A good find

[Bowsnbucks]

While driving near my camp in northern Pa., the sight of something red caught my eye along the road. As I passed it, I realized it looked like small crab apples. Backed up and sure enough - 1" red crab apples on a bushy-looking type cluster of trunks. I pulled about 8 of the apples and tasted one. Sweet and tart at the same time. Tasty!! I removed the seeds from them when I got home and they are now stratified in the frig.

I think the "cluster" is actually a bunch of root suckers that all grew from the original one. I'm planning on going back in the spring and digging a couple suckers to take to camp & plant. This find is literally right at the road's edge on a remote township road. Probably a bird dropping or critter planting years ago. It's the only wild crab I've ever found!!

After reading H20Fowler's story of his "sheep pasture crab", it reminded me of the lucky find I had back in October. I should have posted about it sooner.

 

[aejmoore]

I did the same thing this December. While grouse hunting along a remote river bank in northern Michigan I found a crab apple tree still holding fruit in December. I have about twenty seeds in the fridge right now.

 

[cavey]

The suckers are a great idea, but maybe take some scion off it this late winter and graft it to one of your other fruit trees if not to some root stock. Suckers with a nice little hunk of roots is hard to beat though. Congrats on the find. Im always looking at old cattle pastures its amazing how many you will start finding now after the first one. In the spring look for flowering trees.