Many producers in Estill County produce apples and different kinds of fruit. Last year, I held my first grafting class and it was very successful. I held the same class again this year to teach/refresh producers on how to graft scion wood onto rootstock. A local orchard farmer of many years attended to assist me with the class. We discussed the background and importance of grafting, and then began the demonstration of different ways to graft. Producers watched and then attempted to graft their rootstock, asking questions as they went. 

There were 12 producers in attendance. We had much discussion during grafting of what varieties of fruit each producer is growing, what their orchard consists of, and even some shared that they attended to learn how to graft to save varieties of trees that were about to disappear. One producer said that he had a tree from his grandfather that was the last in his orchard and he wanted to learn to graft some scion wood from it to save the tree variety. Not only is grafting important for cutting costs while running an orchard, but it also provides sentimental value when dealing with family heirloom fruit trees that families are not willing to let disappear.

Overall, all producers successfully grafted at least one rootstock by the end of the class. Most of them purchased rootstock this year and will be using this skill to expand their orchard to include new varieties.