How to use our site
Our program has grown tremendously since we first started over two decades ago, and even in the last five years we have made many changes and upgrades to our online shopping platform. With the increased online activity we have new challenges, however we are as dedicated as ever to helping our customers succeed in their fruit tree growing adventures.
Here are some Frequently Asked Questions and useful Hints For Navigation in our site.
Hint: Use Control + F or Command + F to find search terms on this page.
Fruit Trees & General Store
We have two main categories basically divided by living and non-living items.-- Our Fruit Tree Category will contain any live trees, bushes, vines, and even sometimes garden plants.-- Our General Store Category provides the window to see our larger bagged soil and fertilizer items we carry on lot which is the first section of non-tree items we offered. We expanded to offer tools, amendments, reference items and more.
What are your Early Bird and Holiday Seasons and what are they for?
We have standard per-ordering windows to allow us to organize our purchases from our growers and vendors. We are not a typical nursery and we only open our lot a few times a year.The Early Bird Season runs from late summer to the end of October. This allows us to complete our purchase with our main deciduous grower and run a complete citrus program. This is the time of our best pricing and the only time our tree bundles with maximum savings are offered.The Holiday Season runs from November thru December and allows us to close up our pre-ordering for the year. This is still a time for sales pricing.
Urban Farm Bundles: Buy 3 - Get 1 Free
We started offering bulk purchasing discounts on our soil and mulch products several years ago. This became a familiar 'Buy 3- Get 1 Free' phrase and we now offer it whenever we can get a good bulk pricing. To take advantage of this purchasing option for soil or mulch, simply select the button "Buy 3 - Get 1 Free" Bundle AND make the quantity 1 for each set of four items you want. It is done this way to manage the inventory properly.If you are ordering a collection of items that are bundled together (like the liquid amendment bundle), this is made simple for you as a single item purchase.
Ordering for pick up
Everything we sell that is living is going to be for pick up only. We NEVER ship live items, and we do not deliver. All of our other non-living items are also available for pick up. Our primary pick up location will be at the borrowed property on the corner of 7th Street and Meadowbrook which is about a third of a mile south of Camelback Road. We open the lot in the fall for our Citrus pick up phase, and in January for the Deciduous pick up phase - for a few days a week each time. Live items and General Store items can be picked up here during these times. During the rest of the year, we offer pick up for small orders at the Urban Farm by appointment only.NEW in 2021 - Appointment scheduling. We implemented an appointment process during the pandemic and it is such a success that we will be continuing this process for all our Lot Pick Up days. The link to sign up for an appointment will be sent with each new order, along with current pick up details. You can also go to TheUrbanFarm.as.me/pickup to schedule a pick up appointment for our Nursery Lot.
Ordering with shipping
We do offer shipping for the smaller items in our product lines. This includes our small portions of amendments, smaller tools, and reference items. If it fits in a standard shipping box, we will ship it. Shipping charges are applied. If shipping is not selected for an order that is not set for pick up, a secondary invoice will be sent for those charges.
What is a Pick Up Group?
All orders go through a review and get divided up into pick up groups or set aside for shipping. Updates and adjustments as needed are sent by email during this process. The three main pick up groups are as follows:GROUP 1 - Citrus. This pick up happens in October at the Nursery Lot.GROUP 2 - Deciduous. This pick up happens in January at the Nursery Lot.GROUP 3 - Pick up by Appointment.
This is a new pick up option and allows for small item and bagged item pick up during the rest of the year when the Nursery Lot is closed. Many small items can be picked up at The Urban Farm, and if we have large bagged items we can schedule a pick up at the Nursery Lot. We do not have regular staff for this, so the appointments will be arranged around Greg Peterson's availability.
Our program was started as a pre-order participation in a shared bulk purchase. We still maintain that basic premise and will take pre-orders during a specific window for pick up later. Our main products of trees arrive in two windows: Citrus in the Fall and Deciduous in early January. Our expanded General Store is offering some items with availability beyond those pick up times.
Wait Lists
A new addition to our online ordering in 2020 is the wait list option. We cannot call or email everyone who asks for items that were not available and then become available. This is especially true during our busy seasons. By offering wait lists, we can make sure to contact anyone who submits their email address and allow the most fair option for all when a particular product becomes available. This is expected to happen after our large shipments are received and the items go through a quality and quantity review.To add your name to a wait list, simply select the item in question and complete the pop-up box form. You can also remove your name from the waitlist by clicking on the link provided in the waitlist alert emails.
Using Gift Certificates
When using a gift certificate, the dollar value of the certificate is applied as a form of payment. This amount will not be included in "discounts" on your order total, and the order total will reflect the total purchase regardless of payment forms. Your credit card will be charged for the balance due after the gift certificate is applied. You can confirm this by looking on your credit card statement.What if the order does not go through? If the order total is less than the available amount of the certificate and the balance of the amount due is $0, our system will not automatically complete the order without admin review. Please make sure all your contact information is included on the order and send an email to [email protected] to ask for the order to be completed.
Terms and Conditions
We do have some traditional and specific policies, terms and conditions. For a list of those items and links to expanded descriptions go HERE.
Special Orders
Special Order Trees can have unique qualities and root-stocks that require additional micro-climate considerations. We recommend you do your research before committing to purchasing these trees and we advise against beginners starting with these varieties until they are comfortable with the education we offer. These trees arrive in January. All Special Orders are Pre-orders during the Early Bird Season ONLY. No exchanges or refunds after the Early Bird season closes and our order is committed with the grower. If a tree is not available in January a full refund will be applied.Special Order Terms and Conditions will be in effect every year. They can be found HERE.
Finding our Education Classes & Member Resources
Every customer who orders from our Fruit Tree Program will have access to our Member Resources page. This includes recordings of our classes, videos from our experts, articles on fruit tree topics, our Fruit Tree Nutrition Schedule, and downloadable PDF documents. Go HERE to access the page.We start our Early Bird Season every year with a Kick Off Event to share important planting information, annual program updates, and key details on the current year's program and specials. During the Early Bird Season we will offer multiple classes with live Q&A sessions. We close the Early Bird Season with a tour of the Urban Farm and a chance to get last minute questions answered before the cut-off of the Early Bird Season and the Special Order Program.During the Holiday Season we usually offer pruning classes to offer guidance on the winter pruning of deciduous trees.
What do the Asterisk or other codes mean on some of the products?
Some of our products have an asterisk or codes after their names. We do this to try and highlight certain important details about those items.--Asterisks or *: This is a reference to an item that qualifies as one of Greg's Favorites. He has selected this tree or plant item for flavor, ease of growing, productivity. If it is a tool or other product then it is selected for its quality and functionality.--(S+): This is a reference to a tree or live plant that IS SELF FERTILE, but does better if another variety is nearby for cross pollination.--(+): This is a reference to a tree or live plant that is NOT SELF FERTILE and requires another variety nearby for cross pollination.--(E): This is a reference to a tree or live plant that is not guaranteed. We are listing this product as 'experimental' since we do not have personal proof of success with that variety. This can be because it is a new variety to us, the variety requires additional micro-climate considerations, or special planting mediums, or maybe some other reason.--(f): This is a reference to a freestone fruit.--(sf): This is a reference to a semi-freestone fruit.--(cl): This is a reference to a clingstone fruit.
How to confirm your payment was accepted and an order started.
To confirm your payment was accepted, please check the confirmation email which is sent within 10 minutes of placing your order. There will be an order number assigned and a payment method described.
Updates and Most Current Information
We try to update all aspects of our website as much as possible. However, there are many different pages and categories on our site, and we sometimes can only focus on the main pages or we might miss a page or two. We are also limited when our personnel are working on the Nursery Lot and cannot post up-to-date data. We will date our updates when we post them.All live tree inventory is in transition when the Nursery Lot is open and inventory will take a few days to settle before updating. Our inventory will not be updated during Nursery weekends.