Apples,apples and more apples

[sandbur]

Haralred or haralson are good choices for an early to mid October ripening period for deer. I suspect haralson may be a bit more hardy. They show little disease for me. I wish they had smaller apples and were apple crabs instead of apples. At present, I would recommend one of these to be in the group of 6-8 trees to feed deer over a 7 month period of the year.

I don’t have experience with Red Duchess, but do have Red Baron which might be related.


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[sandbur]

I would plant Norland and Haralred.

Both are on my recommended list for my location at the Zone 3-4 junction.

I want to give wodarz a try and might have some scion coming this spring but that is more for my own use.

I favor apple crabs and not larger apples for deer.

Norland is extremely hardy and is my current choice for a late July to mid August apple for deer feed. If you have plenty of clover or other feed during that time period, it may not be needed. The fruit is just a bit larger than an apple crab( a bit over two inches).

If you have room for 6-8 trees to feed deer over a 7 month period, it would be the early season choice for one tree.


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About 20 years ago, a group of apple enthusiasts met atCentral Lakes College , Staples, Minnesota. They discussed apple hardiness and fruit production after an extremely cold winter. For many in central to north central Minnesota, Norland still produces fruit after that winter.


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[Chainsaw]

STFanatic, I don't have any personal experience with any of those apples; in fact with the exception of Dolgo, Kerr, Liberty and Enterprise, I have very little positive experience with named apple varieties and in general don't look to named varieties for the next great deer tree. Poor results, disease resistance charts and cold hardiness ratings along with reports from fellow apple enthusiasts have steered me away from most named apple varieties. As a rule I see most named varieties as simply too much trouble and not enough results. I want trees that kick butt on their own. The trees that I choose to propagate are the winners (the few that are in the top 1%) from the three thousand wild apple trees on this property. These winners are determined based on what they show me and have shown me for years. I also buy from nurseries specializing in wildlife trees on a limited basis as I feel there is a greater chance of finding more working varieties from them that will work here than from nurseries with just named varieties. And of course wherever the day takes me, watching for the next possible great apple tree is on my mind. Sometimes great finds come from unknown apples that are 100 years old growing in someone's' yard in town or on the property of forum members that live either in this area or in a weather zone similar to ours, or from the side of the road. And again, sometimes they are found in my own back yard.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

MDHA list?


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Yes

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Thanks for the input. Not what I would choose but for the price I may just get a few.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

I have a couple state fairs, they ripen in late August, but they hold their apples through November, and have been by biggest producers so far. I also have Haralson, and they have been decent as well, but I haven’t gotten any big crops from them yet. I have 1 Woodarz left out of 3, the other 2 died a couple winters ago, the last remaining big one is a big grower, but not much for apples.

 

[Chainsaw]

4wanderingeyes, The State Fair sounds interesting. Is it disease resistant and is it exposed to Fire Blight and Cedar Apple Rust in your area?

 

[Chainsaw]

In our quest for discovering new, wild, super apple varieties, I remembered while on stand last fall an apple tree I used to bow hunt over. Actually it was a group of about forty apple trees but there was this one tree that every deer would stop at during bow season and it was always a guaranteed Duck-Souper shot if the wind was right. Bow season was during October and I was looking more for late hangers BUT I went just after hunting season last fall to check it out as a possible tree to graft with if it was still holding some apples; Had not been to that spot for maybe twenty years. When I checked the tree (mid December) it was disappointing to see that every apple had long ago fallen and had been got gobbled up. The brush further from the tree was five foot tall but close to and under the tree the brush was completely eaten and flattened. So the tree was still likely a great early tree but not also a late season tree liked I hoped.

However as I looked around and up about five trees away there was a tree so full of apples that it would rival any tree I had ever seen before at any time of year and here it was mid December. I next visited the tree in early February with Ryan from Blue Hill Nursery. The tree had half the apples it had on my mid December visit and Ryan was still Blown away by the amount of apples on it. The tree branches though covered in grape vines and Multi Floral Rose around the drip line were as clean as can be. And the snow was matted down to two inches of ice while the surrounding area had 18 inches of snow. It looked like we had hit the mother load of perfect winter trees. And wouldn't you know it, there was not one usable scion to be found.

That tree and its infinite number of apples haunted me. Mid march (last week) I went back to the tree which Ryan had called All Spurs because there were fruit spurs on every bit of growth including the one year old growth. I was trimming the old suckers out of it and every now and then from high near the thirty ft. top, the trimmings produced a usable scion, tiny but usable. I collected them and will bring most of them to Ryan next week hoping he can duplicate this tree to grow scions and buds to eventually produce a bunch of them. A couple of scions were kept to use here. I'm still new to grafting but I thought I would try a a couple anyway. Here is a picture of one of the better scions. As You can see reproducing this "All Spurs" tree will not be a quick event with a little over an inch of new growth even if everything goes right. All Spurs will be trimmed and fertilized hoping for better scion growth next year. However I'm betting that Ryan will not count on that alone to reproduce this beauty of a tree currently called All Spurs.

 

[letemgrow]

In our quest for discovering new, wild, super apple varieties, I remembered while on stand last fall an apple tree I used to bow hunt over. Actually it was a group of about forty apple trees but there was this one tree that every deer would stop at during bow season and it was always a guaranteed Duck-Souper shot if the wind was right. Bow season was during October and I was looking more for late hangers BUT I went just after hunting season last fall to check it out as a possible tree to graft with if it was still holding some apples; Had not been to that spot for maybe twenty years. When I checked the tree (mid December) it was disappointing to see that every apple had long ago fallen and had been got gobbled up. The brush further from the tree was five foot tall but close to and under the tree the brush was completely eaten and flattened. So the tree was still likely a great early tree but not also a late season tree liked I hoped.

However as I looked around and up about five trees away there was a tree so full of apples that it would rival any tree I had ever seen before at any time of year and here it was mid December. I next visited the tree in early February with Ryan from Blue Hill Nursery. The tree had half the apples it had on my mid December visit and Ryan was still Blown away by the amount of apples on it. The tree branches though covered in grape vines and Multi Floral Rose around the drip line were as clean as can be. And the snow was matted down to two inches of ice while the surrounding area had 18 inches of snow. It looked like we had hit the mother load of perfect winter trees. And wouldn't you know it, there was not one usable scion to be found.

That tree and its infinite number of apples haunted me. Mid march (last week) I went back to the tree which Ryan had called All Spurs because there were fruit spurs on every bit of growth including the one year old growth. I was trimming the old suckers out of it and every now and then from high near the thirty ft. top, the trimmings produced a usable scion, tiny but usable. I collected them and will bring most of them to Ryan next week hoping he can duplicate this tree to grow scions and buds to eventually produce a bunch of them. A couple of scions were kept to use here. I'm still new to grafting but I thought I would try a a couple anyway. Here is a picture of one of the better scions. AsView attachment 33964 You can see reproducing this "All Spurs" tree will not be a quick event with a little over an inch of new growth even if everything goes right. All Spurs will be trimmed and fertilized hoping for better scion growth next year. However I'm betting that Ryan will not count on that alone to reproduce this beauty of a tree currently called All Spurs.

Exciting stuff!!!

Did you cut a bigger limb or two that you can reach to get some water sprouts going?

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[Chainsaw]

Thanks Letemgrow. Trimming a limb on All Spurs is on the list but not cutting it off. We had trimmed a limb almost bare except for a few branches at the end of the limb that our Turning Point tree for the first time last year and got quite a few large sprouts off of that limb. We also need to drop a few nearby non-apple trees that are shading it a little also.

 

[letemgrow]

Anyone have some of the “Husk Sweet” apples going from Big Horse Creek Farm?


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[greyphase]

Anyone have some of the “Husk Sweet” apples going from Big Horse Creek Farm?


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I have one but it hasn't fruited yet.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

4wanderingeyes, The State Fair sounds interesting. Is it disease resistant and is it exposed to Fire Blight and Cedar Apple Rust in your area?

They say fireblite is a problem, but I never had it. It has been my biggest producer from my 6-7 year old trees. It has had apples every year since year 2. A friend of mine likes to eat the apple mid July, and they are tart, but if you wait until Late August, then they are sweet. Every year I have had hundreds of apples on the State fair trees in late November, into December.

 

[Chainsaw]

They say fireblite is a problem, but I never had it. It has been my biggest producer from my 6-7 year old trees. It has had apples every year since year 2. A friend of mine likes to eat the apple mid July, and they are tart, but if you wait until Late August, then they are sweet. Every year I have had hundreds of apples on the State fair trees in late November, into December.

Super! Sounds like another winner for sure. Will add it to the property and see how it does here. Thanks for the info on it.

 

[Chainsaw]

Only grafters could describe what was likely accomplished in this scene yesterday. Completing 600 grafts in a day is definitely best done in the barn.





Took these pictures at the end of a day grafting at Blue Hill Wildlife Nursery with Ryan and his grafting crew. All of the wood on the floor are the scraps from cutting grafts on Wednesday. It is cleaned up each night just to graft again the next day and make a new pile. Each of the bins in the picture below is holding up to 3,000 rootstocks so they will be grafting for a while although their production rate rises each day as muscle memory becomes more the norm.



I am back here in New York now ready to start making grafts tomorrow to grow and plant here.

 

[PatinPA]

Only grafters could describe what was likely accomplished in this scene yesterday. Completing 600 grafts in a day is definitely best done in the barn. View attachment 34013



View attachment 34014

Took these pictures at the end of a day grafting at Blue Hill Wildlife Nursery with Ryan and his grafting crew. All of the wood on the floor are the scraps from cutting grafts on Wednesday. It is cleaned up each night just to graft again the next day and make a new pile. Each of the bins in the picture below is holding up to 3,000 rootstocks so they will be grafting for a while although their production rate rises each day as muscle memory becomes more the norm.

View attachment 34015

I am back here in New York now ready to start making grafts tomorrow to grow and plant here.

Nice. I live about 30 min. from there. I was just up near there today looking at a beautiful farm that's about to get cut in half by the new bypass. Pick me out some good trees. I plan on ordering a few this fall.

 

[sandbur]

Only grafters could describe what was likely accomplished in this scene yesterday. Completing 600 grafts in a day is definitely best done in the barn. View attachment 34013



View attachment 34014

Took these pictures at the end of a day grafting at Blue Hill Wildlife Nursery with Ryan and his grafting crew. All of the wood on the floor are the scraps from cutting grafts on Wednesday. It is cleaned up each night just to graft again the next day and make a new pile. Each of the bins in the picture below is holding up to 3,000 rootstocks so they will be grafting for a while although their production rate rises each day as muscle memory becomes more the norm.

View attachment 34015

I am back here in New York now ready to start making grafts tomorrow to grow and plant here.

My hands and carpal tunnels would not hold up for that. I am glad to hear he got some help.

Some of those scraps on the floor might even look familiar!


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[Chainsaw]

My hands and carpal tunnels would not hold up for that. I am glad to hear he got some help.

Some of those scraps on the floor might even look familiar!


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In the morning we worked on pears. Those were really tough. Knarly wood on the rootstock and fairly large diameter scions made for tough cutting and slow going. Good eye Sandbur because in the afternoon we broke out some of yours and they were a dream to work with, straight wood of nice size with tons of buds and all one year old that cut "like butter". We cut the scions off of the graft just above the first bud. Though there was plenty of wood, Ryan had us do that to maximize the number of grafts for that particular tree. Ryan said it was not possible to have too many of Big Dog as it is a very popular tree. Our output took a big leap working with Big Dog. It was for Ryan and I a twelve hour day and he does that most days but it was a stretch for me. And two days later I am still recuperating. Two additional people grafted for about eight hours and another came after school and worked a couple of hours. And Sandbur, I too have hands with a few miles on them so I used a cutting tool instead of a knife to cut both the grafts and the tongue cut; could not have cut with a knife for even half of a day at the pace this crew was grafting.

Tomorrow morning I'll get a one hour massage by maybe the best massage therapist ever and then grafting will resume again but just here in NY at a much slower pace.

 

[Chainsaw]

PatinPA, All of the trees Ryan carries are good solid varieties and among the very best proven trees for wildlife available anywhere. What is important though is not every tree is appropriate for every property. For example if you hunt mostly early then trees that drop earlier are more appropriate for you. If your property needs more winter feed then some of the extra late droppers would match well with your property. For me I like some early apples to accustom the deer to feeding in my apple groves long before hunting season even begins, a large amount of apple varieties dropping during the rut to draw the does and thus hold some bucks to help keep them alive to grow another year or two and a lot of varieties that drop throughout the winter to help feed the deer then. So I end up with something like twenty percent early, forty percent in November and forty percent throughout winter type apples. Each persons properties of course could be different. This works good here and gave us regular daytime movement of mature bucks from about October 24 through the end of our season which is around December 15. Additionally it helps feed the deer throughout winter and into March.

The deer below is standing in front of the tree named "Sweet November" seven weeks into our hunting season(Sweet November is to the right of and slightly behind the buck). Sweet November is 39.5 feet tall and it dropped apples all thru November and had a good amount of apples in early December. I credit this tree with helping this deer get thru the season at least until the first week of December for sure. This tree is an excellent tree with no signs of any diseases if you are looking for a November/December dropping tree. It is being offered for the first time this coming fall and of course it being its first year being trimmed, it will be in short supply. I wouldn't put it above Turning point but rather as an equal but just with different genes. I will be grafting many scions of both for our hunting property here.

 

[ruskbucks]

Only grafters could describe what was likely accomplished in this scene yesterday. Completing 600 grafts in a day is definitely best done in the barn. View attachment 34013



View attachment 34014

Took these pictures at the end of a day grafting at Blue Hill Wildlife Nursery with Ryan and his grafting crew. All of the wood on the floor are the scraps from cutting grafts on Wednesday. It is cleaned up each night just to graft again the next day and make a new pile. Each of the bins in the picture below is holding up to 3,000 rootstocks so they will be grafting for a while although their production rate rises each day as muscle memory becomes more the norm.

View attachment 34015

I am back here in New York now ready to start making grafts tomorrow to grow and plant here.

How about bumping up the grafting production a little more chainsaw? Maybe then I could get some trees before Ryan sells out. wow that's a lot of grafting.