Alaska Fruit Trees (Masterman's Orchard)

Our take

What the record actually confirms

Alaska Fruit Trees, also known as Masterman’s Orchard, operates outside Fairbanks in Alaska’s Interior, run by growers Steve and Sara Masterman. The record describes it as primarily a cold-hardy fruit tree nursery business — selling rootstock and scionwood to customers as far away as other cold-climate states — with a small orchard offering late-summer u-pick apples as an additional, appointment-based offering. Six apple varieties are named: Norland, Norkent, Parkland, Prairie Magic, Yellow Transparent, and Dolgo, all varieties either bred or well-suited for cold-climate growing, which fits Fairbanks’ position well north of most commercial apple-growing regions in the U.S. Phone is 907-457-3792.

The growers’ own site describes the property’s location only in general terms — “Fairbanks area, ~750 ft elevation, west-facing” — without a street address, and u-pick access runs through an online booking system rather than fixed open hours.

A nursery business with an orchard attached, not the reverse

This framing matters for setting expectations: the record positions the nursery side of the business — selling rootstock and scionwood for other growers to use — as the primary operation, with the u-pick apple offering functioning more as a seasonal add-on. That’s a different emphasis than most orchards in this research batch, which are built around visitor picking as the core business. For someone specifically interested in growing cold-hardy fruit trees themselves, the nursery side may be just as relevant as the u-pick offering, and the Fairbanks Soil and Water Conservation District’s annual tree and shrub sale is noted as another channel through which the Mastermans’ trees reach customers, even outside a direct farm visit.

No street address, by design or by omission

It’s worth being direct about a genuine information gap here: neither source used for this record — the growers’ own site nor a University of Alaska Fairbanks community blog post — provides a street address. The growers’ site instead gives a general elevation and orientation description. This could reflect a deliberate choice (many small, appointment-only operations prefer not to publish an exact address to unannounced visitors) or simply an oversight in the informational site’s design; the record can’t distinguish between the two. Either way, the practical implication is the same: finding this property requires going through the online booking system described in the record rather than navigating to a known address.

Six cold-hardy varieties, worth knowing by name

The specific varieties named — Norland, Norkent, Parkland, Prairie Magic, Yellow Transparent, and Dolgo — are each associated with cold-climate breeding programs (several, like Parkland and Norkent, trace to Canadian prairie apple-breeding efforts aimed at exactly the kind of short-season, harsh-winter growing conditions Fairbanks presents). For anyone specifically interested in what apple varieties can actually survive and fruit in Interior Alaska, this list is a genuinely useful reference point, regardless of whether a u-pick visit happens this season.

What’s still missing

No street address exists anywhere in the sources checked. No specific 2026 season dates, hours, or pricing are given — access is described only as “by appointment (online booking).” No details about the online booking system itself (a specific website, platform, or process) beyond the general mention are included in the record.

Bottom line

Alaska Fruit Trees (Masterman’s Orchard) is a genuinely notable cold-climate fruit tree nursery and small orchard near Fairbanks, with six specifically named cold-hardy apple varieties and an interesting secondary distribution channel through a local conservation district’s tree sale. But this record can’t tell you exactly where the property is, what it costs to visit, or when the 2026 season runs — anyone interested should go through the online booking system mentioned in the record, or call 907-457-3792, to fill in those gaps directly.