Apple crop good, other fruit trees, plots prosper

[aerospacefarmer]

Looks good what is working George. Sorry you had so much loss. I had a number of trees with shoot fb and fb. Never had like this before. It's concerning. It kills the fruit too. Otherwise it's a banner year. Some of pears have it too. More than apples but not widespread on trees. My brothers friend in NY state lost all to freeze. We were lucky here in PA. Come down and se my place George. Give me a few tips

Paul

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Do you grow any Enterprise at your place Maya ?? If so, what are your thoughts / assessments of it ??

 

[Maya]

I have a few 3-5 leafs Bows. I love the growth of those trees, so I think it will be one of the better deer apples out there with its fruiting time and disease resistance. I know Vt Ma has some, maybe he could chime in if he sees this. I would definitely plant some, I think it would be right up there with Liberty.

 

[Maya]

I know this isn't the best pic Bows, but these three trees are a Liberty (you can't see well, on left). an Enterprise, and an Initial, all on B118. The Enterprise has big beautiful sweeping branches and is the tallest of the three, but did not put out apples. The initial is growing well, but also no apples yet, and the Liberty is being a liberty, spitting out apples! I'm going to sell more Enterprise but by far my best tree for deer is Liberty. Very easy to grow and produce well.

 

[aerospacefarmer]

I have Enterprise and they are producers and loaded this year and the apples are very tasty. They are a great deer apple for sure but I love eating then. I had some issues with Liberty over cropping so the Enterprise have been my go to deer Apple. Mine are on antonovka and are very big now

 

[sandbur]

does anyone have novaeasygro that are bearing? If so, any comments on disease resistance or time of apple ripening?

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Thanks Maya & Aero, for the info on Enterprise & Liberty experience. We have 3 of each growing at camp already on B-118 and MM-111, and 1 on Antonovka. Enterprise is growing faster than Liberty, but I trust both will be great deer / eating apples. No probs. with either of them. Our Enterprise trees have the same big sweeping branches with good angles - so they ought to hold some fruit loads.:) 2nd leaf Liberty had some fruit, but I snipped them off to grow the tree. Next year should be a break-out year for 3rd & 4th year trees.

So far, our best fruit producers are the crabs. The All-Winter-Hangovers, Centennial, and Dolgo from SLN are putting out some fruit. The A-W-H crab is probably our nicest tree and it had so many crabapples on it I snipped off about 30 and there are still about 20 still on it !! It's about 9 ft. tall and well-branched. All on Antonovka.

 

[aerospacefarmer]

Crabs always have good fruit but small. Hard to eat and not very sweet but the deer eat them so who cares. I can imagine it would take a lot of time to make crabapple jelly. I am going to try some as a blender in my cider this year for some tanginess

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Some of our crabs are supposed to be good eaters, either fresh or in jelly or sauce. Chestnut, Dolgo, Centennial, Kerr, Whitney, & Trailman are the crabs noted for being edible. Hyslop MAY be - I'm not sure. But you're right Aero - as long as the deer eat them - that's the primary goal. The other un-named and smaller crabs that have fruited for us all seem to be attractive to deer, grouse, turkeys, and numerous birds. The crabs and our hawthorns have been our best " bang - for - our - buck $ " investments as far as soft mast trees go.

 

[MA VT Flatlander]

Initial I planted in 2013. First year it fruited. I planted 5 trees all 5 have apples this year.

 

[MA VT Flatlander]

Enterprise I planted in 2012, this is also the first year they have apples.

 

[Maya]

Great lookin trees Flatlander! Are those up here or in Mass.? Those are much bigger than mine. I planted mine on the east side of the foodplot at the house though. Not enough light in the morning, but that is where they need to be to hunt that area. What is going on at camp?

 

[MA VT Flatlander]

Maya, these trees are in Mass they grow like crazy here. The trees in Vermont are way behind the trees I planted in Mass. Some trees blossomed this year for the first time. they were planted in 2010.

 

[Maya]

Very nice flatlander! Those trees are getting great light. Do the ones in Vt. get that kind of light?

Check out my oak thread in the Native Habitat section. You should have got some of those oaks from me! I can't believe it!

 

[NY_Terrence]

Sandbur... I planted two Nova EasyGros last year from Wafler Nursery. They had a good first season. Haven't been down to check on them since early May.

 

[sandbur]

Sandbur... I planted two Nova EasyGros last year from Wafler Nursery. They had a good first season. Haven't been down to check on them since early May.

I think George pointed that variety out to me- many years ago.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

This past weekend I was up at camp and we had 2 trees that we thought weren't gonna make it. They finally budded out and have leaves started growing. One is a Dolgo and the other is a Chestnut crab, both on Antonovka from SLN. 2 weeks ago I saw the tiniest hint of red on the whips and now they're on their way !! Glad I didn't give up on them.

The 2 strips of clover / grain sorghum are up. One strip has crimson clover in it, the other has Berseem clover. Nice green haze over both strips. Buckwheat is up about 15" tall and nice and thick. Deer hammering the plot of white clover planted last year. Ladino, Alsike, Dutch white, Kopu 2, and Alice with chicory in with it. Soybean field had 2 bucks eating in it. Chow down, boys !! 2 acre corn field is up about 12 to 15" tall. One Kieffer pear has 4 pears on it - I snipped 2 off to get more growth. Both Kieffers are growing well.

The felling is done on the logging job. Some trees need to be skidded out yet, but we're paid for all of it. Then we go in and spray gly to kill the ferns. Firewood to be cut up and stacked once the loggers are out - plenty of big tops and smaller junk to be had. About 7 of us burn wood, so it'll be used. We'll let plenty of it lay for seedling shelter and cover for the deer & turkeys. It's FUN WORK !!:)

 

[Maya]

Have fun Bows!

 

[Rally1148]

Crabs always have good fruit but small. Hard to eat and not very sweet but the deer eat them so who cares. I can imagine it would take a lot of time to make crabapple jelly. I am going to try some as a blender in my cider this year for some tanginess

I'm headed down the cider rabbit hole myself! What styles do you use for your base?