Recent content by Jhoss

HoneyGold just ripe today. I left as many on the tree.

I second hawthorn for grouse. Growing up in the UP we had a patch of hawthorn, crabs and wild plum. Always partridge in that patch.

I too shoot for late March...but a question...anybody ever seen early pruning (dormant but say now, mid-December) damage or detriment? I’ve got 70 trees (varying ages) and packing it all into March is a bit much. I’m thinking I’ll start with my least favorites now and save a few good ones for...

I’m a big fan of Goldrush. One I look forward to every year. Perfectly ripe, just hard to beat. Keep a long time - I’m still eating them here mid December. They keep but they get tough even under wrinkly skin , rubbery then. Doesn’t affect their taste though. We made some pie with fresh...

I've got 5 Goldrush trees. CAR was a problem...was...spray Rally, no more CAR problems.

Bare ground here in SE Mich but zero apples hanging in my patch from last year. My bumper crops are on the even years...this being 2020 I hope to leave a goldrush tree unharvested just to see how it goes.

I don't wait, but I'm using chicken manure. Only graftlings newly planted into my nursery don't get any but I wouldnt shriek of one of my helpers spread some in there. They get planted into a "sweetend" spot and get some healthy shovel fulls before I fence them up too. I've never used...

I've got 10 year old trees and haven't missed a year of thinning them out. But these are my backyard trees (pampered). They would be a thick bush without me and my tools. Ah yes, quality time on the ladder! Pacing yourself is the key. Get one on Saturday, one on Sunday... We're about to go...

Damn I want some Liberty's! I've had two trees for 8 or 10 years...like 4 apples total off 1...zip off the other (pretty shaded)...maybe this year. Both these trees have been neglected until lately but geez..

Here is the original thread on air pruning. http://habitat-talk.com/index.php?threads/b118-suckers-what-would-you-do.9040/#post-167041

Check out this thread. I found a bunch of B118 root suckers and I propagated by cutting the bottom out of root trapper above ground bags. I really like this method! http://habitat-talk.com/index.php?threads/propagating-rootsuckers-air-pruning.9152/#post-168954

In my experience...the old axiom..."no spray-no apples" definitely applies. YMMV. I like unblemished/pristine eating apples as do my family and friends that get loads of them every year. I can not abide with fungus covered, scabby old wormy disfigured things...so I spay like a banchee. Much...

Now that I understand the large scope of what you are doing I am not sure that sweetening planting spots is feasible/practical for you. It was/is for me going at 10 to 20 trees per year. I have around 20 chickens roosting on pine flake that comes in bales from tractor supply. One bale covers...

If you can take buckets of animal bedding...rabbit...chicken, etc. out to the planting spots and dump a bucket where you are going to plant...this "sweetens" up and "de-weeds" the planting spots nicely.

SE Michigan here. The best attribute is the fruit, ripe about the first of October and Wow is it good! Now, it grows like sh*t...slow. It grows like a vase at the laterals..straight up, so if you pick a central leader you get a goose neck at every set of laterals. I think I grafted my one...