The furthest he’s shipped has been to the president of the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi. “I sent 400 white peach trees in fivegallon containers by Air France,” he says. While that sounds extravagant, McConkey notes that the same man bought several jets from Boeing the following year.

Perhaps the most popular plants McConkey sells are paw paws or blueberries, depending on the year. “But when Martha Stewart mentioned us and said we sold Meyer lemons,” he says, “we sold them more than anything else that year.” McConkey also offers such other tropical delights as bananas, kumquats, avocados, star fruit, condo mangoes, and Dragon fruit. Although some of these may thrive in containers in hot-house conditions, many are suitable only for yearround temperate climates. (As an aid to growers, McConkey provides zone maps and growing instructions for his plants.)

With so many tempting choices in the Edible Landscaping catalog, it’s not surprising that clients splurge. Consider Afton resident, Marc Chanin, a semi-retired hobbyist gardener, who plants enough on his two-acre plot to feed his family and friends—and birds. “I do have to go to market for toothpaste, bread, and butter,” he says, but probably not for much else. Besides raising his own chickens and cattle, Chanin can harvest ample crops from his plums, peaches, figs, cherries, Asian pears, five different kinds of blueberries, Nanking cherries, Juneberries, pecans, kiwis, asparagus, and mushrooms. But what he particularly treasures are the chestnuts. “I got 492 pounds this year,” he says.

And take the case of another Afton resident, Stella Richards, who has shopped at Edible Landscaping for about 15 years. “I began with figs and blueberries, and gradually bought practically one of everything he stocks,” she says, adding that her newest obsession is oriental persimmons from her seven trees. With the gallons of fruit she picks, she’s often in the kitchen—“I cooked for four hours this afternoon,” she says—whipping up cobblers, muffins, pancakes, fruit salads, and pies, and in season, one of her favorites, an apple crisp.

McConkey’s own personal favorites include figs, paw paws, oriental persimmons— and mulberries. “If I had only one choice to grow one thing, it would be mulberries,” he says. “They can be used in anything that calls for blueberries or blackberries.” To harvest them, McConkey simply spreads a large tarp out under a tree, then shakes the tree. “I can get 10 to 15 pounds,” he says.

As his customers and friends know, Edible Landscaping makes an interesting travel destination; at least 5,000 visitors stop by annually. “We get people every day,” he says, “but it’s heaviest in March, April, May, June, and July. We’re close to Interstates 81 and 64, and lots of people are traveling back and forth. They stop especially when they are going home.” McConkey also holds special events, such as an early fall grafting program and fall fruit festival.

For the going-green American, McConkey is definitely in the right place at the right time: “Sustainable agriculture.… Our emphasis is on the less-care plants that don’t need spraying and can serve you well without much work,” he says. More to the point, as long-time customer David Consolvo of nearby Covesville says, “Mc- Conkey’s forte is stocking varieties that are unusual and require low maintenance. He is a real fruit explorer. He’ll find stuff no one else has.” To McConkey, that must mean he has fulfifilled his mission.

About the Author

Alexandra Greeley is a Virginia-based food writer and restaurant critic with a passion for, and a supporter of, the Slow Food life.