Fruit, Berry and Nut Inventory: An Inventory of Nursery Catalogs Listing All Fruit, Berry and Nut Varieties Available by Mail Order in the United States (Paperback)

~ (Editor), Joanne Thuente (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"No net pulled from the sea of genetic diversity has ever yielded such a fruitful harvest. Every page is a rare catch."
—Roger B. Swain, host of PBS-TV's "The Victory Garden" and Science Editor of Horticulture Magazine

"This is a dream book, pure and simple. Sure, I use it all the time as a great reference—one that describes almost every conceivable variety of fruit. But the real pleasure comes from leafing through these entries on a cold winter night, letting your imagination run free through home orchards filled with juicy plums and heirloom apples. Fruit, Berry and Nut Inventory opens the door to all sorts of delicious possibilities."
—Ben Watson, author of Cider, Hard and Sweet and Taylor's Guide to Heirloom Vegetables

Product Description

Fruit, Berry and Nut Inventory is an essential reference for all backyard fruit growers and commercial orchardists who care about the rich diversity of fruit, berry, and nut varieties offered by mail-order nurseries in the United States. This comprehensive "catalog of catalogs" is now available in its newly updated Third Edition, which lists 280 nurseries that offer nearly 6,000 varieties of fruits, berries, and nuts-everything from apples and bananas to tangerines and walnuts.
There's nothing sexy here, no color photographs or quaint illustrations. But the information presented in this book is so unique and invaluable that fruit growers everywhere will turn to it again and again, looking for sources that offer rare nineteenth-century apples, or for descriptions of newly bred grapes, or even for unusual varieties of tropical fruits. Where else could you find sources for Maiden Blush apple (1817), African Rhino Horn banana, Leningrad Giant currant, Adriatic fig, Pineapple grape, Dr. Beaumont macadamia, Choctaw pecan, or Yellow Egg plum?
Backyard and commercial growers concerned with the loss of biodiversity will deeply appreciate the Fruit, Berry and Nut Inventory. Fruit breeders, plant collectors, and amateur growers can quickly tell which varieties are being offered by only one or two companies and need to be purchased, while sources still exist, and permanently maintained to prevent being lost forever. Everything commercially available can be scanned to find varieties perfect for specific climates, or resistant to local diseases and pests. Northern and high-altitude growers can use the book to find exceptionally hardy, short-season varieties that will survive and mature in their locations. Orchards, nurseries, and botanical gardens can use it to find sources for unique plant material.
The fruits, berries, and nuts available today are the result of centuries of collection and amateur development, further refined by the world's finest breeding programs. Growers and breeders have developed regionally adapted varieties with superior taste, disease resistance, and countless other virtues. Fruit, Berry and Nut Inventory opens the orchard's gate and invites us to discover them.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Seed Savers Exchange; 3 edition (February 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1882424573
• ISBN-13: 978-1882424573
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,092,747 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very useful, the only one of it's kind..., April 13, 2003

By	T. Welch "Terrible Tiger" (Santa Cruz, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For the fruit nut, this reference is indispensible. When ordering specific varieties, we use it to source stock from nurseries. When searching for trees with certain characteristics, we peruse the descriptions, hunting for certain words (in the pear section, "fireblight-resistant", in the apricot section, "excellent flavor", etc.).
Few complaints: not revised often enough to list new varieties as they come on the market. For example, 'Goldrush' apple is not listed. Descriptions are very brief, probably due to space limitations. Descriptions are also generally a summary of the nursery catalog's text, and therefore not as useful as they could be.
In general, a very fun reference to keep on the shelf.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Sourcebook for Fruit and Nut Varieties, November 1, 2002

By A Customer

In the third edition of this excellent reference, the Seed Savers Exchange has provided a very useful tool for nurseries and gardeners to locate sources of heirloom fruit, nut and berry varieties. But it is much more than just a sourcebook, as there are brief descriptions of each fruit variety and indications of how rare or threatened each variety is based on the number of sources. Nursery operators and fruit gene bank managers will find this book to be indespensible!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like No Other I Know Of, March 3, 2006

By	P. Simonsen "Amatuer Grower" (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Excellent book containing the lineage and qualities of many fruits, nuts and berries. A great reference book for any enthusiast. Used by many retailers as a guide for their products.