I ate a Zestar the othere day. Planted this spring, and it had two apples. Tasty and I was pleased.
Same thing happend to a Pristine I planted this spring, they were really nice, clean and crisp. The tree is vigorous and leaves are very clean. I ordered 2 more for next years crop.
What are you planting there?
Right now im planning 3 rows of juneberry, 4 rows of haskap, 4 rows of sour cherry and 2 rows of black currants. the rest is still kinda up in the air.
No plums?
I had to dig out a peach tree root that i cut down a few years back. It was starting to rot but still had to cut the thicker feeder rots to finally get most of it out. Also ripping out summer bearing raspberries because in a bad spot.
First shot at baked apples. Forgot to take another pic when they were done. Darn tasty, theyll probably be even better with later fall varieties.
The dirt on the edges keeps the wind from blowing the fabric away - a Good Thin.
its still tucked, it was just in way too far, 6ft wide fabric and I only had 2-3 feet of fabric exposed in some areas.
How many years do you get out of a fabric like that? Can water penetrate it? I need to figure out a covering for my garden. I"m so sick of weeding. I was looking the other day at geotextile fabric (polypropylene)…i might buy a big roll and just use it–cut hole where i want the plants to go. It isn’t porous.
Seckel pears are close but very small --they really need to be thinned if you want bigger fruit. Caroline raspberries putting out most berries i’ve ever seen.
Ive got fabric that is 6 years old thats holding up pretty well. I think there are different qualities of fabric available though. I bought 10 500ft rolls for about 150/roll. I also have some 16ft wide of the same fabric that works good for gardens. I use a torch to melt holes so it doesnt fray as much.
A few pics from my walk this morning
Liberty
Honeycrisp
Wakapala
I used it under rock one time and it must have been cheap crap because it just fell apart after a few years and the weeds took over. I just want it for my garden to keep the paths clear–maybe i’ll cover it with some wood chips or something although the black would work well for heat loving plants like tomatoes/peppers.
We use pieces of woven polypropylene landscape cloth for our tomato patch. We got 6 years out of the last piece. It would have lasted longer, but we needed to move the patch to avoid fungal issues and for some new soil. I put the same stuff under river rock to landscape around the house in 2013. The stuff is still going strong today.
Do you ever put wood chips around your trees? I’ve found that mine grow a lot faster when I do…
Nope. I use 4’x4’ squares of woven polypro fabric for the first 6-8 years, then remove it and let the grass move in. I’d go broke putting chips around 100+ trees. Plus, I have no tractor with an enloader. I want trees that can survive on their own for many years after I’m dead. I don’t supplemental water either.
what rootstock do you use?
Dolgo seedling, antonovka, ranetka, b118, m111, wild seedling.
I won’t plant any more b118s, they’re spindly and like to lean. I do have some m111s in the ground that need to be grafted in the future. When those are done I won’t plant any more of them either. They are beefier trees than b118 and don’t lean, but they won’t be generational trees. Any new trees will be on dolgo or wild seedlings.
We’ve been using a fabric like this for 5-7 years now. It is porous so water can penetrate it, although if it’s on a slope, the water will mostly roll off before sipping through. Also, depending on the fabric quality, they advertise it to last 25-30 years (if I my memory serves me right, but it will be listed in the specs so you can check before buying). But if you want to cover it with wood chips, this is what we do and we found it’s not a great weed protection when used this way. In our experience, in a couple of years the wood chips compost into humus and weeds happily grow on top of the fabric. Furthermore, the trees and bushes send their feeder roots above (within the humus layer), below, and through the fabric, so removing the fabric after awhile involves tearing off quite a few feeder roots. None of our plants seem to have been harmed by this but something to keep in mind.
Overall, we came to use the fabric mostly as a very effective means to kill the grass when we want to reshape or create new flower beds, and along the flower bed edges to slow down the encroaching of the grass.
We usually spread the fabric, cover it with wood chips or mulch, and remove it after two years once the grass is killed and before the tree roots grow through it too much.
Picked another bucket of Zestars today. Think I’ll take them to town tomorrow and give them to whoever wants them at the American Legion. I’d say they are at about peak ripeness. They haven’t started to soften up yet, but in another week I think they will be starting. Many bucketfulls still on the tree. I may grab another one or two this weekend for a future cider mix
Picked another bucket of Northland crabs. Washed them and put them in the freezer for sweet cider later this fall. They add a nice red color.
