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Spring is here and it’s grafting time! In this video I give a brief intro to grafting.

• What Is It?

• Why graft?

• Basic overview

Grafting is an empowering skill that can be easily learned and practiced with some basic information and a few simple tools.

The basics are selecting a rootstock (base plant) and scion (fruiting top) and creating a union between the two (in some cases there is another section bridging the rootstock and scion). Scions from a known and chosen specimen are cut curing the dormant season and kept cool (often in a refrigerator). Through careful and deliberate cuts and some protection, the living inner cambium (where fluids and sugars move throughout the tree) of the scion and rootstock will fuse and create one organism.

It is this marriage of two organisms that are closely related that creates a plant (often a tree, but not always) that has 2 or more separate sets of genetics. What this means is that we can select for characteristics of the rootstock (eventual size of tree, resilience, etc.) and choose superior fruits (bigger, tastier, fewer seeds, etc) by marrying a known rootstock with a chosen scion.

Grafting is an ancient practice and need not be overly complicated.

In our case, we are using wild trees as rootstock (mulberry, hickory, paw paw, plum and persimmon) and grafting improved genetics onto them. This means we need not fuss with soil amendments, digging, or worry about watering needy seedling trees. What this allows us to do is use existing trees to produce more fruit in larger quantities and of better quality with little time and money invested.

To us this is working smarter not harder!

Stay tuned for the next HOW TO video where I will outline 3 types of grafting we are practicing this spring and show a few of the tools we use. A few of the skills I'll demonstrate are:

• Bark inlay graft
• Kerf graft
• Whip (and whip-and-tongue) graft

Thanks for watching and hope this inspires you to get grafting!!

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