Thanks. The shape looks like Arkansas black in the link. And the color too, although my neighbor’s is darker. I am wondering if the texture matches too? I tried to juice them but did not get much juice out of these apples
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Fruit color can vary considerably with growing conditions as well as photo capture and reproduction. Arkansas Black is described has hard/firm.
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Yes it’s firm for sure. They bought it at one of the big box stores labeled red delicious. This near black color, flat shape, and dry, firm texture no way is a red delicious. I was told it is good for baking too
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Loquat blooms have a pleasant fragrance and feed the bees and hummingbirds when their options are limited at this time of the year
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I may have missed it, but what kind of bags are they, and where bought?
thanks!
@Franp … I use organza bags to protect figs, blackberries, grapes, etc.
You can get them on amazon and they come in different sizes. 3x4. 4x6. 5x7. 6x9…
100 4x6 bags 8.29
Ps… you have to learn to tie them very tightly to the stem… to keep out small pest like ants and swd. I had very good luck with that last year.
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Racoons love the bags too. I used those years ago, only to throw them out. Squirrels too easily get fruit out of them.
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@mrsg47 … I don’t regularly have problems with squirrels or coons… occasionally yes… but rare for me.
I eat both so if they do bother me… I have them with some fava beans and a nice chianti ???
The bags work great on figs… keeping the ants and bees… wasp… hornets… fruit flies out. I bag mine and tie them on tightly when they first show ripe color… a few days later you get a nice clean perfect ripe fig.
I also use the bags on blackberries when swd are present… just bag a whole cluster of berries once they go from green to red… then a bit later when ripe and black… swd free berries.
I also use them on my grape clusters… and without them… the birds would get the majority… with them I get most of them.
I used them on blueberries some early last year… and it helped… without them the birds were taking most. With them… I got most.
I did change later to using flash tape on my blueberries and had very good luck with that.
The bags have their place in my garden for sure. I would get a lot less fruit without them.
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What ever works to deter insects or pests is great! How do you cook your racoons?
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@mrsg47… slow cooker, crock pot. a little bacon fat, a chopped up onion and 6 hours or so in the crock pot… you remove it to a platter, let it cool to the point that you can take all the good meat off the bones… Then that goes back into the crock pot, be sure the onions stay in… add a quart of canned tomatoes, and your choice of veggies for a soup/stew. Carrots, celery, galic, we sub chopped broccoli stalks (for potatoes)… have to low carb it…
It works well for any small game, rabbit, squirrel, coons, possum… lots of variations in the ingredients (what ever you have and like)… but it has been around for along time… may have made it to America from Brittan. Below from wiki…
…
A plaque on an old iron pot in Brunswick, Georgia, says the first Brunswick stew was made in it on July 2, 1898) A competing story claims a Virginia state legislator’s chef invented the recipe in 1828 on a hunting expedition.
…
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Had a visit today from my wife’s sisters youngest daughter… she ate and ate red gem goumi… and strawberries.
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my 2 yr. old niece loves my alpine strawberries. we taught her how to look for them. funny to watch her. she loves groundcherry as well.
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I planted out some grafts today to replace trees in the orchard that had failed, about 13 trees. After that I checked out what’s bloomin’ :
Arkansas Black on M.111 first blooms:
Chestnut Crab on MM.106 first blooms
Fameuse on M.111 firt blooms
Golden Russet on B.118 first blooms
Harrison on M.111 first blooms
Hyslop Crab on B.1118
Mott’s Pink on M.111
Red Vein Crab on B.118
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youre way ahead of me. apples and pears just starting to leaf out here.
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Beautiful blooms! I have a McIntosh on M111 original rootstock and I still don’t have any blooms 8 or 9 years later. This past year I did very little pruning to make sure I wasn’t pruning anything out and still nothing. The only thing that has bloomed are a couple of new grafts which won’t be bearing. I have a Jonathan M111 same age. One bloom off original tree.
Patience is a virtue. 
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I have a McIntosh on B.118 that was severely deer pruned and the poor thing has a bloom on it, I have no idea why. Here at the house I have a Cortland on an unknown semi-dwarf root stock that has to be over 10 years old and it has never bloomed, but a Cortland at the lower veggie garden is on a wild root stock and it’s blooming this year. I have many trees too small to bear that are blooming, they’ll have to be plucked.
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