First ripe apples for 2021

[Native Hunter]

Here is a beautiful Asian pear that I took note of when I was walking on the farm the other day. It is called Galloway. I've seen fruit on it before, but not paid a lot of attention to it. It is advertised going into November, and I will try to watch closer this year. It grows very clean, and seems to be very DR. Not a huge crop this year like the European pears, but it probably has around 50 nice pears.

 

[Native Hunter]

Here is an apple called Caney Fork Limbertwig. I have mixed feelings about this cultivar. On the positive side, the fruit tastes very good, drops over a long period of time, and seems to be reliable. On the negative side it doesn't grow as clean as most other LImbertwigs and always shows lots of CAR and SCAB on the leaves. I have one at the farm and one at home. It has a decent crop of nice sized apples this year, and the taste is up there with the best.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I don't know why it is, but some of the ugliest TREES seem to yield bumper crops of apples. We have a late-hanging greenish apple at camp that looks much the same as your pic Native. It gets some scab - or other fungus, not CAR - on the leaves, but bears heavily every other year. Our greenish apples get the same fly-speck and sooty blotch as the one in your pic. Deer LOVE them though - tracked to mud under it, usually with a scrape as well.

 

[Native Hunter]

I don't know why it is, but some of the ugliest TREES seem to yield bumper crops of apples. We have a late-hanging greenish apple at camp that looks much the same as your pic Native. It gets some scab - or other fungus, not CAR - on the leaves, but bears heavily every other year. Our greenish apples get the same fly-speck and sooty blotch as the one in your pic. Deer LOVE them though - tracked to mud under it, usually with a scrape as well.

Yep, the deer don’t cull anything when it comes to apples. I think to them any apple is on the menu if they are hungry.

 

[Native Hunter]

Here is another nice pear that has grown clean for me and drops late. It resembles Kieffer but has a slightly different look and different taste. This pear is Senator Clark.

This is a true Kieffer. I had to unload several of these trees this year in order to keep the limbs from breaking.

This is one of the Fake Kieffers on my place. It's not the greatest tasting, but it falls late and the deer love them.

 

[Mozark]

Native, do Senator Clark and Kieffer drop at the same time or is one slightly later?

 

[Native Hunter]

Native, do Senator Clark and Kieffer drop at the same time or is one slightly later?

They are pretty close to the same time. I seem to remember Kieffer maybe dropping a little longer.

 

[Mozark]

Thanks native

 

[SwampCat]

Ants are burrowing into all my Arkansas black apples. They started about a month ago. Do you ever have problems with ants? If you did, would you spray the apples? Frustrating - finally had a few apples this year and now the ants are eating them.

 

[Native Hunter]

Ants are burrowing into all my Arkansas black apples. They started about a month ago. Do you ever have problems with ants? If you did, would you spray the apples? Frustrating - finally had a few apples this year and now the ants are eating them.

I’ve seen ants on apples laying on the ground, but I haven’t had a problem with them while still hanging. I’m really opposed to spraying for aesthetics but I will spray for a serious pest problem like a big infestation of bag worms.

If the apples are for deer I probably wouldn’t spray but if you really want them for yourself, you may not have any choice. Just wash them extremely well before eating, and peeling would be preferred for me.

 

[Native Hunter]

This is the 30-06 Crab from NWC. If these apples continue to look this good, drop before next spring and don't turn into dried up mummies I will be happy with this tree. One of their other varieties has already turned into mummies. I will give that one a little more time but if no change it will be topworked.

 

[Native Hunter]

Here is Terry Winter - an apple that is an okay apple for a deer planting but not impressive to me for an eating apple. It is like Yates in a lot of respects, but Yates is vastly superior to Terry Winter in all regards. On the positive side, it does have good DR and the taste is not bad. On the negative side, the apples don't hang as late as advertised (into December) and most will be on the ground by early November. The apples are small to medium - about the same size as Yates, but not as pretty and clean as Yates. MY recommendation for anyone in my area is to plant another Yates rather than planting a Terry Winter.

 

[Native Hunter]

This is Moonglow Pear. It is highly DR, dropping some right now and very productive. It is not my favorite pear for fresh eating but still pretty good. I recommend it for a deer planting pear based on several seasons of seeing it do really well.

 

[Native Hunter]

My Dolgo Crabs took a hard hit from the late freeze at the farm this spring and the crop was not that impressive this year. But here is what the crops have looked like every other year for the past 5 years.