Hello Sarah...I'm a bit of a lurker here, I figure it's best to listen and learn first and I'm learning a lot here. I'm north of you, in the Peace Country, zone 3B on a good day and 2 on a bad day. I'm trying apples here for the first time. We have lots of Siberian crabapples that were distributed by the provincial government some 30 or 40 years ago, and they're prolific everywhere. Never had much luck with regular apples as the growing season is way too short (last year we had frost on the first of June)...HOWEVER, having said all that, I got some Antonovka rootstock from an orchardist in Aldergrove, and in turn she put me on to the Devonion Garden Fruit Growers Group in Edmonton; I'm enclosing a copy of the Feb. 2010 newsletter for your info:

The Devonian Botanic Garden Fruit Growers News February 2010

Happy February 2010 DBG Fruit Growers !

Spring is on the distant horizon. I am reminded however that we (I) need to begin stratification of our rootstock seeds for this spring soon. Most woody trees and shrubs require 60 to 90 days of cool moist conditions for germination.

Fruit Tree Scionwood Collection
I recommend gathering scionwood in January and February and even earlier for the less hardy cultivars so that they are subject to less of the really cold temperatures. I have found that scionwood that has suffered a lot of the very cold temperatures has a lower graft take rate. As well the later (April, May) it is collected the earlier it may come out of dormancy resulting in lower graft success.

Annual DBG Fruit Tree Scionwood and Seed Exchange
We have been advised by the DBG that they have set the Jump into Spring event for Saturday, May 1, 2010 between 11:00 AM and 4:00 PM.
Everyone is encouraged to bring your recommended Apple, Pears, Plums, Cherry and Grape etc scionwood for sale and exchange,
The insider trading session shall be held at about 12:00 Noon.
We particularly wish to locally establish some of the recently obtained promising cultivars like Bernie Nikolai's Siberian Pears and some of the European Prune Plums that Konrad Ilg has been successfully growing. I know there are a number of seedling apples that should be more widely grown. We recommend that the price be set at $2.00 per 3 to 5 bud stick.
Each grower shall retain all proceeds of his sales.
Siloam Orchards Requests Your Help!
Sarah Ewing Has recently highly recommended the following Orchard/ Nursery.
She notes that:
"Eric Hambly of Siloam Orchards at Uxbridge, Ontario has had several ads in the Pomona quarterly (the NAFEX newsletter) asking anyone with rare, locally known or developed, cold hardy fruit varieties to contact him. He owns a fruit nursery (catalogue can be found on line at http://www.siloamorchards.com ) of mostly rare apple varieties and he is interested in adding to his collection. I think this is an amazing opportunity for the group to both preserve and share the great material in everyone's collections.
Please contact him directly at mail@siloamorchards.com. " Thanks Sarah for the valuable tip.
I also looked up Eric's site and highly recommend it. The nursery has a number of heritage fruit varieties that are difficult to find. The cider and red fleshed apple varieties look particularly interesting.
..
Edmonton Seedy Sunday for 2010
Is scheduled as follows:
Alberta Ave. Community Hall, 9210 - 118 Ave
Sunday March 21, 2010 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM
"This year we will have more space,a separate room for speakers, and better parking!
There will be a Seed Exchange table available as well as seed vendors,kid's table and a cafe."
I have seen articles on the net which warn that there may be a garden seed shortage this year.
Here is the place to pick up some of those rare and heritage vegetables varieties.
Growing Grapes in a Cold Climate, DBG Short Course
For those interested in learning more about growing fruit trees and shrubs I notice that there is a scheduled short course on grape culture for May 15 by Kim Maser. We are fortunate to have someone in our area with the knowledge of viticulture that Kim has.There are a number of other related courses listed on the web site below by Ieuan Evans and Gail Rankin and others.
http://www.devonian.ualberta.ca/
We hope to see everyone at these events !

Also, Wayne Fuhr is the name of the gentleman who kinda runs this, and his email is fuhrwe@telus.net. Bernie Nikolai, who has been mentioned previously in this forum, also works with this group, and better yet, it's right in your neighbourhood! Hope this helps you out...Patty