Plum & Apricot & Cherries
We are looking to breed and release early, mid-season and late ripening varieties of high quality fruit that will bring those fruits back to a high level of consumer acceptance. We feel that there is a great deal of improvement needed in plum, cherry and apricot so we have been working diligently in this area. To this end, we have been traveling to Chile in August and September to make crosses while they are in bloom. We work there, in collaboration with Vivero Stanta Constanza (Constanza Nursery), to take advantage of two bloom seasons each calendar year. This gives us the ability not only to breed twice a year, but also to evaluate selections two times in season, and in general, to expand our work in scale and speed. Our exposure to Chilean perspectives has increased our awareness of the need for fruit with excellent post-harvest qualities. With fruit from the U.S. being shipped to more distant places, we are discovering that we have more similarities than differences with fruit exporting countries such as Chile, South Africa, Australia and Argentina.

In Apple Breeding our energy has been focused on flavor, heat resistance and color. Because we make the initial evaluations in central California, we are attracted to materials that display some heat resistance and ability to develop color. Our goal is to breed apple varieties that will achieve commercial acceptance when grown in warmer regions. Secondarily, we are relocating selections into cooler, more traditional climates where we believe they would have potential. Currently have eight selections that are slated for expanded evaluations.