About me, the site, and the projects

Who?

Hey, I'm Shane!
In my day job I'm a front and backend web developer who specialises in creating engaging educational activities that seamlessly integrate with Learning Management Systems.

But at home I'm a fruit tree fanatic!
I grow over 50 varieties of fruit tree, all designed for pots and containers, as well as have begun creating my own unique lines of apples, citrus, and stone fruit!

Ok. So... why fruit trees?

Take a look in any grocery store and you'll find at most a half dozen varieties of any given fruit. That's so boring! And not only that, but being pushed into mono-cultures is invariably dangerous to our food supply chains.
Take apples for instance, they have one of the highest genetic diversities of any know fruit tree, and yet we find only a few very similar apples available, each worse than you would remember them being when you were a kid.
Grocery chains and modern agricultural practice have driven towards produce that has longer storage times, is more resistant transport/sorting damage, and more inherently resistant to diseases. And while the latter is important, that still only gets us more and more crisp apples, flavour isn't even in the top 5 things being tested for...

But also growing and breeding fruit trees is fun!
Every seed that sprouts has the chance to be the next best apple, or plum, or orange, they're always different from their parents, but also have some of their parents in there too. Oh and did I mention you also get to NAME your new variety too?

Well, what are you trying to make?

I've got a few ideas that you can see outlined here, but they boil down to wanting these things:

• Columnar growth habit - This means the tree grows in a single trunk, with few branches and is naturally dwarfed/pot compatible
• Precocious - This means it matures and fruits more quickly, cutting breeding time down significantly
• Dessert quality - I want a sweet, highly flavourful apple. What flavour hasn't been decided, but I'd love to try a few!
• Red flesh - This is specific to my apple breeding, but I'd love to get some of the red flesh genetics into an apple that also fits with the above!
• Australian heritage - This is a more minor point, but the more Australian heritage genetics I can use the happier I'll be!

Cool! Can I help?

Sure!
I've got an Etsy store that will stock seeds, pollen, and maybe one day even my new varieties!
There's also my Patreon where people get perks such as helping pick new variety names, cross pollination requests, and behind the scenes looks at the process!
Also my YouTube channel where I post video updates about the project and how it's going!
Lastly you can share this blog, or any of the links above your socials or to friends, as getting more exposure helps grow the project!

What if I wanted to contact you directly?

Best to email me here at hello@shanegadsby.com

I hope you join me in trying to make the world of fruit even tastier!

~Shane