I was wondering about the size of the orchard. Whether they are for business or residential?? I started a mini orchard in my house in Milpitas. In last 28 years it has reached 14 fruits & nuts trees & 2 grape vines. I intend adding 2 blueberry plants in 2010. All these years I did not use any chemicals for pesticides & fertilizers. Wify gets fed up because of the bumper crops we get and keeps distributing true organic products to friends & neighbors. In my opinion, unless, you want to experiment and graft for or start new varieties, how would data collection help you?? Going through the hassle (!!) of hard work and feeding similar chemicals as the commercial product you get in market, what difference in products you would produce, except for the convenience of vicinity. I was watching a DVD, from County of Santa Clara, "Do the ROT thing" about "The simple art of Home Composting". There was a mention of how WENTE create & apply compost on their grapes orchards . . . . . that is commercial. I would rather, create an organic orchard . . . . whether for residential use & commercial use.

dj: When you put ducks out there in the orchard or yard, you are acquiring a new hobby -- really two new hobbies -- care of the ducks, and fox control. If you enjoy doing these things, I think keeping ducks is great. You would hardly believe the lengths I go to to protect my little call ducks. The big red-tailed hawks are interested, but rarely kill a duck (I have lost only one to a hawk in 6 years). But unless the foxes are securely fenced out or dealt with in some other fashion they will devastate unprotected ducks. My little ducks forage continuously in the orchard, but are not successful at Japanese beetle control for two reasons: The beetles have very hard shells and an unpalatable taste, and they are normally up in the trees, not on the ground. Grasshoppers, crickets, and other softer-bodied insescts, as well as grubs close to the surface, are a different matter, and the ducks deal with those very effectively. The ducks do not bother my fruit, but they will eat the leaves of young plants like peppers, which requires me to protect these plants with a small fence. The way to eliminate Japanese beetles is milky spore, the pure spawn stuff, which is expensive initially but lasts for many years, and can be effective even when applied at a much lower rate than recommended on the can. Egg-laying season with my little ducks (less than 2 pounds each) begins now, and the eggs are delicious if you can keep the ducks confined to an area where you can find their nests. I hatch out a couple dozen ducklings in the incubator every spring in April/May, then give them away to people who like them and have a pond, which is essential to raising ducks. If the pond freezes over you have to have alternative housing for the ducks, or it is dinnertime for the foxes. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Low chill is only a good thing in low chill areas. In an area where chill hours accumulate rapidly, a low chill tree will break dormancy long before it is safe for the tree to do so.

Paul, First, always check Garden Watchdog BEFORE sending someone, you don't know, money for plants. Using that resource in conjunction with normal due diligence should help to insure that you're not likely to get ripped off in the first place. As for what you should do once you get "ripped off" (whatever that means in this particular case)...contact the nursery and try to be diplomatic; contact the owner if you don't get the desired response from your initial contact; if you still aren't satisfied with the resolution, add a comment on Garden Watchdog and maybe contact the Better Business Bureau. If you used a credit card to make the purchase, your credit card company should be able to help. You might want to contact them first. If your problem is with Willis Orchards, I'd be willing to bet that if you can get ahold of the owner, he'll try to make you happy if your expectations are reasonable. He even left his personal email address in one of the posts in the Fruit and Orchards Forum, but I don't know how to easily (quickly) find that post. I bet a little searching would turn it up though.