varieties each year.  Fortunately, we discovered that the trees that we experimentally chip budded last year, withstood the late freezes and hailstorm of 2022. Needless to say, we are changing over to that grafting method, but it is a two-year process.

*

We are not your average nursery!

We have passionately searched to re-discover the living, historic plants still scattered across Northern California, left over from the Gold Rush. We have personally found these trees and have taken cuttings directly from the ancient, 100+ year old grandmother trees that are still alive in these ghostly orchards. We are a very small nursery and offer very rare and exclusive plants, some we may have only just found. So, there are a limited supply of some varieties. We are sorry for any inconvenience.

*

Plant Pickups are pre-scheduled at
Sweetland Garden and Mercantile
North San Juan, CA or Weiss Brother’s Nursery in Grass Valley, CA

*

We urge you to sign up for our email list and like our Facebook for early notification of when our plants will be available. 

Email us at thefgi@gmail.com and request to be added to the email list. 

 

Note on Shipping

Shipping costs to the East Coast are $80-$140. If you just get one tree it is quite expensive, but if you get a few trees it’s not so bad. We make no money on shipping as these are UPS Shipping costs.

*

THANK YOU FOR ALL THE SUPPORT!

Thank you Everyone for supporting this project!  While the nursery sales normally provide approximately 50% of our operating budget, we rely on donors and occasional grants. In the past we have received generous grants from UNFI, the Gaia Foundation, the Bill Graham Foundation and the Latrobe Fund. With the pandemic there has been a drop off in grants and donations. So, we are grateful for your purchases and generous donations.
In the face of modern industrial agriculture we have lost 95% of our genetic diversity, and with your help all of us are saving the very best gems still growing throughout California’s Gold Rush Countrysides.

If you feel our work is important, please consider a donation to help save these endangered varieties. Thank you!

*

Happy Planting!

 

IMG_4063
If you have questions, please contact us at   (530) 292-3619 or thefgi@gmail.com


We accept orders only via the website

 

Click on the pictures to view the varieties

 

PayPal and All debit/ credit cards accepted Upon purchase, Click on CARD LOGO to enter your billing information

 

Poe Walnut
+3

Poe Walnut

03169
$55.00
Out of stock
1
Product Details

VERY RARE - This is a selection of the Praeparturiens (Fertile) walnut introduced by Felix in 1871. Mr. Poe of Scotts Valley in Lake County made this variety regionally famous. It was considered the premier in-the-shell walnut of its day according to walnut guru Alex Suchan. Here’s what Felix had to say about it:

“The points of superiority (to other walnut varieties) are many: First—It bears earlier than any other kind, bearing sometimes when three years old; hence its name Praeparturiens—fertile or precocious. Second—It blossoms late, three weeks later than other varieties thus less liable to be killed by late frosts, and rendering its crop secure every year. Third—Its pistillate blossoms are fully out at the time its staminate blossoms or “catkins” are in full bloom, which is another guarantee for a regular crop every year."

The Pacific Rural Press (the ag mag of the day) had this to say in 1879: “The shell is thin, and the kernel full-fleshed and exceedingly well-flavored. The skin which surrounds the kernel is also notably thin; and, as this skin contains the bitter principle, its thinness is very desirable. It is owing to the thinness of inner skin that the kernel owes its almost unalloyed sweetness. The nut is certainly one of great promise.”

We owe the finding of this variety to our friend Alex Suchan of Suchan Nursery in Upper Lake, Lake County, CA. Alex, 86, is the dean of walnut growers and propagators in California. He is a wealth of knowledge, propagating walnuts since he was 14. His nursery now produces more than 200,000 modern walnut trees each year, yet Alex has an appreciation for the heirlooms and still grows a dry farmed orchard of the Poe.

Save this product for later
Display prices in: USD