It is part of a push to stop heritage fruits vanishing by enlisting home gardeners.

Katie Finlay co-runs Carr's Organic Fruit Tree Nursery and says backyards are the frontline in the fight to protect hundreds of apple, peach, pear and other fruit varieties.

"It relies on backyarders. Commercial growers aren't going to do this - and really can't - because they are market driven," she said.

"They have to supply the fruit varieties the supermarkets and export markets want."

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Hundreds of fruit varieties are now so rare that most people cannot name them, Ms Finlay said.

"It's not good enough just to have these varieties hidden away in a collection somewhere - that's like keeping them in a museum," she said.

"If we really want to keep these varieties alive they need to be grown in people's backyards, eaten, shared, talked about, and loved."

Heritage varieties are usually old ones that have gone out of fashion, or been superseded by newer breeds.

They often go out of favour because they do not suit modern markets rather than because they are not great fruit, Ms Finlay said.

"Modern varieties are bred to suit modern food systems. They might have a more uniform colour all over the fruit, have tougher skin ... or withstand storage or transport more easily."

Ms Finlay hoped one day that Harcourt and the wider district could become something of a showcase for different fruits.

"There's lots of good reasons for doing that, including because it boosts your garden's diversity and resilience," she said.

"The more types of fruit you are growing, the more likely you are to get a crop every year.

"If something bad happens like a pest arrives it will often only affect one variety."

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Ms Finlay hoped to tempt people to plant a fruit tree they had never heard of this winter.

Her own nursery is among those selling hard-to-find fruit trees and she said anyone interested in finding out more could visit openfoodnetwork.org.au/carrs-organic-fruit-tree-nursery/shop#/home

People will be able to pick up pre-ordered trees at the nursery's open days in early July.

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