Nice to see another upstater Eric!
My trees are still too young to fruit, bug my Harrisons are growing about as well as anything else in the orchard. (Z4b-5a)
Time will tell the full story.
This central NYer offers another welcome. We only make fresh cider, so we donāt grow cider-only apples. Curious about the topic, Iāve checked the apple varieties used by five of our favorite local cideries here in the Finger Lakes, and donāt see either Harrison nor Campfield among any of their listed varieties.
It will be interesting to see if Harrison can crop here considering itās noted to be an October apple. I am interested in grafting some of the potential Poveshon that was discovered in Western NY. My Campfield hasnāt been at all vigorous and in fact Iām down to one tree, so Iāll have to try grafting more. Last but not least I need to get some Grannywinkle scion to graft and then Iāll have the 4 Newark varieties to experiment with.
Thank you both! Iāve been on here since 2015, came from GardenWeb with Scott and Alan, but had a bit of a hiatus for a few years. I used to run a blog with my experiences for a couple of years with apple reviews as well.
I dont own an orchard, I have only enough space for 6 trees, so I try to make them count!
Harrison sounds good to me and with Tom Burford passing away in the spring, its all the more reason to keep Harrison spreading. Its quite tasty, I had a sample at Monticello in 2017, reminds me heavily of Golden Russet of Western New York, but more spicy. A lot of body. GR is great in cool autumns, one of my favorites, but Harrison really stopped me in my tracks when trying, even just a small slice. Seems like a versatile apple, Iād like to get it in some baked goods sometime, match it up with Belle de Boskoop in a strudel and tone down the sugar added. Fun to think of the possibilities!
If you guys ever want wood from what I have, let me know, Iāll swap for Harrison if you have a couple sticks!
Jonamac
Kiddās Orange Red
Orleans Reinette
Reine des Reinettes
Belle de Boskoop
Pomme Grise
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I am in Zone 4b officially, Helena, MT, and perhaps Zone 3 in reality, and grafted some Harrison scions onto B-118 and Antonovka this year. Iāve heard it is slow to bear, and late season harvest, but wanted to try growing it for itās cider making qualitiesā¦with the understanding it may not ripen every year hereā¦but with the hope it may ripen every other year perhaps. I am thinking I would have 15 or 20 trees, a few years from now, with some of these unreliable and questionable varieties, like Harrison, on a small number (3 or 4) of multi-graft frankentrees. If they provide a crop, great, if not, no big loss.
Anyway, Harrison is among the most vigorous of my starts on both rootstocks.
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Probably no Harrison yet eh? Iāll be a few years. Itās taken my b118 trees 6+ years to get to size and physiology to start bearing, what with 3b realities, hail storms and all. But I think I still have a Harrison - GoldRush hopes have died.
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Sowams Cider Works in Warren, RI grows Harrison, among many others. I remember buying a bottle of single-varietal Harrison cider last year. it was excellent.
@jcguarneri ā Itās a little bit of a drive for you but you might consider contacting them if you want to taste Harrison (and/or many others). My wife and I are going there this evening for a Valentineās Day event, so Iāll check my memory.
PM me if you want contact info.
If weāre talking about commercial cider makers, Stormalongās Ragtime Reserve (Harrison, Graniwinkle, Newtown Pippin, and Franklin cider apple) is a house favorite Stormalong Cider | Quality Craft Hard Cider
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I think my Harrison is still in the garden, but it has had some die-back and is only about 4 1/2 to 5 feet tall. Itās still planted a foot apart from others in the garden row, and close to a pocket gopher burrow that may have done some damage. Perhaps if it was transplanted to a better location it would recover. It did seem to thrive pretty well for the first couple years, but then I have had some health problems and neglected my trees badly for an entire year, allowing the weeds to outgrow the trees and hide them. Whatever has survived my neglect will certainly be among the hardiest and most vigorous of trees. The B-118 is fast-growing from the start, but I have found the Baccata and Ranetka accelerating to catch up already after a second growing season. Perhaps it would be worth grafting a piece of the Harrison onto an existing older, existing tree, so that in two or three years you would have some fruit to sample? I have a feeling the Harrison is more a zone 4 variety that can survive in zone 3, but not sure if it can actually āthrive.ā