@Zaroo1 .. I tried Akane here in southern middle TN… and it lived until year 4 or 5… and that spring it bloomed well.
We had the worst fireblight year that year that I can remember. Every scaffold that had blossoms got fireblight strikes and it went back to the main trunk.
I lost 3 apple trees that spring in including Akane.
Novamac… has done well here and really does seem (very resistent) to FB. It will get it.. in a bad year you may have to prune off some fruit spurs or part of a scaffold branch… but it continues to grow well and fruit. It comes back from the FB damage quite well.
I picked St Edmond’s Pippin today; this is all from one dwarf tree. I saved a dozen for friends and family then brought the rest to the local food bank (see below). It’s a bit of a challenge for them to receive apples that aren’t red, so i explained the variety and encouraged staff to sample them.
The variety is really delicious – moderately sweet, very fruity, low acid, a wonderful desert apple. My only caution is that if it hangs too long on the tree or the kitchen counter, it gets mushy. So i’s best to pick it a little under-ripe and use it quickly.
That’s quite a haul! We hope to be getting some of these in a couple years, and I’ll keep your harvesting and non-storage tips in mind.
Just shared one of our first Blue Pearmains with my wife. We have some nice-looking ones still on the tree, but this was one that had really been through the wringer: insect damage and a fall that left it impaled on the hardware cloth guard I had wrapped around the tree. After cutting it up, though, the sound parts were really good eating: distinctively (and pleasantly) chewy texture with mellow sweetness and just a little citrus-y tartness. My wife said it reminded her of caramel, and it made me think of cider, or a really nice dried apple. Tasty!
My other project today was picking my semi-dwarf White Jersey tree. Here’s a picture of the tree as well as a representative cluster. I filled six 5-gallon buckets. These are destined to be pressed for cider.
The last Pendragon the seeds have red pigment also. In the newly published “A Devon Pomona” it is mentioned to have been DNA tested as having Niedzwetzkyana parentage.
The Renown crab apple. An open pollinated seedling of Repka Kislaga, aka Beautiful Arcade, that came out of the prairie Canada breeding program circa 1936.
I didn’t realize there was an apple on the tree and I missed the harvest window, so I can’t really judge it yet. The flavor was good but mild and it had gone mealy by the time I noticed it. I’ll need to keep a closer eye on it next year to get a better sample.
the seeds have red pigment also. In the newly published “A Devon Pomona” it is mentioned to have been DNA tested as having Niedzwetzkyana parentage.
