Showing posts with label apple. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apple. Show all posts

Monday, October 26, 2020

Some Historic Apple Cultivars. 10.26.2020

 I decided to review some of the historic apple cultivars in my collection.   By Historic, I loosely mean anything at least 100 years old, although some are a bit newer.  The basis is finding images of them in the USDA Pomological Website (required attribution statement:  U.S. Department of Agriculture Pomological Watercolor Collection. Rare and Special Collections, National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD 20705).  Of these, only Macoun is 20th century, having been introduced in 1923.  I think Macoun is also the only one of these that was part of a research program, the others having been discoveries by apple farmers over the centuries.  As before, I edited the images for size and clarity, but kept original annotations.  In some cases, if the info is not on the image, I added the artist and date.

 Jonathan.  This is a nostalgia apple for me, having been one of two apple trees that I grew up with in my parents' back yard, in Southwestern Illinois.  The history of Jonathan is a but murky, either originating from cider mill seeds in Connecticut in 1796, or as a seedling of Esopus Spitzenberg in New York in 1826.  When I taste these apples, I still think of them as the classic apple that I remember from so long ago.  It's interesting to think that I'm tasting something that is, as much as possible, unchanged from before the time that my paternal ancestors emigrated from a Germany that wasn't even Germany yet, in the later 19th century.  Of course, there is genetic drift, effect of modern training of tastes, and terroir (effect of local soils, weather, environment on flavor), but that Jonathan flavor is still there.

Duchess of Oldenburg.  I'm interesting to see how this one turns out.  Recent post, different image from the USDA Pomological Watercolors website.


Porter.  I've only had one harvest from Porter.  This was in the first group of grafts that I did from Fedco Scion, in about 2013.  This yellow apple has a delightful, fruity flavor.  According to New England Orchards, Porter originated in Shelburne Massachussets in about 1800; was described as one of the best of yellow fall apples, but ripened over too wide a range of time, and was too tender to ship   According to Tom Burford's Apples of North America, Porter was "one of the great pie making apples of America, and was endorsed as such in early editions of the Fannie Farmer Cookbooks".  I added Porter as a cultivar for my mini orchard using a graft from my previous multigraft, because the flavor is one of the nicest on that tree.  Porter is described as moderately disease resistant, which is important.  Porter ripens in Late Summer.  Porter is also named "Yellow Summer Pearmain", and is the only tree in my orchard with that "Pearmain" designation.  It's not clear what "pearmain" means, although it might designate some pear-like qualities.

 

 Black Oxford.  I added Black Oxford to the mini orchard last winter and have not had a chance to taste it.  Tom Burford in Apples of North America describes Black Oxford as originating around 1790, on the "farm of a nail maker named Valentine, in Paris, Maine".  Burford states that Black Oxford is moderately resistant to the major apple diseases.   Fedco states that "Black Oxford is almost black, and is useful for late ciders and pies....Best eating late December to March, but we’ve eaten them in July and they were still quite firm and tasty. They get sweeter and sweeter as the months go by. Good cooking until early summer."  I think my mini orchard is a bit dominated by earlier ripening apples, so this seemed like an interesting choice.  This was once a popular apple in Maine.  


Gravenstein.  I think this is one of the very best apple cultivars.  Gravenstein was originally either a Danish apple, or was a gift to the Duke of Gravenstein in Denmark from Italy, in 1669.  Hard to imagine, this apple has been grown for 350 years.  How many people have enjoyed its flavor?  Rowan Jaobson describes Gravenstein in his Apples of Uncommon Character as crisp and cidery, and as the first great apple of the year.  Gravenstein has been a favorite in Sonoma County in California since immigrants from Crimea brought it there in 1812.  Gravenstein is the national apple of Denmark.  In my garden, this tree bears heavily, then skips a year, which makes the crop all the more anticipated.  I'm not sure whether I should just leave it as a semidwarf  tree in the front orchard, or have a graft of Gravenstein in the mini orchard as well.  I'm leaning towards the latter, since that is where my focus has moved.  Plus I can be more easily diligent about thinning fruit, which might help with the biennial bearing.

Macoun.  I haven't tried this one yet.  It's one season out from grafting on mini dwarf rootstock.  Macoun is an early effort (1923) by NY State Experiment Station to create a planned hybrid apple, McIntosh X Jersey Black.  It may have some disease and insect resistance. 

King David.  Discovered in an Arkansas fence row in the late 1800s.  Possibly a cross of Jonathan and Arkansas Black.  I like this apple, which I have on a two multigrafts.  I'm thinking about making it a more prominent member of my orchard by regrafting to replace another cultivar. 

Sutton Beauty is one of two cultivars that I grafted during grafting class at the Home Orchard Society class in about 2012.  It appears to be on a dwarf rootstock.  I multigrafted the tree, but might revert it to fewer varieties because this is such a good apple.  According to Burford's Apples of North America, this apple originated in Sutton, Massachussets in 1757.  This is an excellent mostly sweet, not much tartness at all, crisp, juicy, historic apple.  Each year I look forward to tasting some of these excellent apples.   This apple is described as moderately resistant to most apple diseases, other than fireblight.  On the same tree, I have Airlie Red Flesh, which gets quite a lot of scab, while Sutton Beauty does not have any blemishes.



 

NorthPole Apple Harvest. 10.26.2020

 I was too late to rescue most of the NorthPole apples, which is a bit disappointing because they are one of my favorites.  It would have been better to harvest them 2 or 3 weeks ago.  Even so, there is a nice box of apples.  I used organza bags to protect some of the apples from this columnar tree, which actually did work out nicely, protecting those apples while others deteriorated due to insect and bird bites and disease.

These are big, juicy sweet apples with a classic McIntosh flavor.   I think they are good in apple sauce and pies.



Apple Scion Order for 2021. 10.24.2020

I ordered Apple Scion, and a Pear Scion for next year.  None of these will be new trees.  I like trying them on multigrafts.  That way they bear sooner, I get a taste sooner, and I don't have to devote space, effort, and cost to entirely new trees.  I think I will retire a few less desirable branches and replace them with these.  Some may go onto the espaliers that I am growing.  I also changed my mind about a couple of the minigrafts, which I will overgraft with a couple or few of these.

Honeycrisp.  Everyone knows this one.  I have tried it before.  It is not easy.  It will go on one of the minidwarfs that I decided to overgraft.

 Gala.  A relatively modern apple (1934 if that is modern) with an excellent flavor originally from New Zealand.  Ripens in Winter and is a keeping apple.  Gala is a cross of Kidd's Orange Red and Golden Delicious.  Kidd's Orange Red is a cross of Cox's Orange Pippin and Delicious.  Cox is the classic English apple that gives some of its descendants a more tropical, aromatic flavor.  I don't know if that "Delicious" is "Red Delicious" - I read it is not "Golden Delicious", anyway. 

 Duchess of Oldenberg.  A historic apple, originally from Russia.  Ripens late Summer.

Otterson.  A smaller, tart, highly red flesh juice apple with some astringency.  This apple is for coloring apple juices red by increasing the anthocyanin content.  Ripens in Fall, per Fedco.  Probably late 20th century.

William's Pride.  Modern PRI disease resistant apple.  Ripens in early August.  (Fall, per Fedco).   Williams Pride has a complex lineage, with the only grandparent that I recognize as Jonathan.  Five generations back there is Rome and Malus floribunda 821, the source of its scab resistance.  The pollination event that created William's Pride was in 1973 at the University of Illinois in Urbana, IL.  Described as a Summer dessert apple.

Opalescent.  Historic apple.  Ripens in Fall per Fedco.

Dana Hovey Pear - a winter pear.  This is my first knowledge of "winter pears".  Will it be easier to know when they are ripe?  An Experiment.

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Of these apples, only Opalescent and Duchess of Oldenburg are historic variety (more than 100 years old).  This is an image of Opalescent from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Pomological Watercolor Collection. Rare and Special Collections, National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD 20705 (attribution required by the web site)


I edited this image slightly to increase contrast and color resolution, and edited some of the margins to make the image more visible.  

According to Apples of North America, by Tom Burford, Opalescent originated in 1880 when George Hudson found the seedling while digging out stumps in Barry County, Michigan.  It stores well.  It has susceptibility to apple diseases.  I have a small branch of Opalescent on a dwarf multigraft.  I like the apple, nice sweet  flavor.    I decided to include this in my scion order because I'm not confident that if I take a cutting from my multigraft, that it will be the right one.  According to Trees of Antiquity, Opalescent was once widely grown in New England.

Duchess of Oldenberg, from the same USDA Pomological Website as above.  According to Fedco, Duchess of Oldenburg was imported in 1835 along with other Russian apples.  It was named for the sister of Czar Alexander, Catherine Pavlovna.  Described as scab resistant, which is good in my garden.  Considered one of the best for pies and sauce.  As quoted from Apples of New York in Trees of Antiquity, these apples "Kept up the hope of prairie orchardists in times of great discouragement".   According to Wikipedia, Duchess of Oldenburg dates to the era of 1750 - 1799.


 


 



Friday, September 25, 2020

Apple Harvest So Far. 9.25.2020

 I picked some of the early fall ripening apples.  This year the Liberty apples are some of the first.  I think my approach of grating multiple varieties to each tree had some merit.  Not only does that help with pollination, but there are different varieties in the same space, and they ripen at different times, spreading out the harvest.  I label the Liberty apples for Ning.  They are his favorite.  I like them too.

This year a King David apple graft, a heritage cultivar first grown in Arkansas, had its first apples.  It's not very vigorous, and needed about 4 or 5 years.  They turned out to be quite tasty, good texture, nice in every way.  Small, which is fine.  I don't care for giant size apples.

The King David apples.

Some of the Liberty apples.

This year I'm storing them in a shed, where they should be cooler than when I stored them in the garage.  I'm also putting them on newspaper and trying to avoid stacking them.

 

I found some King David apples on the USDA pomological watercolor website.  As with other images, I edited a little for size and clarity.



This is the description for King David on orange pippin website  "one of the lesser-known apples that were promoted by the famous Stark Brothers nursery at the end of the 19th century... discovered as a chance seedling...but most authorities agree that Jonathan is one of the parents, and it has the aromatic qualities associated with that variety.  The other parent is believed to be Winesap or Arkansas Black, and visually it has a resemblance to the latter."  I usually like any apple with Jonathan genes.  They have a flavor that stands out very nicely.

These are really good.  Maybe I will graft a scion from this graft, onto some super dwarfing scion for my miniature fruit tree mini orchard.

Thursday, August 20, 2020

First Taste of First Redlove® Calypso® Apple

 This was the first apple from my first-leaf Redlove® Calypso® apple tree.  The apple fell off the small tree, so I took that as a signal it was not going to ripen further.

Some precautions -

First year fruits are not always reliable indicators of the future fruits from the same tree.  Next year, this tree might have larger, sweeter fruits.  Or it might not.

This fruit might not have fully ripened.  The tree does have two other fruits.  Maybe they will ripen further.

A small tree may not be able to support full ripening.

That said, this small (about silver dollar size) apple was colorful on the inside.  The  flesh had a crisp, juicy texture.  It was not astringent or bitter.  What it was, was very tart - like a lemon candy.  Or a pineapple, or grapefruit, but crisp.




Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Apple Bloom Time, Beginning. 4.17.19

Dolgo Crabapple Blossoms.  4.17.19

Gravenstein Apple Blossoms.  4.17.19
This year I am more carefully watching fruit tree blossom times.

Many of the apples have buds showing the first signs of petals.  The only apple cultivars that have a significant number of fully open flowers, now, are Gravenstein and Dolgo Crabapple.

The Dolgo branch is small, and with so much rain, I don't know if bees are pollinating yet.  So we will see if that is enough to give us some Gravenstein apples this year.

As for Dolgo, I don't know if it is self pollinating.  Gravenstein is triploid so unable to pollinate other cutivars.

Sunday, January 13, 2019

Planting a New Red Flesh Apple Tree, Redlove® Era®. 1.12.19

 Today I planted a new bare root apple tree.  This variety is Redlove® Era®, a red-flesh apple developed in Europe by crossbreeding conventional apples with red-flesh crab apples.  The result is reported to be a disease-resistant apple with reddish leaves, pink flowers, and the apples have red flesh to the core.  The flesh does have white patterns mixed with the red.  The apples are described as having a berry-like flavor mixed with apple flavor.

This is a nice experiment.  We'll see how it does.  This tree came from One Green World, which has a selection of red flesh apples. 
In my orchard, I already have Airlie Red Flesh, which has a pink flesh color with green skin when ripe, a very tasty apple.  I tried growing a graft of Redfield, which is described as a very tart red-flesh apple, but the graft lacked vigor and I cut it off.

I was impressed with the large, healthy root mass on this small tree.  I was able to spread the roots out with no losses or pruning.   Based on past experiences, I immediately protected the new tree with a vole / rodent hardware cloth sleeve.  The tree is also in a protected, fenced in area to inhibit deer browsing.

Monday, November 12, 2018

Apple Scion Order for Spring 2019

One of the great things about multigraft trees is, if you do't like a variety, you can remove the limb or graft others onto it, and still be ahead of removing or replacing a whole tree.

I'm not happy about Chehalis, which for me has given large, tasteless apples and not many, despite the branch being very vigorous.   I also have doubts about Akane, which has not produced apples despite other branches on the tree being productive.

So, next Spring I want to cut those two branches short, and graft something different.  I'm choosing mainly disease - resistant, PRI varieties.

PRI stands for "Purdue Rutgers Illinois" apple breeding program.  They interbred exce;lent apple cultivars with a disease resistant crabapple species, Malus floribunda, then crossed other apple cultivars, and tested them extensively.  Most of these are scab resistant, although there is change happening in the scab disease so that is not as sure as it once was.

Regardless, I've grown Priscilla and Pristine, and they were both excellent apples.  The Pristine branch broke, but is still partly connected to the tree.  So I will see if that has some viable scion for grafting in the late winter.  Most, but not all, PRI varieties, have the letters "P", "R", "I" somewhere in their names.  Often consecutively, such as in Priscilla and Pristine. 

Meanwhile, I want to try others.  I chose:

Prima - Early Fall, red disease-resistant apple. 

Goldrush - despite no "PRI" letters, except "r", a PRI variety.  A long keeping golden, disease resistant apple.  Heavy cropping, has Golden Delicious and Rome Beauty in its ancestry. Sweet, very late season, keeps 3 months.

Williams Pride.  Mostly red, disease resistant apple.  Early maturing, tart fruit.

Honeycrisp is also scab resistant.  Most people know Honeycrisp.  I have a tiny tree on ultradwarffing M27 rootstock.  The tree is 3 feet tall and had 5 apples this year.  I want to add that to a more vigorous tree.  I have other grafts of Honeycrisp but jot far enough along to harvest more scion.  I think Honeycrisp is not very vigorous anyway, so needs a more vigorous rootstock. 

For what it's worth, the PRI varieties have all been disease resistant in my garden, and the apples from each of those varieties have been very good to incredible (Pristine).    My Winecrisp tree, also a PRI introduction ("cRIsP" does have PRI in its name) has not borne a crop yet.

Saturday, September 23, 2017

Fall Fruits - First Harvest 9.23.17

The smaller red apples are Jonared. 

The small peaches are Charlotte, didn't do great this year but still, it's some fall peaches. 

The golden apples are Porter.  The large red/green apple is Sutton Beauty. 

Dark blue, Stanley Plums.

Various Asian pears.

At the center, an Asia/American pear hybrid, "Maxie".  Actually, not very good.  Maybe I didn't let it ripen enough.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Fedco Scion Order. 12.7.18

Porter Apple.  Source:  USDA pomological.  1905.
I'm not sure if I posted this already.  I've added most of the apple varieties that I want to try, but decided on 3 additional scion from Fedco.  Two are repeats of scion that I grafted last year, which grew but not a lot, and I would like more on another tree (King David and Sweet-16).  Those were on a small Winecrisp tree that I may have grafted too soon, planted that tree bare-root in 2016 and also grafted then, plus a deer chewed off half of the Sweet-16 so it is only about 1 inch of stem now.  I had actually forgotten that I already had King David on another multigraft tree.  It took, but the other branches are more vigorous so I want to give it a better start anyway.  I could wait and take scion from that graft, but if I buy one now, that gets me a head start.  I would also like to add a Winesap (early 1800s), and scion from that has been offered to me from another hobbyist.

At this point, I have about all of the apple cultivars that I can keep track of.  Most of my apple trees are now multigrafts with at least 5 varieties per tree, although a few are individual dwarf trees and a few are just beginning to experience my grafting obsession.  I've learned a lot along the way.  The apple growing goals are:

*Mostly disease resistant varieties.
*Mostly varieties that I can't buy at the grocery store.
*Ripening season from July until late October, with storage apples through most of the winter.
*Many varieties for cross pollination, usually within each multigraft tree.
*A chance to taste the same apple varieties that inspired people and gave pleasure for, sometimes,  hundreds of years, at times when there were no grocery chains, import fruits, and minimal food additives.  To savor living history.  To connect my senses with those of actual and historic ancestors, by experiencing the rare pleasure of what they enjoyed.
*A chance to taste some unique flavors and varieties that are not available otherwise.
*To compare experiences with other gardeners and hobbyists.
*To experience tastes from my own garden and orchard, free from corporate homogenization and factory processing.

Some of the descriptions are really colorful.  I doubt that my own taste buds are that sophisticated.  But maybe - this year's apples gave unexpected and delightful surprises.


King David Apple - Fedco description, Orange-Pippin description.  A cross between Jonathan and either Winesap or Arkansas Black.  Intro 1893.  Diploid, precicious, large apples, some disease resistance.  From Fedco on flavors:  "Pineapple, tangerine, lemon, sweet, sour, tart, sharp, aromatic and spicy all rush around simultaneously."   From Apples of North America, King David is described as vigorous, and is a diploid, and disease resistant, so might be a good addition to the new Gravenstein tree.  Gravenstein needs a pollinator because it is triploid, and needs a vigorous variety because it is also vigorous.

Sweet-16 Apple - Fedco description, Orange-Pippin description.  Descended from Northern Spy crossed with Malinda, developed at University of Minnesota. 1979.  Diploid.  Per Fedco: " Fine-textured crisp flesh contains an astounding unusually complex combination of sweet, nutty and spicy flavors with slight anise essence, sometimes described as cherry, vanilla or even bourbon."  From Apples of North America, Sweet-16 is resistant to apple scab, fireblight, and moderately resistant to other major apple diseases.  Vigorous growing and late blooming.   From Apples of Uncommon Character, "a misty explosion of melon and bubble gum, satisfyingly sweet, passingly tart" also described as flavors like bourbon or cherry life savers.  Apples for the 21st Century, "flavor is very unique and sweet-tart cocktail of flavors."

Opalescent AppleFedco description, Orange-Pippin descriptipon.  Per Fedco:  1899.  " Crisp, sweet, tart, juicy—but most of all it’s supremely flavorful."  From Apples of North America, Opalescent has a creamy yellow flesh, crisp, sweet flavor, vigorous, but does have susceptibility to fireblight.  Good storage apple.


References:
Links, plus:
Apples of North America - by Tom Burford - describes 192 varieties, in addition to additional information about growing apples.  Excellent reading about many apple varieties, especially historic apples.
Apples of Uncommon Character - by Rowan Jacobsen - describes 123 varieties, and recipes.  Also excellent and sometimes poetic reading.
Apples for the 21st Century -by Warren Manhart - Reflects the author's 30 years of experience testing over 140 varieties, with 50 cultivars described in the book.

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Sutton Beauty Apples. 9.28.16

Sutton Beauty Apple.  9.28.16
 I picked these apples yesterday, the entirety of my Sutton Beauty Apples.  Considering I just grafted this to a rootstock in 2013, that's reasonable growth.  If I just get a taste, I'm happy.

As discussed in the post yesterday, Sutton Beauty is a historic apple.  From the book, Apples of North America by Tom Burford, "Sutton Beauty was found around 1757 by Stephen Waters of Sutton Massachusetts.".  I find it mind boggling, this apple was tasted by folks before the American Revolution, 257 years ago. 

These were what I think of as a classic old apple - a bit soft, mild apple flavor.  Good tasting and filling. They don't have the Honeycrisp knock-you-over crispy sweet tart zing that knocks you over, but still a good tasting apple.

Sutton Beauty Apples.  9.28.16
 These were probably too soft for pie.  I would stick to fresh eating.  They remind me a little of Golden Delicious in flavor and texture.

As a member of a multigraft tree, this apple is worthwhile and I will keep it on the tree.  We never know what next year will bring, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were 10 apples for this year's three, and that would be fine.


Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Apple Varieties. 9.26.16

Here is a description of the apple varieties in my collection.  It looks like a lot of trees, but most are multigrafts, as many as 6 varieties per tree.  There are a few single variety trees as well.

Historic Apple Variety Illustrations.  Source:  vintageprintable.com
 There are so many options with apples, it's hard to decide which to grow.  Some of the standards are grown for their ability to be shipped, and for their superficial appearance, not flavor.  However, that familiarity results in those varieties being market in the stores as apples and as trees.  Those are not necessarily, or even usually, the most desirable to grow.

Historic Apple Variety Illustrations.  Source:  vintageprintable.com
 Some apple varieties are desirable because of their link to previous generations.  The varieties go back centuries.  With some, it's possible that Benjamin Franklin, or Thomas Jefferson, or Queen Victoria enjoyed apples from that same variety (Newtown Pippin), a clone that can be grown in one's own yard.  Others were mainstays a century ago, but fell by the wayside because they weren't the best for market growing (Baldwin).

My choices have changed over the years, but have been guided by suitability for my yard (shape of tree, disease resistance) or by the attraction to taste apples that previous generations loved, or by amazing, unusual and delicious flavored apples that can't be bought in stores.
Historic Apple Variety Illustrations.  Source:  vintageprintable.com

Historic Apple Variety Illustrations.  Source:  vintageprintable.com
Historic Apple Variety Illustrations.  Source:  vintageprintable.com
 The illustrations here came from the public domain website vintageprintable.com, and from USDA illustrations that were painted late in the 1800s and early 1900s.

Following is a status report on the current varieties in my little personal orchard.  There are many varieties, mostly young grafts on multigraft trees.

Columnar Trees.
Columnar apple trees descend from a mutant of McIntosh, which was discovered in Canada.  All columnar apple trees have at least a little McIntosh in their chromosomes, but that may be diluted by hybridizing over multiple generations.  Therefore, there are various colors and flavors.  I have the columnar trees near the house in my rock garden border, for their ornamental value.

1.  NorthPole.  I've had this tree for about 14 years.  I tried to find patent info, but have not located that.  It's been around long enough that it should be off patent, but may be trademarked.  So scion from the tree can be used in new grafting, but new trees can't be named "NorthPole".  Apples from this tree are described as "McIntosh-like", with sprightly apple flavor.  I like them.  They are sweet and make great pies.  Ripens late summer / early fall.

2.  Golden Sentinel.  Newer than NorthPole.  I bought this tree in 2013, had one or two apples in 2014 and a few in 2015.  This year there were a dozen.  Golden apples with significant red blush, very pretty.  Sprightly flavor, similar to NorthPole.   Earlier than NorthPole, mid to late summer.

3.  Scarlet Sentinel.  Same age and source as Golden Sentinel.  Also similar good apple flavor, color is more green with red blush.  Ripens with NorthPole, late summer / early fall.  I had one this week, late Sept.

Minidwarfs grown with M27 rootstock.

4.  Liberty.  About 13 years old.  Too bad it's on the M27, which stunts this tree.  Excellent flavor, tart and sweet and apple-flavor.  Beautiful dark red apples with white flesh.  Overbears, apples need a lot of thinning.   Smaller size, might be due to overbearing or the M27 rootstock.   Reliable and disease resistat.  From Burford (Ref #2 below):  Developed at the New York, Geneva Experiment station as a cross between Jonathan and Golden Delicious, in 1943.  From Burford (Ref #2 below):  HIghly resistant ro apple scab, cedar apple rust, powdery mildew,  and fireblight.  Flavor is enhanced by storage.   I like them right off the tree.  Manhart (Ref #4 below), gives the lineage of Liberty, which includes multiple great tasting historic apple varieties (Rome, Wealthy, McIntosh, Macoun), along with Malus floribunda, a crab apple that imparts disease resistance.

5.  Jonagold.  Also on M27, although I also have a young scion on a multigraft semidwarf.  Unfortunately, downwind from a gigantic neighbor tree that is filled with disease, the  tree equivalent of sitting in an airplane seat with someone coughing and sneezing in the seat behind you.  Susceptible to fireblight but recovers.  The handful of nonwormy apples I get are sweet / tart /  very delicious.  I think the negatives are due to the rootstock and the unfortunate location.  Triploid, so requires a pollenizer and does not pollenize in return.  I really love Jonagold apples, probably more than Honeycrisp or the newer patented types like Zestar.

6.  Jonared.  A sport of Jonathan.  The original Jonathan tree was in Woodstock New York, before 1826.  In theory, sports should be identical to the tree they came from, except for a selected change such as color.  However, if multiple generations of sports are selected for one trait, others deteriorate.  That is why the original Red Delicious is less red, and much better tasting, than modern Red Delicious.  I don't know if this is true for Jonared, which when I bought the tree was the only version of Jonathan I could find.  I planted this tree in 2013, and it has not fruited yet.  I think it's on regular dwarf (not minidwarf)  or semidwarf rootstock, but not certain of the actual rootstock. From Manhart (Ref #4 below), Jonathan "is one of the best all purpose apples, especially if one likes a tart taste."

7.  Porter.  Grafted onto Jonared, 2015.  Scion from Fedco.  Per Fedco:  " Sherborn, MA, about 1800. Originated on the farm of the Reverend Samuel Porter. One of the most important of all New England apples, dating back to before 1800."  Good growth but too early for fruit, maybe next year. 
From Burford (Ref #2 below):  Historically valued as one of the great American pie apples.  Bright clear yellow skin blushed on sun exposed side, with crimson red spots.   Summer apple.
Jonathan.  Source:  USDA pomological.  1905.

8.  Granite Beauty.  Grafted onto Jonared, 2015.  Scion from Fedco.  Per Fedco"Zephaniah Breed intro, Weare, NH, before 1860. Very large roundish red fruit. A rare dessert apple once in southern NH over and up into southern and coastal Maine. You might describe the flesh as having an initial burst of “warm spice” reminiscent of coriander or cardamom".  A little less vigorous than Porter, in my hands, so far.  From Burford (Ref #2 below):  distinctively spicy, appeared around 1815 on farm of Zephaniah Breed.  Large round fruit, balance of sugar and acid.  From Jacobsen (Ref #3 below):  "Everything about the apple is unusual. " with flavor of cardamom and curry.  Slow growing. 

9.  Redfield.  Grafted onto Jonared, 2015.  Scion from Fedco.  A novelty with reddish leaves, red flesh fruit but very sour.  Growth this year was poor with distorted leaves, I may cut off the graft soon.

10.  Priscilla.  Grafted onto Jonared, 2015.  Scion from Fedco.  A modern PRI Variety.  PRI is the Purdue Rutgers Illinois cooperative apple breeding program, started in the 1940s, intended to produce high quality, highly disease resistant varieties of apples.  The disease resistance comes from having a sturdy disease resistant crab apple in its ancestry, and the excellent flavor comes from choosing good parents in each generation.  Good growth, maybe first fruit 2017 or 2018.  From Burford (Ref #2 below):  HIghly resistant to scab, moderately resistant to fireblight.
Baldwin.  Source:  USDA pomological.  1911.

11.  Keepsake.  Grafted onto Jonared, 2015.  Scion from Fedco. A parent of Honeycrisp, long keeping.  developed at the University of Minnesota.  Considered very high flavor but not pretty.  Growth less vigorous than some of my other grafts on this tree.

12.  Airlie Red Flesh.  The last variety added to the Jonared tree, this was from HOS in 2016.  I also added Airlie Red Flesh to another tree, Sutton Beauty, to be described below.  This apple was discovered growing on an Oregon farm in the 1960s, and to confuse matters more was used for the trademarked clone, "Hidden Rose".  In the blog, Adam's Apples, this apple is described as "a good sweet-tart balance and last to the end of the chew...  an astringent, vinous note, some generic citrus, a hint of citrus peel, and something lush and sweet that is very like fruit punch.".  Obviously, this being the first year of growth, no chance for me to taste it yet.  From Burford (Ref #2 below):  Describing Hidden Rose - Moderately resistant to the major diseases.  Crisp, sugary, richly flavored.

13.  Multigraft tree #2, bought from Raintree in 2014 as Rubinette, Queen Cox, and Pristine.  Queen Cox is described as a more colorful sport of the famous Cox's Orange Pippen, the classic and long time favorite English apple.  Queen Cox bore about 6 apples this year, nice big flavorful sweet apples with a little tartness, late summer.  Introduced 1975.  The original Cox's Orange Pippin was introduced in 1825.  Of the parent variety - which I can't vouch as being identical, but it's not much of a stretch - Jacobsen (Ref #3 below) states:  Originated in Colnbrook England, 1825.  Flavor like "ambrosia salad, pineapple, oranges, marshmallow, and coconut with lime sprinkle over the top", and flower petals.  My taste buds are not so refined, but I did find Queen Cox to be quite delicious.  From Manhart (Ref #4 below): There are various strains of Cox's Orange, with Queen Cox being one of the best. 

14.  Rubinette.  Introduced 1964.  So far I've only tasted 2 apples of this variety.  Neither was great.  Maybe it needs another year to develop full flavor.  The Cox's Orange Pippin website describes the flavor of this apple as exceptional.

15.  Pristine.  Introduced 1994 by the PRI program.  I've had a couple of apples, this year and last year.  Excellent, sprightly summer apple.  Considered disease resistant.  These were the first apples of the season, mid summer.  I really like this apple, one of my favorites, and it's very early to boot.

16.  Goldrush.  Developed 1973 by the PRI breeding program.  From Fedco scion, grafted 2016 onto Multigraft #2,  From FedcoThe first of the new disease-resistant varieties has superior storage qualities. Not only that, but it’s probably the best-tasting apple to come out of the PRI program... Medium-to-large round-conic fruit has uniform deep greenish-yellow opaque chewy skin that turns golden in storage. Creamy white green-flecked flesh is hard, very crisp, juicy and tart" a very long storing apple, for season extending far into the winter.  From Burford (Ref #2 below):  Outstanding keeper, sprightly flavor, developed at Purdue University in Indiana.  A cross of Golden Delicious and "Co-op 17".  Good for storage.

Porter.  Source:  USDA pomological.  1897.
17.  Hawkeye.  From HOS scion, grafted 2016 onto Multigraft #2.  This is the original Red Delicious, before selecting for increasingly larger and redder strains made Red Delicious into something like soft cardboard flavor.  Developed in Iowa in about 1870.  Not much growth  yet. but this is also not a great spot on the tree.  Might re-graft next year, or just leave it alone.  From Burford (Ref #2 below):  Discovered as a chance seedling by farmer Jesse Hiatt, in Peru Iowa, in 1880.  He cut it down twice before letting it grow, later entered the apples into a competition and from there it was bought by Starks Bros. nursery and renamed "Delicious".  The Hawkeye variety is thought to retain the original flavors, lost in subsequent strains. Somewhat resistant to fireblight.  Manhart (Ref #4 below) tells a long history of Red Delicious, including the original Hawkeye tree died in a major winter freeze in 1940.  Manhart states that newer dark red, spur bearing strains tend to runt out on modern rootstocks, and are picked too early, fed too much nitrogen, and stored too long in controled atmosphere.  I will be interesting to see if the Hawkeye scion produces an apple that I like.

18.  Multigraft #3.  Purchased from Raintree as a 5-variety multigraft and have not added more.  Planted 2014.  AkaneAlso called "Tokyo Rose", among other names.  "
'Akane' was developed by the Morika Experimental Station of Japan, introduced into the US in 1930.   A cross of Jonathan and Worcester Pearmain. Moderately good disease resistance.    No fruit yet.

19.  Multigraft #3.  Summerred. Started bearing this year, for a taste.  For an apple I had never heard of, and that Raintree had included in the graft without telling me, this was a great Summer apple. 
Jonathan.  Source:  USDA pomological.  1915.
Porter.  Source:  USDA pomological. 1912.
20. Multigraft #3  Summerred is beautiful to look at - scarlet skin, white flesh, with a little red bleeding into the flesh.  Introduced in 1964.  The flavor is sweet and spicy.  I think this will be a favorite.  Summerred is a modern hybrid of Golden Delicious X McIntosh, from British Columbia.

21. Multigraft #3  Chehalis.  A modern, yellow skin variety originating near Chehalis Washington in 1937.  Disease resistant, possibly a seedling of Golden Delicious.  One apple this year, I haven't tasted it yet.  Per Burford (ref 2 below), "A variety of choice for the low-spray and organic fruit grower."  Resistant to scab and powdery milder.  Slow to start bearing.  This graft bore one fruit this year, which I ate today.  The apple was very mild flavored, and too soft and mealy for my taste.  I may have left it on the tree too long.  I can try again next year and if I don't like it, prune off that branch.

22.  Multigraft #3 Beni Shogun.   Early ripening version of Fuji.  I did not see whether this was a Fuji seedling or sport.  No apples yet.

23.  Multigraft #3.  Finally, Jonagold was also included on this tree.  Convenient, since I like this variety and the minidwarf on M27 is not doing that well.


24.  Multigraft #4.  This originated as the first apple tree that I grafted at a Home Orchard Society grafting class in 2012.  The first variety was Sutton Beauty.  I've been adding others in subsequent years.  Ate the first Sutton Beauty this year - large,but a bit tart for my taste.  I didn't care for the flavor, but it may not have been fully ripened.  According to cooksinfo.com, "Sutton's Beauty Apples were developed in 1848 in Sutton, Massachusetts, USA, possibly from a seedling of Hubbardston apples...grown commercially in New York State around 1900".  I'll let it grow for a couple more years, and if good, keep it.  Otherwise it has a growing graft of Airlie Red Flesh that can replace the Sutton Beauty.

25.  Multigraft #4.  Baldwin, grafted 2016, Fedco scion.  One of the classic New England Apples until an unusually frigid winter in 1934 damaged many orchards.  Then McIntosh replaced Baldwin.  From wikipedia, "According to S. A. Beach's Apples of New York, the Baldwin originated soon after 1740 as a chance seedling on the farm of Mr. John Ball of Wilmington, Massachusetts".   From Fedco:  "not practical commercially due to biennialism but the only apple that is both disease and insect resistant.” Massachusetts’ most famous apple where it grows to perfection."   Baldwin is triploid, so requires a pollenizer and does not pollenize in return.  The triploidy also makes this a vigorous cultivar.

Gravenstein.  Source:  USDA pomological.  1909
26.  Multigraft #4.  Newtown Pippin.  One of the most famous histric apple varieties, this apple was shipped to Queen Victoria who liked it so much she had the tariff removed on US Apples for this variety.  From Fedco:  "Early 18th c, near Newtown, Long Island, NY. Known as Albemarle Pippin in Virginia. Renowned dessert, culinary and cider apple. In 1817 William Coxe called it “the finest apple of our country, and probably of the world.”  This is the apple in Martinelli sparkling cider.  By growing and eating this apple, one can taste the same apple as Queen Victoria, and Ben Franklin.  
From Burford (Ref #2 below):  Can store until March or April.  Suscebtible to the major apple diseases.  Bears in late fall.   From Jacobsen (Ref #3 below): "Somewhat sugary and very acid, with a bracing lemony flavor and a green-tea note from the skin".  I bought some of these at a farmer's market last year.  Did not appreciate those flavors, but to be fair I used them for pie.  Good pie, too.  Jacobsen tells an intriguing history of the Newtown Pippin, worth reading.

26.  Multigraft #4.  I grafted Jonagold as an alternative branch, but having the same variety on Multigraft #3, I think I'll overgraft with something else.  From Manhart (Ref #4 below), Jonagold is triploid, so requires a pollenizer and does not pollenize in return.

27.  Multigraft #5.   Wincecrisp, semidwarf.  From Burnt Ridge Nuersery, I bought Winecrisp to be the base tree for an additional multigraft.  Planted in 2015, so no taste yet and growth was minimal during the first year.  Winecrisp is another PRI disease resistant variety, originally grown from seed in 1969.  


28.  Multigraft #5.  Milo Gibson.  From Fedco, grafted onto the Winecrisp base tree 2016.  This scion was small and the tree is first year bare root, so growth was minimal.  Deer ate one bud but one bud remains.  I have better fencing in place, maybe it will grow next year.  Fedco not offering Milo Gibson this year.  From the SaltSpringAppleCo website:  Gibson discovered this fine apple as a chance seedling, likely somewhere in Oregon. He named it Linnton, after a Portland neighbourhood and the apple won favour among aficionados. NAFEX [North American Fruit Explorers] renamed it in 1975, following Mr. Gibson's death... uniquely sweet, licorice-flavoured apple, likely quite different from any other you’ve tasted. "
Gravenstein.  Source:  USDA pomological.  1905
29.  Multigraft #5.  Sweet-16.  A more recent introduction from University of Minnesota, not patented.  From Fedco, grafted 2016.   Per the Fedco description, "Fine-textured crisp flesh contains an astounding unusually complex combination of sweet, nutty and spicy flavors with slight anise essence, sometimes described as cherry, vanilla or even bourbon...  Round-conic bronze-red medium-sized fruit, striped and washed with rose-red."  This may be 2 or years before I have a taste.  The scion growth was minimal, so I intend to add another this winter. 
From Jacobsen (Ref #3 below):  "An absolute delight to eat... one of the triumphs of the university breeding programs" and "a misty explosion of melon and bubblegum... a kindred spirit to the watermelon".  He also mentions notes of anice, boourbon, and cherry life savers.  I don't know if any apple can live up to those flavors, but I do want to try it.

30.  Finally, the last of the current trees, not in the ground yet.  Gravenstein.  I bought this tree locally in the end of season, container tree sale at a local nursery.  I've tasted Gravenstein apples, which were remarkably tasty.  Again, info from Fedco: 
"Thought to be of 17th c. Italian or German origin. ... Tender crisp aromatic richly flavored juicy firm tart flesh"  So this variety existed before the United States existed, and we can taste fruits that were grown before the birth of George Washington.   From Jacobsen (Ref #3 below):  Per legend, first grown in the town of Gravenstein Denmark in 1669, although others claim it was brought form Italy to Gravenstein on that year.  Jacobsen waxes eloquent about this apple, making it seem like food of the gods, but ephemeral, does not store well at all.  From Manhart (Ref #4 below):  Very vigorous, but requires many years to bear fruit.  Susceptible to most apple diseases - but the local trees I have observed were huge, and healthy.  Very popular in my area, NW Oregon and SW Washington, west of the Cascade volcano range.  Triploid, so requires other pollenizers and does not pollenize them back - not a problem on my multigrafted trees.

I already ordered scion from Fedco to be shipped in March.  This time much less, I know I already have more than I can keep track of.  The orders are for King David, Opalescent, and an additional scikon of Sweet -16 because that graft didn't grow much this year.  

King David"thought to be to Jonathan x Arkansas Black. Washington County, AR, 1893. Intensely flavored dessert apple...  an explosion of flavors. You may wince, or even see stars. Pineapple, tangerine, lemon, sweet, sour, tart, sharp, aromatic and spicy all rush around simultaneously. The medium-sized roundish fruit is very dark solid maroon—nearly black."    From Burford (Ref #2 below):  Good storage quality.  Whitish-yellow flesh subacid and slightly sweet.  Introduced by Stark Bro's Nursery in 1902. 

Opalescent:  " Ohio, 1899. Highly flavored dessert apple for the connoisseur. Biting into the very large brilliant deep red fruit will bathe your tongue with flavor. Crisp, sweet, tart, juicy—but most of all it’s supremely flavorful. From Burford (Ref #2 below):  Found by George Hudson in 1880.  Creamy yellow flesh with crisp sweet flavor.  Very susceptible to fireblight.  That last might be an issue.

I have a small Honeycrisp on M27 that is half-grafted to Liberty.  It's tiny, I think Honeycrisp doesn't have as much vigor as some of the others.  I may use that as scion on one of the larger multigrafts, this winter. 

I know this is a lot of apple varieties.  With multiple varieties on each tree, I may only get a bowl full of each, each year.  That's fine, and it's all I want.   Not every variety will do well, and some have on-years and off-years.  Even a branch on a multigraft can have a lot of apples.  With so many varieties in a small space, even within the same trees, the trees are self pollinating, ensuring good fruit set.   If a variety doesn't do will, I can prune it off, giving the space and vigor to the others on the same tree.  Grafting is lots of fun.  Scion is either inexpensive (Fedco, $5 per scion which gives one or 2 grafts), or free (Home Orchard Society, or obtain from others of my on trees or a willing neighbor).

There are some excellent references with historical and cultural information, and taste and fruit descriptions.  here are a few:

(1) Fedco in Maine.
(2) The book,  Apples of North America by Tom Burford.   Descriptions of 192 varieties.
(3) The book, Apples of Uncommon Character by Rowan Jacobsen.    Descriptions of 123 varieties.
(4)  The book, Apples for the 21st Century, by Warren Manhart.  Descriptions of 50 superior apple cultivars.




Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Unknown Summer Apple. 7.13.16

Unkown Stripy Neighborhood Apple.  7.13.16

Stripy Apple.  7.13.16
 I ran across this apple tree while walking the dogs in my neighborhood.  It looks like a neglected tree.  Even so, it's covered with apples.  There were lots of apples on the street, most were smashed.  I picked one up from the street, washed it off, cut and tasted.  Sweet/sour with floral notes.

If I think if it this winter, I'll knock on the door and ask for some scion.  Doesn't look like they would mind.
Stripy Apple Tree.  7.13.16

Sunday, September 06, 2015

Fall Begins. 9.6.15

 It's like someone flipped a switch.  It was too-hot summer.  Now it's rainy fall.

Most fruits are done.   We are starting to get some apples.

Bagging fruit was not the perfect solution.  Fruits have much less disease.  But they also have internal mushiness due to the bags, maybe holding in too much moisture.   Some of them are inedible due to the internal mushiness, even if there was no external disease.  That's true for Asian pears and apples.  I'm irritated.  All of the web info was highly positive.  That was not my experience.

I tasted the first Rubinette and Queen Cox apples.  They say the first year they don't have full flavor.  I could tell they were not just regular grocery store apples.

Hosui Asian pear really does have a butterscotch flavor.  Smaller than the others, but good. Asian pears are much easier to pick ripe, compared to Euro pears.

Bearded Iris started again with the damn fungal spot.  I cut off affected leaves and sprayed with neem oil.  I don't know if that will help. 

I put in the second cinderblock raised bed for Chinese chives.  We grow a lot.  Ning uses them as a Chinese vegetable.  They are also excellent bee forage, and beautiful.  These beds are 18 inches high, compared to the 12 inch high wooden beds.  They are noticably easier to scratch out the weeds with a mini-hoe.

The mini-hoe is actually a kitchen tool, sort of a big fork.

All of the garlic is planted.

I moved one of the tree-ring mini raised beds to put in the cinder-block bed.  Then replanted the scallions.  So it's not really a tree ring.  A better name would be onion ring.  Also a convenient height.  Lasts longer than wooden barrels or plastic containers, all of which are deteriorating.  The oak barrels in about 10 years, the plastic containers in about 4 years.






Saturday, November 29, 2014

Apple scion, heritage varieties. 11.29.14


Apple Varieties.  Image Source:  Vintageprintable.com

Apple Varieties.  Image Source:  Vintageprintable.com
I discovered a company that sells apple scion wood, heritage varieties.  Fedco.com in Maine.  I didn't count, looks like more than 50 varieties.  They are sold as 8 inch scion, shipped in March, order deadline is Feb 20th. 

I went through the varieties, and read the evaluations in Apples of North America, by Tom Burford.  That book reviews 192 "Exceptional varieties" of historic apples.

I know I can graft apples.  Of the apple grafts I made last year, 6 of 6 apple.  All grew vigorously.

First priority is disease resistance.  Especially fireblight, endemic around here.  No use growing a variety that will give years of frustration.  For example, Golden Delicious.  On the other hand, Liberty has never been affected, and bears well every year.

Second, I went for descriptions of exceptional or unusual flavor., or other exceptional traits.

Top choices, for now.

Granite  Beauty.  approx 1815.  Early bearing, moderately resistant to the major diseases.  Spiciness compared to "coriander or cardamom."

Keepsake.  1978.  A cross of NM 447 and Northern Spy.  Resistant to fireblight and cedar apple rust. Flavor described as "sweet, spicy, and strongly aromatic."   Orangepippin.com states "Unattractive, irregularly shaped... Fine grained, hard, very crisp, juicy light yellow flesh. Strongly aromatic flavor. Very hardy...  Keeps in storage through April."

Priscilla.  1961.  Developed by the Purdue, Rutgers, Illinois consortium which specialized in disease resistant apples.  A seedling of 601-2 and Starking Delicious.  Described as "crisp and aromatic."  Orangepippin.com states, "very resistant to fireblight."

Redfield 1938.  Wolf River X Niedzwetzskayana Red Crab,  NY program in Geneva.   Resistant to the major apple diseases.  Described as "red flesh, dry, very tart."  Leaves are red/bronze color, and flowers are large, deep pink.  Orangepippin.com states "Medium to large...Dark red with dark red flesh. Juice is red. Not for fresh eating".

I may choose one or two more:

Porter.  around 1800.  Moderate resistance to the major apple diseases.  Taste "fine grain, crisp, tender juicy, subacid".  Orangepippin.com states developed in 1840, "Pure yellow skin with crimson blush, tender, sweet... juicy..."

McIntosh seems passe, but is a standard.  1796, white flesh sometimes with red tinge.  "Fine grain, crisp, tender, subacid to sweet".  Moderate resistance to the major apple diseases.  The idea of growing an apple that has been around since 1796 is amazing.

Six seems like a lot.  They would be grafted onto one or two trees.

This is all speculation at the moment. 

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Puttering. 5.25.14

Ning's wildflower meadow.  5.25.14

Redmond Linden growth.  5.25.14
 Puttering.

The first of Ning's wildflower meadow gardens is blooming with the first of its flowers.  Pretty nice.  There are a few bees - bumblebees and honeybees - harvesting nectar.

Redmond American Linden is growing nicely.  I gave it some organic nitrogen this winter.  I tried not to overdo it.  There are flower buds on this, but not on the Greenspire European Lindens, even though they are much bigger.  The Redmond Linden has much bigger leaves, compared to the Greenspire Lindens.  The flowers, for honey, were why I planted these.

Deer have not eaten any of the lindens.  I have protected the bark from rabbits and gnawing rodents, using hardware cloth.





Redmond Linden.  5.25.14
Sourwood new growth.  5.25.14


Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum) has taken off and growing. I wondered.  The lower branches died during the hard freeze.  During Spring rainy season, the new growth developed what looks like the fireblight that appears on pears.  Now it's coming out of it and growing nicely.  Sourwood is not native here, and there aren't a lot of them.  So it's an experiment.


Tamara rose, grown from cutting.  Moved to Battleground in 2012.  Eaten by deer, and now surrounded by some sort of yellow flowering weed.  It's actually doing well.

Most of the top-killed fig trees are coming up from the roots.  I'm debating whether to give them some organic nitrogen.  I don't want them to grow to vigorously, and be winter killed next year.  I would like some decent growth.

I planted 2 new palms.  The first, Trachycarpus fortunei (Windmill palm), is a species I've had in my front yard in Vancouver for 15 years.  It's pretty hardy.  The label states hardy to 20 to 10F.  Last winter the tree in my yard survived 8F.    The second, Chamaerops humilis (European fan palm), is labeled as hardy to 6 degrees.  "Extremely slow grower".  This palm is more a bush, than a tree, with clusters of palms.  I read deer and rabbits don't eat them.  Battleground is a bit less gentle climate, compared to Vancouver.  If they don't survive, that's OK.  If they do survive, that's even better.  They will also provide something green to look at when the grass turns brown, and in the winter.

Sourwood new growth and some leaf damage.  5.25.14
I planted the Zucchini and Yellow Summer Squash, and Scallop Squash, seedlings that I grew from seeds a couple of weeks ago.  There are some additional seedlings still to plant.

I mulched around the new apple trees, using newspaper and food package cardboard as the bottom layer - to kill grass - then covering with grass mowings deep enough that you can't see the bottom layer.  I cut fencing to complete the deer cages, but it started raining so I did not fasten in place. 
Smith fig regenerating from roots.  5.25.15



Trachycarpus fortunei planted 5.25.14 


Chamaerops humilis planted 5.25.14

Tamara rose amid irises and weeds


Sunroom nearing completion.  5.25.14