A Microfarm

[Barndog56]

Some of the pumpkins.

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[omicron1792]

I have loved this thread. The way you have maximized your smaller property is to be commended. Makes me think I should focus more on smaller sections of mine than trying to get the whole place “right.”

Well done!

 

[TenPoint]

All Winter Hangover

This tree is only a 5foot tall whip in my nursery, to be transplanted in a few weeks. I didn't notice it had these apples til halfway thru the summer. Picked them off today and tossed them out for the deer to find.

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Deer love my AWH. I tried one last year. Not a bad eater. Was pretty sweet as I recall. I was surprised by that.

 

[TenPoint]

From left to right.
Frostbite, Moonglow pear, Enterprise, Spartan, Honeygold.

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Little early for Enterprise? I don't usually try them until mid October.

 

[TenPoint]

I remember when Enterprise was all the rage among deer apples for being resilient and low maintenance. That looks really good.

Frostbite was on top of my list to plant on my place before I threw in the towel on planting trees, mostly because of being in bear country.

I have 3 Enterprise in our river bottom place. They are 9-10 years old and starting to crank out the fruit pretty good. Between them, Freedom, and Liberty, that's a solid trio for low maintenance deer apples. I've been doing mainly crabs lately but those three are a great starting base for any deer orchard.

 

[SD51555]

I have 3 Enterprise in our river bottom place. They are 9-10 years old and starting to crank out the fruit pretty good. Between them, Freedom, and Liberty, that's a solid trio for low maintenance deer apples. I've been doing mainly crabs lately but those three are a great starting base for any deer orchard.

I remember those three being the three wise men of the apple world from all the way back in the Q forum days.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Little early for Enterprise? I don't usually try them until mid October.

I think some apples are a bit early this yr compared to average as had enterprise with darker seeds and wolf river some apples are falling off while others still firmly attached. Sweet talked Mom into making her lard based super flakey crust and she used 2 wolf rivers for the pie. So good...

Course since Mom was born in Fremont, WI the home of the wolf river apple did not have to push the nostalgia button too hard for pie action.

 

[Barndog56]

Broadcast winter rye throughout my orchard a month ago. We got an inch of rain Saturday and 1.5 between Monday and Tuesday, so it's finally germinating.

Don't know what those tiny weeds germinating with it are?

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[Barndog56]

Little early for Enterprise? I don't usually try them until mid October.

My notes say mid October too, but they are fully red already. My wife made applesauce with them and Frostbite, and it was delicious! Now she's made an apple crisp.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

All Winter Hangover

This tree is only a 5foot tall whip in my nursery, to be transplanted in a few weeks. I didn't notice it had these apples til halfway thru the summer.

We've had 3 All-Winter-Hangover trees for about 10 years now. Glad we have them. They've been good for us. Taste is pretty good too, for grabbing a few on the way to the stand!!

 

[Barndog56]

Picked the rest of the Honeycrisp. About half were good, the rest had split and were left for the deer.

The food plot is loving the recent rains. There's brassicas, clover, alfalfa, and buckwheat, with rye just getting started. The buckwheat didn't do much before flowering and setting seed. I assume that's due to the shortening daylight.

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[rocksnstumps]

Checked on my single Moonglow pear yesterday and the stem broke in half. I'm sure it will need a week or two on the counter to finish ripening.

And one of my Contender peaches had fallen off the tree. The shoulders were just starting to soften up. Ate it today and it was delicious! It's got about 40 more still on the tree.

I don't know what's up with these Franklin Cider apples. They're very small and very marked up, for the second year in a row. The trees themselves are growing very well with excellent branch angles. If the apples aren't better next year, they may become Frankentrees.

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Some recent pics of Franklin Cider growing just a couple counties north of you. They seem to be crabapple sized as same size last several yrs. Bunch of sooty blotch this yr. Not sure how that would affect flavor if used in cider. They are still holding well on tree while the seeds are darker now.

 

[TenPoint]

Picked the rest of the Honeycrisp. About half were good, the rest had split and were left for the deer.

The food plot is loving the recent rains. There's brassicas, clover, alfalfa, and buckwheat, with rye just getting started. The buckwheat didn't do much before flowering and setting seed. I assume that's due to the shortening daylight.

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Between the coons and jap beetles I struggle to get my honeycrisp to completion. They're great when I do but it's a battle.

 

[Barndog56]

I never can remember if this is a Bartlett or a Kieffer, but it's finally started dropping. Now I'll pick a bunch each week to sit on the counter and ripen.

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[rocksnstumps]

^^^decent drop time for a pear around here. My wild ones are always dropping by early Sept and just a few holdouts by 1st week in Oct. I'm guessing mine are some sort of Kieffer seedling as they seem to self pollenate fairly well. There are some pear stragglers here and there but hundreds of yards apart typically.

 

[H20fwler]

I never can remember if this is a Bartlett or a Kieffer, but it's finally started dropping. Now I'll pick a bunch each week to sit on the counter and ripen.

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Just bite into one, kieffer is firm and crisp Bartlett is gritty.
I’m a kieffer fan for eating , my wife really like Bartlett.

 

[Catscratch]

I'll save seeds from those big heads to plant next year. Heads like in the pic droop over til they're facing the ground, which makes it harder for birds like goldfinches, Cardinals, and bluejays to eat them. Apparently they don't like hanging upside down. The smaller heads, which remain upright, are left on the plant for the birds to eat.

The best dove field I've ever hunted was sunflowers that were facing down. The doves would land on them and hang upside down to pick the seeds out. I had never seen them do that before, or since. It was amazing hunting.

 

[SD51555]

I never can remember if this is a Bartlett or a Kieffer, but it's finally started dropping. Now I'll pick a bunch each week to sit on the counter and ripen.

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With that many pears coming, do you preserve any of them somehow?

 

[Barndog56]

My wife will make pear crisp, and some pearsauce. The rest I'll leave to drop for the deer.

 

[Barndog56]

The best dove field I've ever hunted was sunflowers that were facing down. The doves would land on them and hang upside down to pick the seeds out. I had never seen them do that before, or since. It was amazing hunting.

I found a dead dove yesterday. Looks like one of the cats got it while it was on the driveway. It wouldn't surprise me if it was in the sunflowers.