Holistic Orchard Network Blogs

Pristine

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 12:17:00 +0100

The second variety to come ripe in the orchard, this early season apple took me by surprise. Unlike many early varieties, I actually enjoyed eating this one. It has amazing texture for an apple that is ripe in August and the flavor is still very acidic, but also sweet. If it weren't still in the 80's I could almost be convinced I was eating a Goldrush.
Like its end-of-the-season counterpart, Pristine is also a product of the Purdue-Rutgers-Illinois (PRI) cooperative apple breeding program. It was released for commercial planting in the mid '90s and luckily for me has shown resistance or immunity to Apple Scab, Fireblight, Powdery Mildew and Cedar Apple Rust.
The other added benefit of this variety is that it has amazing storage properties for an early apple. Even after days without refrigeration the apples still retained a great texture that varied...... [ Read the rest of this story ]

Early Harvest

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 03:10:00 +0100

The first harvest of the season happened this past week at the orchard. The variety aptly, if not creatively called Early Harvest is similar to Yellow Transparent in size and date of maturity. The apples are small and only suitable for eating if you appreciate tartness. I imagine these small early apples would be more suited to pies, sauces or chutneys.

It was very satifiying to harvest the first apples. After a spring and summer of hard work, anticipation and a healthy dose of skepticism, it felt very rewarding to see the first fruits of my labor. This is only the be...... [ Read the rest of this story ]

Catching Up

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 15:35:00 +0100

The summer has flown by and although this blog has been idle since bloom, the orchard has been a bustling place. Spraying, mowing, thinning and summer pruning have taken up much of my time, while the apples have grown and the plums have ripened. Rather than spending what feels like precious minutes or hours this time of year, writing about the past several months in the orchard I have put together a photo journal of sorts. As they say, a picture speaks a thousand words, so this will by far me my longest post yet!

Fruit set, the miracle of pollination

...... [ Read the rest of this story ]

Bloom

Wed, 18 May 2011 17:07:00 +0100

Although the rain has returned, the blossoms are out. I went out to visit the orchard yesterday after not being out there for several days and was struck by the chorus of trees almost all at some stage of bloom. All shades of pink, white and red brightened the fog veiled drizzle. The cool wet weather is a far from ideal for pollination. The majority of pollinators prefer the warmth of the sun and a calm wind. I was happy to see a few bumble bees buzzing around the wet violets and dandelions under some of the trees, but I am hoping for some drier warmer weather before the petals fall.

S...... [ Read the rest of this story ]

King Blossom

Mon, 09 May 2011 01:32:00 +0100

Early Spring in the orchard

The first blossoms opened yesterday on the Summer Scarlet, the earliest variety in the orchard to bloom. Every fruiting spur on an apple tree produces a cluster of six buds; five centered around a central blossom known as the King Blossom. This blossom is the first to open and pollination of it is key in insuring good fruit set. The fruit of the king blossom is often larger than the others in the cluster and is selected at thinning time if one is thinning by hand.

...... [ Read the rest of this story ]

The Orchard

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 14:58:00 +0100

Another winter has passed and although it may be shy in its arrival, spring is upon us. The new season has brought with it not only green buds on the trees and blooming forsythia, but also new developments in my life. This past winter I stumbled upon an opportunity I could not pass up: an orchard in need of a caretaker. One of a Kind Orchard was owned and cared for by Ray Reynolds and his wife Barbara for many years until Ray passed away nearly a year ago. For several years now the more than 500 trees comprising almost as many varieties of heirloom and traditional apples have gone untended. Not wanting to see such a treasure lost, Barbara has graciously allowed me to tend the orchard and take from it what fruit the harvest provides as my compensation.

...... [ Read the rest of this story ]

Jonny Appleseed

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 17:09:00 +0100

Today is Johnny Appleseed day! An icon of American folklore, Johnny Appleseed, born John Chapman, played an integral role in the establishment of frontier communities, but also in the evolution of the apple in the New World. To understand Johnny Appleseed, it is first important to have a basic understanding of the genetics of an apple and the means by which they reproduce. Unlike modern-day orchards which are almost always established using grafted trees with known varieties, John Chapman sowed the seeds of diverse orchards and nurseries where no two apples where alike.

...... [ Read the rest of this story ]

Churchill on Thinning

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 18:51:24 +0100

"Never have so few apples needed so little thinning."

Now ol' Winston may never had said anything at all like that but it's a bit of paraphasing that sure reflects reality on the ground in an orchard that saw temps of 24F at full bloom on May 9. The extension charts are right: 90% bud kill is spot on when temps get that cold. Which leaves me protecting a somewhat limited crop, admittedly slightly better in the later blooming varieties. I watched bumblebees joyfully have a go at these blossoms after the freeze and figured maybe they know something I don't. I watched more apple sawflies than ever oviposit on the undersides of blossom clusters and figured maybe they know something I don't. We were all wrong. . . and 2010 will be nowhere near a bumper crop year. I sprayed Surround on all the trees that bloomed thinking maybe I'll be lucky. Now these "ghost trees" stand as sentinels to my frustrated hopes. What fruit I do have looks fantastic, but sometimes I wonder how long I always will be needing to look forward to the next year!

The Tree Perspective

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 03:12:45 +0100

I am not a commercial grower but have been more than a casual observer of the subject of sane fruit growing for a number of years. I used to scour old USDA texts and pamphlets, read the classics on organic production and watched the use of hard core
pesticide application drift towards IPM. I think this site is a real blessing in trying to move things along in a healthy direction. I do
remain unconvinced that things have come around much despite Michael's Herculean efforts. I can still find on ocassion in the wild (and sometimes in mall parking lots) examples of untended trees bearing reasonably sound fruit. I don't have an explanation of this
and it confounds the hell out of me. In these moments I am reminded of a statement by Sir Albert Howard who was able to optimize plant and animal heath using (primarily) the Indore method of composting. He said something to the effect that "without the help of agronomists, entomologists ...and a list of other scientists... We were able to raise healthy plants and livestock."
At the MOFGA Fairgrounds, I am witness to the sometimes frenetic ativity of CJ Walke, who takes care of the two small...... [ Read the rest of this story ]

A Codling Moth Tale

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:44:38 +0100

We moved into our home in 1992. The garden has about two dozen very old pome fruit trees. Apples, pears and quinces, some planted over 100 years ago. The pear trees are huge – about 12 metres high with trunk diameters of about 1 metre. The trees were riddled with Codling Moth, with over 90% of fruit having grubs inside.

In the second year we decided to start using pheromone ties. The Codling Moth damage dropped to around 25%, and after two seasons the level of damage stabilized around 10%, so we were quite pleased. Pheromone ties must be placed near the tops of the trees for best effect, but doing this in the pears was out of the question, so we just lived with a bit of damage.

...... [ Read the rest of this story ]