In loving memory of Kenis D. Keathley 6/4/81 - 3/27/22 Loving father, husband, brother, friend and firewood hoarder Rest in peace, Dexterday

Orchard expansion project

Discussion in 'Hobbies and Interests' started by Firewood Bandit, Dec 19, 2015.

  1. NH mountain man

    NH mountain man

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    I'll bet she did!
     
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  2. Machria

    Machria

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    That's amazing how many apples are on that little tiny tree!
     
  3. Firewood Bandit

    Firewood Bandit

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    Actually they have been treated with 2 different types of chemical thinners to knock most of the apples off the tree. It is better to grow a few high quality apples than a whole bunch of runty little ones. There are carbohydrate loading models that will tell you what the optimum # of apples should be on a tree of a given size.
    The practice of thinning is very complex.

    http://www.nyshs.org/pdf/-NYFQ 2014...on Pages 9-13 from NYFQ Spring 2014.Press.pdf
     
  4. ReelFaster

    ReelFaster

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    Beautiful project and beautiful property, thanks for sharing!
     
  5. Easy Livin' 3000

    Easy Livin' 3000

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    You are livin the dream. Awesome spread and great pictures.

    Except the golf thing. I've played golf 3 dozen times, and liked it less each time. But it's good to have a hobby that keeps you walking.

    What do you do with all the apples when your crop comes in?
     
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  6. Soggy Logs

    Soggy Logs

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    Planting Wolf Rivers surprises me.
    I always thought of them as a "old Timer" apple.
    Some of the Orchards around here grow them.
    I feel they are bad for eating and only fair to midland for cooking.
    Too mushy and bland for my tastes.

    Do you have people asking for them?

    How do you decide what to plant?
     
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  7. Firewood Bandit

    Firewood Bandit

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    Golf is the only thing I have stayed with for a LONG time. I started in Jr. High and went to State in High School. I worked on and off on golf courses for 10 years and liked to gamble with the pros. It is a frustrating game that nobody will ever master. The day I shot a 67, (-4) I wasn't happy as it could have easily been a couple strokes better. Right now the course pro has me in a program with a weekly lesson hitting balls all Winter and use of video. A major flaw I have always had is slowly being undone. The best way to look at golf is like this: Think of a stick over 4' long, swing it in excess of 100mph, strike a ball that will then fly around 150mph and the contact must have less than 1 degree of error and that doesn't take into account of spin and wind.

    Your final sentence is perhaps a true problem. I have been able to sell all the apples I grow with a list of people on an e mail list. This is shortly not going to meet the supply. I have been in contact with a couple commercial apple stands nearby and a commercial packing house.
     
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  8. Firewood Bandit

    Firewood Bandit

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    You are correct on the Wolf River. I got a small # of them just for kicks because they are going to be outrageously big. I had a big following of people who like Fireside, another large apple and thought they might like them.

    About 3/4 of the apples are 3 varieties of Honeycrisp, conventional MN1711, Premier aka DAS10 which is an earlier version and Firestorm which is supposed to finish with a redder color. Planted 25 Zestar which I really like and is the first apple in the season to ripen. Those are probably the best pie apples I have seen. They are sweet, have a spicy note and cook down well and are not runny in pies.
     
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  9. Firewood Bandit

    Firewood Bandit

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  10. Easy Livin' 3000

    Easy Livin' 3000

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    There is no doubt you will solve the supply-demand imbalance you will have, based upon the little I know about you from the pictures and text.

    Just tell the people you golf with and have a card to give them. I bet you'll be back in the correct balance in no time. I think that's why most people play golf anyway.

    If not, start making hard cider with the surplus.
     
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  11. Firewood Bandit

    Firewood Bandit

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    Thanks for the kind words.

    I had a guy buy 5 bushels of Haralson for making cider. It was the end of the season and I sold them for $20 per 42# bushel. He said they were the nicest apples he ever had for cider. However true apples for cider are specialty apples and the names are ones I hadn't even heard of except seeing them in the nursery catalogs. Cider apples are small nasty little apples that are generally quite sour. Unreal yield per tree though.
     
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  12. hovlandhomestead

    hovlandhomestead

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    I don't know much about growing apples Firewood Bandit, but I have panted 6 trees in my yard: 2 honey crisp, a golden delicious, 2 haralred and another type I don't recall. I don't spray, but ended up with quite a few nice sized apples this past year off a few of the trees that are over 2 or 3 years old.

    I have pruned them to an open center and am trying keep them short.

    I watch a gentleman named Stephen Hayes on Youtube from England and am learning from his pruning tutorials. I don't even know if this is the best way to go about pruning in the midwest. I also like watching Paul Guache's pruning. He is the guy who does the Back to Eden gardening in WA. He has some wild looking trees that have all the fruit down low to the ground, even on the ground, which in his case is wood chips.

    Interested here in following your progress and learning more.
     
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  13. Firewood Bandit

    Firewood Bandit

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    There is no "best" way to prune. When I asked specific questions regarding what to do when trellised trees hit the top wire, he just said, "I don't know, just do something". Without knowing what root stock you have, I would keep the height down to a manageable level so they don't get away from you.

    I used to fret over where and how to make cuts. After talking with the owner of this orchard and seeing this video and touring the orchard last fall evaluating his experimental apples. Nothing precise about prunng with a skid steer buzz saw. BTW, the trees looked great.

     
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