It seems this is a good time to recapitulate my growth as a grower of fruit. This started in late 2007, thinking it might be worthwhile to grow some apples. None of the first choices remain on the property.
I have had no blessing when it comes to establishing cider apples with one exception, Harrison. It is planted at the orchard of friends & is slowly gaining size. GoldRush (seems to do well almost anywhere) & Redfield are multi-purpose & both do well in this region. Hewes Crab looks as though it may have succumbed to the newest record hot/dry summer in the orchard nearby. I’ve tried quite a lot of cider apple grafts and a couple ready-grown whips. No go.
Early on I caught the heirloom bug. Most have not done well enough to retain in the yard. This past season again Hunt Russet produced little wooden globes, entirely inedible. Same for debut samples from Rosemary Russet, which in half the years is three times the size of the Hunt “tree”. Rosemary is grafted onto Bardsey, which produces juicy apples. None of the few fruits on that branch in the past several years has been edible. I reluctantly conclude they must go.
Same with Bardsey, but for other reasons: It is a codling moth magnet, comparable to Liberty when it used to live here. Again this year every apple was infested with codling worms, even though I began to cover them with orchard socks as soon as I thought it possible to cover the fruitlets. Incessant rain in May slowed me down & abbreviated sock sessions. They all fell off through the course of the season, sometimes the evidence of invasion was just detectable through the calyx. Bardsey must be stringently thinned, due to miniscule stems which break away from pressure of two apples on the same spur or another spur too close. I do this when covering with socks, so isn’t a deal-breaker in itself.
When things work out Bardsey is wonderful: juicy, nice size; lemon overtone remains when cooked or baked or stored.
Connell Red (Fireside sport) is easy to grow, handsome, big & tasteless. Reading about it when grown in the Upper Tier states of MN or Wisconsin, a box of Fireside or Connell emits an overwhelming apple aroma. Well, here that aroma must escape in the low oven temps we’ve been subjected to since 2000.
On another thread years ago I wrote about the mystery tree that arrived mislabeled. At least I know first hand why Honeycrisp has demanded such a high price. It must be a marketing nightmare.
I will hack & graft & hope next season for another GoldRush (can’t have too many of those gems) & start fresh with a Lost Apple Project recovery: Shackleford. Found untended in this region, I have every expectation for it to manage in this yard. I will also shift an Otterson whip to replace one of the russets. Otterson is a bit of a gamble, but Winekist & Redfield, both red-fleshed, do fine, so it has potential.
What does well?
GoldRush/Bud118: tough little tree that has needed minimal pruning to set lovely crotch angles and scaffolds. The first 26 apples harvested this year are all I could hope for, if a tad smaller than we learn to expect at the supermarket fruits. Maybe that will change as the tree matures.
Lamb Abbey Pearmain/Bud118: tree has endured a poor situation, an accident & keeps on keeping on. Its fruit is unforgettable, somewhat larger than the first lot of GoldRush.
Claygate/Gen30: runt of a tree, just a few apples each year, but O, what apples! Juicy, complex (filbert & provolone) along with distinctive tartness and sweetness, biggest in this yard so far.
Twenty Ounce/Gen30: this graft hasn’t fruited yet, but I bought a bagful three Septembers back from an organic orchard 50 miles away. Wow, huge uncomplicated apple taste, big juicy fruits. Here is one that seems to concentrate flavors in dry summers.
The wild card?
Maiden Blush/Gen30: brought over the Oregon Trail long ago (long ago in Far West parlance) & displaced by Big Ag before my birth. I cherish hope it will supply the first apples for this property (soon after Winekist, which isn’t nearly as multi-purpose & lives in a neighbor yard). It is six feet tall & might try blooming next year. I think it bears some round blossom buds now.
Oh, nearly forgot Kandil Sinap/Gen890, grafted three years ago. It grows slowly (not during heat of summer here? will check next season). It could go either way, boom or bust, from all the literature gleaned so far. Lots of time will tell.
Lastly, not apples:
Ersinger plum/St. Julian A gave its debut sample plums, about 20 of them. Completely freestone, it offers a floral aroma in its little treats. Excellent eaten fresh, next year maybe I can try drying some. Or jam?
Next year Kirke’s Blue plum/St. Julian A is on order from Raintree. Kirke should begin blooming just days after Ersinger & ripen about 12 days later, with larger fruit. It seems to have quite the reputation & if so, these two plums could offer several options: fresh, pie, prune, jam & perhaps every few years, wine with black currants added.
BTW, St. Julian A prunus stock brings dormancy earlier, which can be a help here. Twice in recent years killing frost has arrived mid-October. Ersinger on it had no leaves October 13 at a low of 16°F. Mt. Royal standing on Mariana 2624 had retained all leaves, but was unaffected because Mt. Royal is so winter tough. (Mt. Royal was grafted for friends & since been planted on their property.)
