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 at times some 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 the "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 on certain items (not trees). To take advantage of this purchasing option (such as for soil or mulch), simply look for the "BUY IN BULK" area just above the add to cart button and the select the box "Buy 3 - Get 1 Free" Bundle. Then make the quantity 1 for each set of four items you want. It is done this way to manage the inventory properly.We do offer this on several of the soils, mulch and a few of our general store products like tree wrap and drip circles. This option does NOT APPLY to trees.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 ONLY available for pick up in Phoenix. We NEVER ship live items, and we do not deliver. All of our other non-living items are also available for pick up.Nursery Lot: 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.
Local Pick Up: During the rest of the year, we offer pick up for small orders at three different residences by appointment only.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 PickUp 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 Late September (or maybe early October) at the Nursery Lot.GROUP 2 - Deciduous. This pick up happens in January at the Nursery Lot.GROUP 3 - Local Pick up by Appointment.
This is an option that allows for small item and bagged item pick up during the rest of the year when the Nursery Lot is closed. We have THREE residential locations in: Glendale, Peoria, and Mesa. If we have large bagged items we can schedule a pick up at the Nursery Lot. We do not have regular hours for this, so the appointments will be arranged around Ray Jess' 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.
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.
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.Our NEW Master Class collection of classes and resources is available in our Root Camp. This basic training for new fruit tree growers is our dedication to helping you grow fruit tree successfully. Go HERE to register.We start our Early Bird Season every year with a Launch Party 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.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.