If you ever want to try grafting (or are able to drive way out there & pick up young trees) Bob Purvis is an excellent resource for fruit trees. Google him & see what I mean.
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Thanks for the tip. Looks to be about 4.5 hours away. Not too bad.
I picked about half the Ersinger plums three days ago. There had been about a dozen damaged by birds earlier.
(New computer which argues with my phone, so will get a geek or grandchild to help me.)
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OK, here are the plums from Ersinger I picked several days ago. We were given a used computer over the weekend & the PC & my iPhone have gotten acquainted. No need for expert grandkids this time.
It is curious: there were more bird pecks while the fruit was ripening than I find now.
This tree has been trouble free & self-fertile, although this season there were maybe 20 debut blossoms on Kirke plum to lend a hand in setting fruit; the plums always welcome & now I must cut some open & dry them, since Ersinger is a German prune plum. Will report soon.
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Spring was later than usual this year, so I wasn’t surprised to find the only Maiden Blush apple on my young tree come loose today as I carefully removed its footie covering. I had hoped to pick it in a few more days after it got a bit more color, but can’t complain.
While it was disappointing to have only one apple set on this tree, something similar happened with GoldRush some years ago, so am hopeful next year it will actually offer a crop.
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it’s a beautiful apple, regardless of circumstance
Last year’s debut samples showed Maiden Blush to be pretty tart, developing some flavor & low level sweetness in even 9 days storage. (Better by far than Transparent, which is a total loss if kept 9 days.) Baked, it lost shape, which is fine, since I have others that keep shape. A beautiful apple & winning name that may date before July 4, 1776 in New Jersey.
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Does anyone in this group attempt in-ground figs? I’m in Zone 6a, with a fairly short growing season (~150 days last frost to first frost), but hotter weather June-August than the coastal northwest. I was thinking about sticking one of my Chicago Hardy or Ronde de Bordeaux potted figs in ground with a little bit of winter protection. I’m guessing it would be borderline to ripen a main crop in time and wondering if it’s worth the effort.
Might just try it eventually and report my findings.
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I have dismissed figs out of hand, since I have no faith they could handle winter this far north - and you are farther north. You might try some kind of shell - in a shallow V - to reflect heat (& light back at your fig if the shell is white). You might need to envelope it with hay or straw bales when winter comes on to insulate it. Then some kind of cover to stop wind. (Re-place the V on the prevailing wind side & up hard against the bales?)
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i have Chicago hardy in ground here on the south side of my house. it dies to the snowline over winter but comes back from the roots to grow to 5ft but doesn’t have enough time to ripen fruit. if i decided to give it protection i could get a summer crop but im not that interested in figs. too sweet for my tastes. its a great conversation piece when people recognize it. paid $7 for it at tsc.
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A few days ago I picked the remaining Lamb Abbey. This is the first crop since I nearly killed the tree by carelessness regarding a lawn mower & the tag end of a rope plus stake. As you can see, they are small this year, just over 2 inches across in most cases. The first two picked after its debut bloom several years ago were both 2 1/4 inches across.
In that year & this, they make up in smallish size in magnificent flavor, with pineapple as an overtone. 12 1/2 Brix at picking< I hope to keep some through Christmas to see how they do.
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Last year I severely pruned Claygate - which should have been tackled several years ago - & expected to wait the usual two years before seeing any fruit. One branch bloomed & set five fruits. I just picked these a few minutes ago.
One of my favorites: lots of juice, acid & sugar with overtones of cheese (Provolone?) and nut (Filbert?). Maybe I can wait until the end of January for one of these to see how they fare.
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getting the squash in, the last few melons and plums left hanging. I’ve got 4 entire apples out there and I keep testing the stem a bit to see when they’ll be ready. when they come off pretty easy, yea?
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Which apple?
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an Orleans reinette and what I had thought was a granny Smith but definitely isn’t. I’ll try to get ID and photos tomorrow; I think the label was lost on the one.
which one is cheese/nutty? I love those flavors in an apple
Claygate pearmain
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if you ever have scion let me know. I would love to try those
Easily done. Will put you on the calendar for February, when I cut 'em.
BTW, Claygate is a triploid, as is Orléans Reinette. Neither has useful pollen for setting a crop on another apple. I hope you have another pollen source that blooms mid- to mid-late, as Claygate begins blooming after Lamb Abbey & Goldrush, both of which overlap its time.
You still have Lamb Abbey, right? Mine recovered from a near-fatal accident & set about 20 apples this year, most on one limb. Next year it may set 50 pr 60.
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This is good intel, thanks. Maybe Ronde de Bordeaux would have time to ripen. I have also been toying with the idea of partial protection, like maybe cutting down to 3-4’ height and tarping with a heat lamp when the temps are going to drop below -10 C.
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