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This dolgo seedling with 3/4 inch fruit is getting lots of use.


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I took a tour on snowshoes and took a few pictures to get this thread back on crab apples.

I saw some turkeys and heard one partridge (grouse). Not a pheasant in sight.
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Outback there were no pheasants, just turkeys and the one pat.

I took a walk out front today and saw 7 hens and two roosters. Not a turkey track in sight.
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Pheasants like the spruce alongside of the cornfield.


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36d28ed7ee1276490c5397cd9a8c45b3.jpg

This dolgo seedling with 3/4 inch fruit is getting lots of use.
Smaller "bird crabs" don't attract deer ......... right?? Looks like you have some really big "birds", Bur!!!!

It looks as though everything within reach has been cleaned off that tree.
 
Smaller "bird crabs" don't attract deer ......... right?? Looks like you have some really big "birds", Bur!!!!

It looks as though everything within reach has been cleaned off that tree.

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Do ravens gulping down flowering crabs count as big birds?


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Those "bird crabs" feed everything, from tweetie birds to deer. I'm happy we have several "bird crabs" at camp - for the fruit AND the pollination. Your ravens have it pretty good, it seems!

EDIT - Do you have any crabs / apples still holding some fruit there, Bur??
 
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This dolgo seedling with 3/4 inch fruit is getting lots of use.


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Just wondering if you know how old this Dolgo seedling is?
 
Sorry no pic but noticed today that 1 of 3 Franklin cider is holding a number of fruit. The other two did not have as much fruit to begin with due to late frosts and now are basically bare except for a lone apple.

Have a Honeygold that also did not drop some fruit but just the skins are still hanging, the insides must have turned to mush and dripped out. Kinda weird, not seen that before.
 
Sorry no pic but noticed today that 1 of 3 Franklin cider is holding a number of fruit. The other two did not have as much fruit to begin with due to late frosts and now are basically bare except for a lone apple.

Have a Honeygold that also did not drop some fruit but just the skins are still hanging, the insides must have turned to mush and dripped out. Kinda weird, not seen that before.

How old are your Franklins? When did they start fruiting?
Thanks
 
Franklins planted 2017 from Cummins on B118. First fruit 2020. 3 of 4 doing ok while the 4th has runted out in a bit more challenging spot. More boulders and brush although maybe only 40 ft from another one. Glacial till is "variable"
 
My Franklins are probably my best growing trees. The only problem is they get fire blight
 
have had fire blight on edge of my property in the past but no means a common problem so will see if these Franklins are weenies or maybe will do ok.
 
Franklin's, dont they make good cider trees? Picked up (2) hewes, a glden russet, arkansas black, and (2) gin pear trees, (2) empires, a golden delicious, and (2) liberties and a enteprise.

Debating adding a northern spy and a granny smith. Looking for sweeter hard ciders as well as a nice 10 pointer under it.
 
Franklin's, dont they make good cider trees?
Supposedly. The full name of the tree above is Franklin Cider and is really too new to get much feedback on cider making from a large group of folks. There actually is another tree just called Franklin which is an old heirloom variety. Turkey Creek sells those.
 
I have both but I think my Franklin Ciders may have died last summer probably fire blight got them. I’ll know in the spring if they green up but I don’t have a lot of hope for them.
 
Franklin's, dont they make good cider trees? Picked up (2) hewes, a glden russet, arkansas black, and (2) gin pear trees, (2) empires, a golden delicious, and (2) liberties and a enteprise.

Debating adding a northern spy and a granny smith. Looking for sweeter hard ciders as well as a nice 10 pointer under it.
I'd skip the northern spy and replace it with a nova spy. Produced much quicker for me.
 
I'd skip the northern spy and replace it with a nova spy. Produced much quicker for me.
Northern Spy is known to be a long wait for fruit. Like Teeder said, Nova Spy will fruit quicker and it's also more disease resistant than regular Northern Spy. Nova Spy was bred for DR in Nova Scotia, Canada.
 
Just wondering if you know how old this Dolgo seedling is?
I am thinking 15-18 years. It didn’t get much care the first few years and could have done better. No weed mat, no weed control. Life was busy with small kids and working days and some nights.
 
As I was out today doing battle with the prickly ash, grabbed a pic of the Franklin with some fruit yet, 6th leaf.
I like how your spruce are spaced behind that Franklin tree. (Jan. 1st post pic.) Lots of places for deer to bed in those gaps in those spruce among the weeds & grass.
 
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This is my first time posting a picture via a different route. Let’s see how it works.

This is a late holding apple crab on a neighbors land and about 3/4 miles from my house. Midwest Deer Trees will be offering it under the name of No Bull. It has survived -40. It is planted in a row and I suspect it is a seedling from SWCD. I have not tasted the apple or noticed when/ how long it drops.

About 100 yards from this tree is a wild seedling that has existed for decades and survived several bouts of -40 in an exposed area. Midwest Deer Trees offers it under the name of Wild Azz. I tasted that applecrab and it is a spitter. Hard cider makers should take a look at it. Bitters. It drops during the fall which I have lots of other apple crabs dropping. I don’t think either of these trees has had a good test for CAR as they are exposed with good air flow and not close to a lot of red cedars.

I just wanted habitat people in cold areas to be aware of these two trees.
 
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