So who still has apples hanging

Somewhere on here, Lois had a post on B118’s. If I get a crop and they are not fit for applesauce I would probably just mix them in for cider.

Good to hear from you, George. Merry Christmas!


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U2 Art, Merry Christmas!

These were so bad, I don't even know if I would use them for cider. I've just got a few stuck in some rows/blocks of a lot of one variety for X-pollination. I think I'll graft them to something else.
 
Zumi Crab here a few days before Christmas. I would expect that half have dropped and the other half slowly coming down.
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M7DKL5
 
So apples that are still on the trees this late, and have been frozen and thawed several times already, are they even a draw for deer anymore?


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^^^^^^ I've seen apples that are pretty mushy draw deer in even after they drop on the snow. I'd bet they'll draw deer.

Maya - You asked about seeing scrapes a few posts ago. The best, most used/hammered scrape at our camp is under an older, unknown, late-hanging apple tree this year. Other scrapes were at the usual places - under low hemlock or pine branches, and under witch hazel limbs.
 
So apples that are still on the trees this late, and have been frozen and thawed several times already, are they even a draw for deer anymore?


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A giant "YES!" on that one. One other example of what we would consider mush but the deer consider "gourmet-grub"...turnips (brassica), come April here in SE Mich, a long snow-buried and frozen brassica plot will be trampled and plowed up by hungry deer. It aint all about hunting season.
 
I see scrapes in all sorts of places, but inevitably, there are scrapes under these apples. Even late in the season, everything seems to love apples, mushy or not. 12050021.JPG 12070079.JPG
 
I have a bunch of those black things too.


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3 deer in one of my orchards close to my house when I got home tonight. All doing their best ostrich impression with their heads in the snow looking for those hockey pucks! 10 degrees out there right now and we are supposed to get down to -1 later tonight, -16 tomorrow night.
 
3 deer in one of my orchards close to my house when I got home tonight. All doing their best ostrich impression with their heads in the snow looking for those hockey pucks! 10 degrees out there right now and we are supposed to get down to -1 later tonight, -16 tomorrow night.

George, I sent the weather your way. We had -22 on one thermometer and -19 on the other. Deer have not visited the trees by my house in the last few days. Either they are outback or my neighbor is feeding.


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George, I sent the weather your way. We had -22 on one thermometer and -19 on the other. Deer have not visited the trees by my house in the last few days. Either they are outback or my neighbor is feeding.


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Thanks a lot! It's going to be a brutal winter boys and girls, keep warm, keep safe!
 
Time for those black things to crawl into a den. Let our apple trees alone !!
 
I still have Gold Rush hanging. I feel pretty certain they will turn to nasty apple sauce on the tree as opposed to falling.


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I will also add one other fact that I don't entirely understand. This year we have had acorns drop later than ever. I literally still have oaks that are just now starting to drop. No bull. I have no idea why, but some trees started in late August or early September like normal. Whereas others did not start to drop until December. I have never seen this or heard of it. Our leaves hung on much later as well, but not like the acorns.


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It is interesting that most folks report apples, and now oaks, holding later than usual. At least in the Northeast, it seems temperatures are colder than normal this year as well. Good for the critters, but gotta wonder if there is some correlation between the late holding fruit and a colder winter.

Your Goldrush "applesauce bites" will be a god-send to the birds as long as they hang, and to the deer when they finally do drop WTNUT. Two nice bucks for next year.
 
The deer love frozen apples. It seem to concentrate the sugar in the apple making it a late season treat. I have late dropping trees and when there is snow on the ground there are lots of deer tracks under these apple trees looking for that apple that dropped recently. I also see ruffed grouse on the late dropping apples. When the flush, they usually fly to the nearest tall tree and sit on a branch waiting for me to leave.
So the answer is yes, late dropping frozen apples are eaten by deer and other game.
 
My #5 crab yesterday.
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Last 4 on Goldrush. Had a couple dozen apples this year. 20171230_122904.jpg
 
Deer are still working my crabs. They are even eating some of the Morse Bunches crabs.

-35 this morning. Am I back in zone 3?


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Gotta love those crabs, guys !! Tough, productive trees.

Art - Are there many apples on those Morse bunches trees ??

Greyphase - What kind of crab is the #5 ??
 
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