Apple Porn?

[Maya]

Thats why I asked. We are iffy here for sweet cherries due to spring frosts. Hoping to get a high tunnel put up next year so I can start growing some stone fruit on dwarfing root stock where they are somewhat protected.

I thought that's what you were hinting at. Good lock with the high tunnel. Sounds like a good project.

I just looked out at the orchards, Gala, Fuji, and Macs popped this morning. Cold rain here right now though.

 

[sandbur]

Since my wife said I was having apple sex, here is my apple porn photo. I went out tonight with a headlamp to get these and pollinate a few trees after the kids got to bed. The photo is Maypole pollen, a red-fleshed columnar crabapple. I collected pollen from Goldrush, Liberty, Dabinette, and Williams Pride last weekend. I used Goldrush to pollinate a Maypole flower and a couple Northpole flowers. I pulled the petals off those flowers to no bees will visit them and removed the rest of the flowers from that cluster. I may pollinate some others as they open but some got zapped by the cold weather. I'll see if I can use Maypole and Northpole pollen to pollinate anything not yet opened in my normal tree orchard this weekend.

Maypole pollen
View attachment 8901
Northpole flowers waiting to be taken apart to harvest pollen
View attachment 8902

I collected some chestnut crab pollen and used it on Firecracker and Hazen. My process was similar to yours. I suppose frost will take care of my efforts!

 

[Bnhpr]

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[buckvelvet]

Wow nice!


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[Bnhpr]

I thought that's what you were hinting at. Good lock with the high tunnel. Sounds like a good project.

I just looked out at the orchards, Gala, Fuji, and Macs popped this morning. Cold rain here right now though.

View attachment 8904

Tall spindle is looking good

 

[Maya]

Tall spindle is looking good

Thanks Ben. I'm surprised you are so open. I thought I would have been ahead of you. I'm still at first pink/pink w/ Honeycrisp......good luck!

 

[Maya]

I love seeing Orioles in the orchard!

 

[buckvelvet]

I for some reason have problems with maya's pics not loading well or at all at times.

 

[Turkey Creek]

I see them just fine as of right now. Any bird that eats bugs is a good bird in my book!

 

[Maya]

Aerial view from my tall spindle today. This place must have hundreds of thousands of bees in it. My wife and I just spaent a couple hours out there just watching and taking pictures of bees, Orioles and blossoms!

 

[chummer]

Temps finally hit 70 and everything is popping. Probably still a couple days from full bloom on most trees, but a couple are there. I found 4 more old trees in a spot I never go to. Despite being all covered up by maples and cherries two were full of blossoms. I immediately got the chainsaw and released all four.
This is my favorite tree. It is a double trunked giant going about 35' tall. It is the first to blossom every year so frost usually gets it.


This is the deer favorite tree. When we have apples and deer this is always the first tree they hit in the evening when they come out.

There will be multiple scraps under it in the fall. I leave a camera here as every deer on the place seems to visit this tree every night.

 

[chummer]

This is from next to the tree above. Brassicas were such a hit last year I made the plot three times bigger. I invision an opening day shot with my bow from the wood line 15 yards back. Deer will not enter this field during daylight once the season starts. Notice the loaded trees across the field.

Pollination shouldn't be an issue this year, especially for these three trees. The honey bees are very active but I have to give props to the bumble bee. While the honeys were out during the middle of the day the bumbles were very active from sun up to sun down.

 

[Native Hunter]