Hello, everyone. Delightful to hang with those of you who made it to the church basement last weekend.

Was out this a.m. on a local farm to add about 16 or so keeping varieties of apples to my stash, for a 'keeper' tasting I'm hosting at the 10th annual Food Not Lawns Fall Seedswap this Sunday, in Eugene. Another reason for the farm visit? I was checking out a potential source of scion for the scion exchange we are hoping to orchestrate hereabouts (in the week following the major 'Portland' HOS event) in spring of '09. I expect I will be working both events. Looks as though it could be a busy few weeks!

As each week passes I feel as though I am getting more of a handle on the local varietal story. But I'm wondering. Has anyone HOSish collated any 'fruit lists' that are readily accessible (on web)? Scab-free varieties? Less-wormy varieties? Varieties best-suited for apple sauce? Heavy annual croppers. And so on and so on. Yes, of course I'm aware of the subjectivity surrounding the myriad of factors/preferences that go into selecting fruit varieties and I'm sure lists abound. What I'm looking for is a general sense of the key varieties I might keep an especial eye out for, as I try to help handhold the scion collection effort hereabouts in forthcoming weeks.

Currently ploughing through the grafting chapter in Liberty Hyde Bailey's 1897 text, 'The nursery book'. Fascinating. Terrific illustrations.

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