Lizzy, I’m sure Scott will be relieved that you enjoyed the debate. I confess to being somewhat confused by some of the content on the other side of the argument(s), but if it led to a better understanding of how you should deal with the cavity in your tree, I’m happy. The best thing is, you really don’t have to do anything beyond trying to help the tree sustain vigor.
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Are you in Sebastopol? Those Gravensteins live a long time, good luck with healing it.
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Our weather isn’t too different from Sebastopol. There are commercial orchards in this area too, a little inland in the hills. We just have a little more moisture, and not quite as cold in winter nor as hot in summer. So not ideal, but not bad.
It’s kinda cool that when I look up Sabastopol on Wiki, there is a map showing Highway 116 aka Gravenstein Hwy.
Probably a unrelated twist, but thought it remarkable.
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It’s no coincidence that it’s called the Gravenstein Highway–that area is a major apple-growing center. Sebastopol has called itself the “Apple Capital of the World” or something like that, for over 100 years. And it was mostly Gravensteins. Alas, it’s part of a vast swath of California that traditionally grew apples (and pears in the Sacramento Delta) that is being turned into vineyards instead, since wine is such a big deal now. I know there are pleasures to be found in the world of grape growing, although I’m not a wine fan myself, but I can’t help but resent the changeover. Rows of shade-giving trees are so much more picturesque than rigid rows of new grapevines on metal posts and wires…
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A bit of Sebastopol trivia. Gravenstein apples are delicious fresh as well as processed. They make the best cider, applesauce and pies. However, they cannot be sold fresh commercially because they don’t store or ship well. So the only commercial market was processed apples. Applejacks cereal used to contain dried Gravenstein apple bits. Apple time (and other brands) apple sauce and apple juice were made from Gravensteins. In fact, I still occasionally find apple sauce from Sebastopol, although it is getting difficult.
All this processing was done by a company in Sebastopol called Vacuu-dry. In the early 1990s the Washington apple growers got together and bought the Vacuu-dry plants and shut down their competition. You can still see the vacant processing plants at the corner of Industrial Ave and Gravenstein Hwy South, as well as Occidental Rd and Gravenstein Hwy. You can see them on Google earth.
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Wow, I would eat Apple Jacks if they still had Gravenstein bits in them! Depressing on the plant shut-downs, probably put a lot of people out of work.