So, we had a local apple grower come by today to check out our trees - we have a good 25-30 trees scattered around the property, some in close enough proximity that we thought they might have been planted there. We wanted to know if it was an old orchard (I swear the previous owners told me it was), if it is worth restoring, and how we go about doing that.

It was very interesting and informative! He also offered us grafts if we are really interested in growing some different varieties that he has. What we have is probably good for hard cider, and maybe for eating - we'll try some this fall and see (now that we have the tractor and can keep open access to the trees).

I'm just all excited. :D

I'm working on a mini orchard here. My parents had one in front of their house during my childhood and I loved it... applesauce, cider... I've only got four planted so far, but I add more each year.

~jo

Oh Lauren, that is great!~
DH really wants an orchard and preferably an established one, of course.

There is a commercial one about 30 minutes north of us for sale. DH is getting all slobbery about it ;).
His dad has a nice sized orchard and we have been there (MI) in the fall when it is pressin time!! Oh, the sweet goodness!!!

We're working apple trees as well; just two at a time, making sure our walnut trees don't kill them. We got a winesap and a golden delicious this last time. We also planted a dwarf plum tree.. it's such a cute little thing and was the last one at the nursery.

i'm not a homesteader, but this thread caught my eye. i have an apple tree in our front yard that just gets eaten alive every year. no fruit. could someone explain to me how to care for it without pesticides? would i do netting? i don't even know what is eating it. i can't seem to find any evidence of the darn things.

thanks!
deshea

My cousins inherited my great aunt & uncles orchards. They're not dead or anything, just older. When I was lil' we used to go each year for the big family event, picking, cider, the men's chili contest, etc.

We used to come home with jugs and jugs of cider. It makes me wish we had land enough to have an orchard.

congrats mama!

My grandparent's ancient farm in Wisconsin is full of apple and pear trees that were planted over the last century by animals and weather.

My yard has one tree which is the child of a now deceased and gone tree that is part of the historical lore of my neighborhood "It had the best apples".

After eleven years, the young tree is finally giving good, quality fruit each Fall!

So....was your land an orchard or were they self started trees?!

It sounds just lovely. We are going the dwarf fruit tree route. We have a dwarf tree with 5 different apple types on it right now. When we build the greenhouse and fence in the garden area I want to do espaliered fruit trees around the fences and a weeping loganberry at the gate.

So....was your land an orchard or were they self started trees?!

We were hoping he could tell from looking, but he couldn't...I could swear that the previous owner told me it was an orchard. For various reasons I'm not keen on emailing her to ask her...but after this guy came by I might do it. They planted a lot of trees, including one he thinks is a plum and a couple of dwarf apple trees. I do know that one of the dwarf apple trees is a Kelsey crabapple.

What he said to do was to look for stumps; that the trees there are likely the children of trees that grew there as a planted orchard, IF it was an orchard. He also said to just taste the fruit this fall (in the previous 2 falls we have not been able to get to the trees due to brush overgrowth and this year we're maintaining it more due to having a tractor) and see if it's a good variety. I learned about how a given apple seed will not produce that variety if you plant it, how it all depends on the content of the pollen from the bee that fertilizes it. I never knew that!

Lupineperriwink - he talked to us a good bit about grafting and is happy to give us grafts if we want them! I would love to talk with you more about your experience with them.

Dh is getting all excited about pressing hard cider this fall. :D And if they're good, of course applesauce, apple pies, etc.

Sorry - I don't have experience with grafting although I wish I did. I for the tree from a local nursery. we don't have a lot of room so I figured with one tree that was grafted it would self pollinate.

I'd love to take some grafting classes from UCONN though.

that is so cool Lauren- you always seem to find just tghe right people to help you on your land. Where did you find that guy?

We just found out we have 2 peach trees and an apple tree on our yard- couldn't tell in March when we bid on the place! They seem to be bearing fruit, we will have to wait and see how edible it all is. The trees definitely have no been well cared for, and need a lot of TLC, so we are going to wait until after harvest and then do a major prune. I think- maybe its better to do something else?

I am so excited too, about the possibility of our own fruit!

That's so cool.

Our old neighbor grafted a pear branch to his apple tree. It was really cool...I big ole pear hanging right in the middle of an apple tree. NO idea how he did it tho. Seems rooting compound was used? Maybe I'm remembering incorrectly? Been a long time.

desheah, I don't have any fruit tree experience, wish I could offer some advice. I do remember Martha doing an orchard segment back before prison. lol. She wrapped the trees in netting, tying it around the trunk...and they sprayed too but I thought it was something friendly, like a wax/parafin of some sort. Maybe her site has an archive?

Elsie - I just knew of him from our little community; he's a guy about our age who grew up here and is restoring his parents' orchard. He has a sign at the general store in town that says "Trees pruned - 1 or 100" and has his number and name. And my neighbor used to work with him, so when I talked to my neighbor he said, Oh yeah, give him a call, he's great. :) He is going to sell his apples to the school in a couple of years when they are producing enough.

Deshea - I think covering with netting might help if it's something big, but not if it's caterpillars. We talked about care of trees and spraying and he explained that traditionally, apple trees are sprayed with conventional pesticides every 10 days. "Integrated pest management" means you follow the life cycle of the caterpillars very closely, along with temps, rain, etc, and you spray only when they're in a vulnerable state - it is a very involved process. He uses "organic" sprays - one is clay, basically, he said, and you have to keep the trees covered in it.

There is definitely a lot to apple growing! And I would love to figure out how to get my plum tree producing. And um, I think we pulled out a plum tree this spring. Oops!