This spring, I’ll be partnering with a local nonprofit to graft a bunch of fruit trees to promote local food resiliency. The idea is that homeowners can apply for a tree or trees that we will provide at low or no cost (still working out the details).
I’ve been tasked with selecting what to graft, so I’d appreciate suggestions for apple and pear varieties to include. Since we’re talking average homeowner here, the less fuss a variety needs, the better. Here are what I think the important criteria are, in order of importance:
Disease Resistance
Easy to manage
Precocious (so they don’t have to wait too long)
Excellent and/or unique taste
Versatility and storability
Does anyone have good suggestions for apple and pear varieties that meet these criteria and would do well in New England? I’m also open to any other suggestions and considerations for variety selection.
In addition to apples and pears, we’re also doing some persimmons, mulberries, and pawpaws in smaller quantities.
Great project! For suggestions: Korean Giant has been by far the most precocious and productive pear that we have, and it’s both easy to grow and easier to harvest/ripen than many pears (can be picked ripe and eaten fresh off the tree). Also a nice-looking tree. For Euro pears, maybe Harvest Queen and/or Harrow Sweet?
Very cool thing to be a part of! Although variety is important, I would also think it equally as important to consider what rootstock you’ll choose to work with as well. Perhaps b.118 would be a candidate? Free standing, easily obtainable, cold hardy, supposedly more precious than other rootstocks of it’s size? Just a thought.
100% agree. I’m still deciding on rootstocks, but I’m leaning towards M-111 for it’s slightly smaller size and proven track record in the region. The longer wait time is a bit of a concern, of course.
@JinMA good thoughts. I’m leaning towards Euro pears for familiarity, but will probably include some Asians as well.
USDA Zone 5b here, too. Wealthy (apple) is not known for disease resistance, but for me it is the best bearing tree I have (on M26). Crop doesn’t ripen all at once but over at least a three-week period so you don’t get overwhelmed. It’s a general purpose apple for baking, saucing and fresh eating, and it keeps well. It tastes like an apple should. It’s a well-behaved tree that responds to pruning. I don’t believe a novice could go wrong with it.
My experience is limited to apples and a few stone fruits.
Maiden Blush has a wide range of hardiness & low chill requirement, is fairly early, tart enough to satisfy most folks in baking (for which it keeps shape) & develops some sweetness & flavor in 8 days or so after picking. It will require a bit of pruning until branches are spread by the weight of fruit, but easily managed (not brushy growth such as with Winesap). Keeps 10 weeks?
Lamb Abbey ripens hard on the heels of Maiden Blush. The tree is resilient, easy care & fruitful. For anyone who likes major flavor, Lamb Abbey comes through. Might keep past Christmas.
GoldRush continues to impress: natural semi-dwarf, sets its own scaffolds, long mid-season bloom ( a day or two longer than Lamb Abbey), spicy fruit that ripens here mid-October & keeps through May; disease resistant unless you face cedar-apple rust.
Redfield comes ripe for me the first half of October: at least half the flesh inside is red or pink, moderate vigor tree is spreading, blooms first in line, fruit contains pectin for jelly, tannin for cider, tartness & color for unforgettable pies and I even like them fresh (probably too tart for most folks to enjoy in hand).
None of the above have given me any problems regarding scab, mildew or fire blight. As far as I know, CAR doesn’t raise its ugly head in eastern Washington.
I like Bud118 for similar size trees as MM111. It is more precocious and productive. I suspect it will influence the color & tartness of whatever is grafted to it to some degree in decades to come (as per Eliza Greenman’s documentation). Do you really find MM111 producing smaller trees than Bud118?
I have had happy results with EMLA26, Geneva 30 (G890 looks promising).
I agree with the Korean Pear suggestion. I’ve never had someone say that they didn’t like it and it keeps very well. The one tree we have has produced 100’s of pears every year for 20+ years. We have a couple other varieties so in your planning you may also need to consider the needs for cross-pollination.
That being said, it seems a rather important part of the project is education and managing expectations. Will your ‘average’ homeowner be willing to clean up the mess that can be left behind? For several weeks in the fall I dump ~50# of unusable fruit and next week I plan on feeding 50# of nice Fuji to deer, I just don’t have enough to run my cider press.
Yes, there is an education component. Since a lot of the goal of this is food resiliency, my understanding is tree recipients will be encouraged (but not required) to donate excess fruit to the food bank arm of the operation.
Pollination is definitely a consideration. Since we’re in a pretty urban area with lots of ornamental crabs, apple pollination shouldn’t be too much of an issue. But pears could be a little dicier. That’s one of the details we’re still hammering out.
Excellent suggestion. I have a friend with an ancient Wealthy and the fruit keeps exceptionally well, is decent for all purposes as you said. And it’s a very generous tree that has been easy to prune.
It might be good to start with a taste testing of common commercial varieties to narrow down which apple fits the home owners tastes. Then maybe look to the commercial standards (say look at the ACN catalog). The masses, self included to a degree, grew up with shiny red delicious apples so baby steps may be required.
Definitely! I do find, though, that most people don’t differentiate too much between apple varieties on homegrown trees. Some people will seek out specific varieties from an orchard, but most are pretty content with “an apple.” That’s why unique taste is pretty far down my list of criteria. If the only considerations were reliable fruit production and good eating, I’d probably only do persimmons and mulberries. But I also understand that the subset of folks willing to grow those is likely going to be small. There’s a lot of interest in peaches, but I’m discouraging the use of stone fruit for this program. They’re best left to Californians and masochists such as myself.
Should be an interesting project (and a great sociological study).
In the last couple of years, since buying a recreational property, I have been having persimmons. I haven’t had a friend/neighbor yet who had actually had one before. Same with paw paws, plus they have a short ripening season.
Mulberries seem like a good fruit possibility. Just needs to be in an out of the way location because they can make a mess.
Since you are in NH maybe a good place to start would be a review of the Fedco catalog.
Thanks for all the replies so far. Wealthy and Goldrush hadn’t occurred to me, and they look like perfect candidates.
@ansayre Fedco catalog was definitely the first stop! It’s good to get the “real life” recommendations from here, though. @marknmt 's description of Wealthy as “a very generous tree that has been easy to prune” is not something you find in a catalog!
Fortunately, Fedco has scion of Wealthy and Goldrush available.
I know people love Gold Rush. I have had it for 8 years now. I got fully ripened fruit one year. I feel that growing it in zone 5 in New England is iffy if it is not in full sun.
Gold Rush is susceptible to Cedar Apple Rust and if Marrsonina Leaf Blotch reaches NH, it will be a nightmare for no spray people.
I can’t think of any apple I like that is resistant to CAR., maybe, William’s Pride. For good eating and moderately resistant to CAR, I think it’s Golden Russet. Russeted skin helps. I have noticed less insect damage and much less sooty blotch on Golden Russet.
Golden Russet is not my favorite apple but a lot of people love it.
If you want Gold Rush Light, consider Crunch A Bunch. More tolerate to CAR than Gold Rush, ripens in mid to late Oct. I like it a lot. If you order this variety, choose a standard rootstock.
Insects love Liberty. I grew it bagged but didn’t like the taste and could not for the life of me figure out when it was ripe vs under or over ripe.
Look at Keepsake- but may be a shy bearer.
Around here I tell friends grow Sundance and pollinate it with Chestnut Crab and beyond that grow pears, so much easier than apples, especially if no-spray. In NE Sundance may require storage before the acid calms down.
You might consider NovaMac… it rated very resistent to the big 4 apple diseases.
I have a 2 yr old… it bloomed in year 1, and had like 20 blossom clusters in year 2. It set some very pretty fruit early on but dropped them by june. I bet I get fruit in year 3 next year. It is loaded with fruit spurs now.
I have not tasted one yet but others here have and reported it to be very good.
Good luck !!