What is #GrowQuince?

#GrowQuince is an effort to gather, crowd-source, and disseminate info on growing quince in New England.  In its first phase, the initiative accomplished quite a bit and produced a set of new valuable resources - all of which are accessible via this site's #GrowQuince page. To summarize, we:

- convened the first Quince Propagation Roundtable, Scion Exchange & Grafting Demo in March 2020.  This was kicked off by a presentation on "Growing Quince in New England" by local horticulturalist Zeke Goodband, which subsequently was edited, produced & podcasted in two parts by Cider Chat's amazing Ria Windcaller.

- produced educational displays for use by orchards, farm museums & camps, and anyone really. An interesting infographic was researched by Reed Arahood, organized by Seth Fox, and created by Leslie Malouin, and is available in two digital formats - one for sharing online and the other for printing a large display.  Reed also created two beautiful cardboard quince featuring fun facts for us to use at local events.

- developed an annotated bibliography of the notebook compiled by Harvey Lisle in his role as point person of North American Fruit Explorers (NAFEX).  Harvey was a fascinating man.

- organized the 2021 New England Quince Taste Test to add to what is known about the advantages and disadvantages of different varieties of Cydonia oblonga in New England. This effort produced two more Cider Chat podcasts - a very amusing account by tasters Ria and The Nose and an interview with yours truly about the taste test results, #GrowQuince and Vermont Quince. Plus we are making available the methodology, observations, tasting notes, and rankings. All are accessible on the #GrowQuince page.

- partnered with local and regional growers on Cydonia oblonga propagation trials to see what we can learn about seed viability, rootstock compatibility, and grafting potential.  A summary of those efforts is available here as well.

Vermont Quince is grateful for the financial support of the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service's Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP) through the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets to benefit Vermont fruit, vegetable, and value-added producers and increase consumer access to locally produced food.

 

3 comments

  • I LOVE QUINCE PASTE! LOOOVE IT! I USED TO BUY QUINCE PASTE @ HANNAFORD, SUPERMARKETS BUT NO LONGER CARRY QUINCE PASTE (RUTHERFORD & MEYER) FROM NEW ZEALAND. PERHAPS VERMONT QUINCE SHOULD CONTACT POWERS THAT BE @ HANNAFORD SUPERMARKETS, NEW ENGLAND ABOUT SELLING VERMONT QUINCE PASTE IN THEIR STORES? #2) YOU HAVE NO CONTACT BLOCK/PAGE ON THIS WEBSITE. THAT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL. #3) I AM LOOKING TO GROW (1 – 2) QUINCE TREES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE FOR PERSONAL USE? I WOULD LIKE QUINCE TREE GROWTH INFO. SPECIFIC TO NEW HAMPSHIRE, PLEASE? I AM A NOVICE GARDENER, NEED ALL THE INFO.. ON QUINCE TREES & NEW ENGLAND, I CAN GET?

    LINDA NORRIS
  • Same question about where to buy trees as the other commenter.

    John Garrett
  • I am interested in growing quince. Is there a local source for buying trees?

    Shelly Landmesser

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