Anyone growing a Black Amish apple? I have two planted in the fall of 2014 on M7 rootstock that have been very slow to grow. Was wondering if they are a slow growing variety.
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Look forward to hearing more about this apple.
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http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/growfruit/apples/estimated-tree-vigor-for-apple-varieties/
Lists Amish Black…as high vigor.
I have a few young trees. I have not noticed them being low vigor.
Thanks for the reply Mike.
I have not worked with M7 but, find that some apple varieties seem to have limited compatibility with certain rootstocks. I will find BA in the orchard today and report back on how they are doing on M111.
I found on example on m111 that is a little under 7’ after 3 years in the field. Not what I call high vigor, but not a total runt.
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The name reminds me of one of my favorite movies, “Witness.” A golden oldie circa 1985. Reveals just how beautiful Pennsylvania was back in my 80s childhood.
My dad lived in Kimberton PA in the 1950s. It depressed him so much driving through there in later life.
“That was so-and-so’s farm,” he’d say. “We used to go sledding down that hill.” He would point to something you could sort of identify as a hill in a subdivision. “Or there, that was the creek we went fishing in.” And he’d point to some dirty thing between strip malls.
When I was a kid, we’d sometimes have to drive the road between Exton and Pottstown. Almost all farms. Rolling hills, fields, copses of stately hardwood trees, old homes built of stone, barns old and new, here a brook, there a stream. All gone now too.
Eastern Pennsylvania-Berks, Montgomery, Chester, and Delaware counties were some of the most beautiful country in the world. Not so much anymore. Anything that’s still there is part of a park or on the estates of the wealthy.
ETA: Sorry if that’s kind of depressing. It’s just it was really one of the most beautiful countrysides I’ve ever seen. There’s other places in the US where runaway development would be an improvement over what’s naturally there. 
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@greyphase Hey Rick, any chance you’ve been able to try eating the Black Amish yet? Wondering how it is
Not a bad apple just not one of my favorites, but I don’t pass up one ripening on the tree 
Tree is still young so the flavor may improve.
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Thanks for the reply. How are they with disease resistance?
Good. Very little fire blight when my orchard was hit hard two years ago and just the usual bug damage.
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Very pretty apples. Nice job. What rootstock is this BA on in this photo above?
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