First Apple Blossoms. Redlove Era and Urban Apple Tasty Red

 These are the earliest apple blossoms so far.  I have not checked down the hill.  Maybe there are some there too.

Urban Apple Tasty Red

Redlove Calypso.  Almost blooming.

Redlove Era.  These surprised me.

Training and Trellis for Apple Espalier. 3.5.2021

Yesterday  I  did some training of apple espaliers.  I'm using the espalier form around the perimeter of the fenced garden, for efficient use of premium deer-protected space, and to grow apples without need for ladders or excessive reaching overhead.  It will take a few years for these to reach their potential.  The Redlove™ Odysso™ and Redlove™ Calypso™ are one year old, the Redlove™ Era™ is two years old, and the Zestar™ is one year old.

I like that I can use the home grown timber bamboo for the horizontal aspect of the trellis.  The vertical posts are just fenceposts, and not as stable as I want.  Those will need replacing at some point, but I'm not up to it right now.

The tiers will need more growth at the ends, to fully utilize the horizontal trellises.  I thing I can let the tops grow and bend/tie them as they lengthen.  Also, two trees need another branch for the lower tiers, so I have small branches that I'm leaving in place and hope they lengthen this summer for bending over later.

These may benefit from more nitrogen fertilizer than I gave them last year, which was minimal or none.  I'd like to have the tiers more fully developed by the end of the year. 

These are situated perfectly for the summer pruning that espalier trees require.  I can putter around in the vegetable and fruit garden at the same time.

 Redlove™ Era™

Redlove™ Calypso™

Redlove Era Apple. 9.19.2020

Today I harvested the first Redlove Era apple, and also a Redlove Calypso and a bunch of others.  This was the first apple from Era, which is in it's second summer now.  The Redlove Calypso has been in the ground less than a year.  It had three apples, and I ate one a month ago.

I forgot to upload a photo of the uncut apples.  I will do so if I can locate it.

For comparison, here are Airlie Red Flesh, Redlove Calypso, Liberty, and Redlove Era.  Liberty is a medium size apple, Airlie Red Flesh is small-ish.  The Calypso and Era apples were small, silver dollar size apples.

Era is much deeper red.  The skin is also more red, compared to Calypso.  Airlie usually has more red or pink compared to this apple.

The Airlie and Liberty were both sweet, apple-flavored apples with almost no sourness.  Calypso was very tart, and not much else.  Redlove Era was really delightful , a fruit or berry flavored apple, tart and sweet, sort of like cranapple.  

Fruit trees usually need a few years for their fruits to reach full size and flavor.  

it's nice to get this taste.  So far, my favorite is Redlove Era.

Slices from Redlove Era apple.  Very tasty.  The photo doesn't quite catch the true red color - a dark scarlet.

Apple protectors for birds and bugs. 5.15.2020

While thinning apples, I noticed some had been partially eaten by birds. I also read on a gardening website about people anxiously awaiting their Redlove apples, only to have them eaten by birds who apparently mistook them for cherries.

This year will be the first chance to taste my Redlove Calypso and Redlove Era apples, with only 2 or three of each per tree.  I'd rather be the one to taste them, not some stupid birds.

Last year I bought some organza gift bags, to see if individually bagging apples on the trees would prevent some insect damage.   Some people claim that doesn't prevent bird damage.  So, I sewed holographic scare tape to a couple of organza bags, and cut flaps so when the birds are looking at the bags and thinking "that stupid guy thinks those bags will keep us out", they will be distracted by the flashing moving lights.  Last year, the scare tape helped a lot with blueberries and cherries.

Organza bag / scare tape on a Redlove Era tiny apple.  5.15.2020

Early Growth on New Apple Trees. 4.17.19

Early Growth on New "Urban Apple, Golden Treat".  4.17.19

 The new apple trees that I planted this winter are pushing out nice healthy looking leaf buds.   Interesting to see that the leaf buds on RedLove Era have a red coloration.

Early Growth on New "Redlove Era" Apple Tree.  4.17.19

Early Growth on New "Urban Apple, Tasty Red".  4.17.19

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.