Scrambling to finish up the current Pomona, it dawned on me that this issue marks the completion of my 20th year as gathering editor. In the late seventies-early eighties, I suddenly had an irresistible urge to start growing things. I found a stash of back issues of Organic Gardening at my local thrift shop in western Ohio for 10¢ each. I saved up my dimes, and purchased them, a few at a time. I pored over those magazines for years, devouring as much horticultural information as possible.
When we bought a small house, I hung out for a few afternoons with Beverly, the seller of the house, a sweet retired hippie who wore long skirts and tire-tread sandals to go with her long, slightly fading red hair. She referred fondly to her/our house as, “this little doll’s house.” She grew herbs and flowers and dried them in her (soon-to-be-my) shed. Bev had planted a nice stand of my favorite fruit—raspberries—along the side of the garage, and a random mulberry tree grew next to the sidewalk. She gave me a tour of the yard and talked about her plantings, giving me my first real lessons in growing things.
As a child, my parents had granted me a 3’x 3’ patch of ground to grow some things in. But I can see in my mind’s eye the brown, dried patch of dirt in July, sprouting a fine crop of crab grass and creeping Charlie, with no sign of the tomato or pepper plants I had tucked in so lovingly in May, and then left to fend for themselves. I needed Bev’s lessons, which augmented my store of information from Organic Gardening.
Several years later, in an issue of now-defunct Harrowsmith, there was an article about Ed Fackler’s fruit orchard in Indiana. Ed was a long-time member, mover, and shaker in NAFEX, and there was a reference to the organization in the article, along with the address for membership. I joined, and my world opened up still further.
I eagerly awaited each issue of Pomona, and read it as voraciously as I had the old magazines. I was troubled, however, by the large number of misspellings, typographical errors, etc., in the print, because those just disturb the flow of information. After a while, I decided that if it bothered me that much, it was up to me to offer to help correct the problem.
I wrote to NAFEX, offering to proofread each issue before it went to press. My letter went to Tom and Jill Vorbeck, whose names were almost synonymous with the organization. After a while, Tom sent me a very nice reply, thanking me for my concern, but pointing out that—in those pre-digital, pre-email
days—sending me the galley proofs for proofreading would be just one more step in an already cumbersome process. So I just continued to enjoy the information in Pomona, and overlooked the typos.
A few years later, however, I received another letter from Tom. He had kept my original letter, and now that they were in need of a new editor-in-chief, wondered if I would be interested in taking over that project? I would, and I did.
I have made my own share of mistakes over the years, and alienated a few members for editing their articles too thoroughly. But it has been a great twenty years, and I have learned so much from so many wonderful people.
In the end, while growing fruit is great, it’s the people I love. Every time I see a Larry Stephenson article in my inbox, or receive a hand-written, snail-mail article from Richard Fahey, I read eagerly. I feel I know you all as close friends, though there are many NAFEX authors I have never met.
NAFEX is at a turning point. We’re not sure what things look like around the corner. But fruit still needs to be grown, and we all still want to talk about it—after several millenia, we still have some things to figure out. Besides, it’s just plain fun to share our love of fruit and nut culture.
Thanks: let’s walk on together into the next twenty years, apples in hand.
