fruit harvest

My fruit harvests this year, in addition to a couple cups of blueberries early this summer:
25 (wohoo!) apples, 2 peaches, 2-3 cups of red raspberries a week (they'll produce for about 4 weeks), and about 20 lbs of pears.



I was very disappointed that about half my pear harvest "disappeared this year. No signs of deer, raccoons or other wildlife. Since my two espaliered trees are in my plot at a busy community garden, I have to think they were stolen. All the pears from the lower two branches were missing. These branches are very easy to reach from outside my garden. I was left with only the ones 6-8 ft up on the top branch. Theft is pretty common at our Gardens. I have plans next year to put up chicken wire around the trees and hopefully keep all the pears I grow - I want to at least know who I share them with.

just picked apples

This is my apple harvest this year. I'm so pleased. Five Liberty apples. Really tangy and crisp. I probably picked them a bit early, but they're fantastic in a martini!

working on our new mini-orchard

Last weekend, we cleared the slope where our mini-orchard will go. Lots of roots needed to be dug out and removed. I used stakes and string to find the best spots to locate the trees. So far, we have 3 apples. All semi-dwarf. Varieties: Honey Crisp, Liberty and Jonathan. Also a pie cherry, variety: Montmorency. Each tree needs about 18 feet diameter of space.

Next, we will dig compost into the planting holes and plant the trees. The trees will like as much compost as they can get. We'll put up deer fence around each tree. And all those rocks we pulled out of the soil will go into a semi circle just at the lower slope of each tree.

fruit trees

I bought 2 apple trees today: Liberty and Honey Crisp dwarfs.

snowy fruit tree clearing

This is the area where I will plant some fruit trees in the spring. It was under a foot of snow last week when I took these pictures. After the rain we got the past couple days, only a few inches of snow left now.

I should have room here for about 5 dwarf or semi dwarf trees. I want to measure the area soon and mark out where the trees will go. I am thinking of getting 3 apples (maybe dwarf Liberty, Honeycrisp and Esopus Spitzenburg from Fedco), a peach and maybe a pie cherry tree. (I will eventually move my two espaliered pear trees from my community plot to the fence of my vegetable garden.)

I love reading the Fedco catalog section of fruit trees. So much information!

fruit trees sprayed with dormant oil

Today I sprayed my apple (dwarf Fugi) and two pear trees (a Keiffer and a Bartlett) with a dormant oil spray. I also gave one of my grapes (a Cabernet Sauvignon) a spray too. The buds are nicely swollen and I am pleased to see that there are a few flowers buds ready to pop on the pears this year - finally. (I have been pruning them wrong and removing the buds for 2 years.) It was a warm sunny day - up to about 50*F, and bugs just starting to get active. I think this is the perfect timing for the oil spray. I diluted it to 4 Tbs in a 1 qt spray bottle, then soaked all the branches well.

2012 crop review

At the end of the year, I like to go through my crops from last year, one-by-one, and write down the successes, failures and what I'd like to do different next year.

Going alphabetical the first is:
Apples. Well I'm starting the list off with a failure. No apples this year from my dwarf Fuji tree :-( I forgot to spray it with dormant oil before the buds broke this spring. The tree got badly infected with something. No flowers and no fruit. Also, growth of a maple to the east has shaded it more. Last winter we took down a big branch, maybe not in time to affect this year's flowers and fruit. Hopefully next year added light and timely dormant oil application will give us some apples. An added note, this summer I pruned the tree back quite a bit. I removed a lot of sucker growth and shortened the length of all branches.

Asparagus. I was able to harvest one small meal from my 3 year old patch this year. It was yummy. It seems that the spears grow faster than I had realized and that I'll need to harvest daily to catch them at the right point for eating. Many escaped me this year and got to big for eating. I expanded my asparagus patch this year and put in about 10 more new crowns. Its now about 4 x 5 ft. I fertilized with liquid fish fertilizer and kept it watered and weeded well this year. The ferns looked really nice. I cut them down a couple weeks ago and they are providing mulch for the plants now. I'll add some hay to the top next time I am at the plot. I am definitely looking forward to a BIG harvest of asparagus next spring!!

Basil. I planted a big patch of basil under the tomatoes. Then, when late blight was spotted nearby early, I started spraying the tomatoes with copper. This seemed to seriously damage the basil. The leaves looked burnt. I pulled all the plants after a couple weeks of spraying. Next year, no basil under tomatoes. The basil grows better in my sheltered side yard garden anyway and is more convenient to harvest there. I am thinking of planting all herbs in my side yard next year.

apple harvest

I picked all my apples today. A bit early. The squirrel had started eating one (he thinks they're ready!) and hurricane Irene is coming in tomorrow and I don't know if the wind might blow then around. The 20 heavy apples seemed so big on my little tree! Some branches were weighted down almost to the grass.

I've read that apples ripen up after picking. They sure look pretty! I'm admiring them in a bowl on my table.

apples on the tree

There are about 20 apples on my dwarf Fugi apple tree this year. All are getting big and red and I'm tempted to pick one soon. I can imagine the crisp juicy bites!

All summer, the apples have been covered with plastic baggies and I just removed them last weekend. I took them off on Sunday because it seemed some of the fruits were getting some black fungal/mildew growth. Its been such a humid summer that I think I have every type of fungus growing in my garden somewhere this year.

The risk for the uncovered apples now is that the squirrels might find them before I pick them. Once they start to sweeten up the squirrels get interested. I'd like to leave them on the tree to ripen as long a I can. SO I'm watching out.

bagged apples

I looked around for some information on bagging my apples and pears. Here's an informative thread: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fruit/msg0400030418546.html. It seems that plastic Ziploc bags are the way to go. Zip the baggie over the stem of apples about 3/4 inches in diameter and cut off the lowest corner of the bag so any water that gets in will drain.

I have 24 apples bagged now. Will do my 5 pears soon.

apple tree

This is the back of my side yard - behind the vegetable garden. Center view is my little Fugi apple tree. This year is has at least a dozen apples!!! More than ever before. :)) We trimmed a big branch off off the maple tree in the backyard and I guess the apple appreciated it.

I like to cover the young apples to keep away bugs and squirrels. I've used stockings in the past, but don't have enough old stockings for such a big crop. I'm looking into other options. Any suggestions??

Same question for my pear tree at my community plot. It has a dozen or more pears forming. I'd like to cover them soon.

squirrel and apple

Today I was watching out the window as a squirrel tried to steal my single apple from my little Fugi apple tree. I have a knee-hi over the apple to protect it from apple maggots. What to do to protect from squirrels?! I banged on the window and chased him off twice. He didn't come back by nightfall, but I think he will very likely find a time when I am not standing by and guarding my tree. I don't think it will be ripe enough for me for another month yet.

The real problem is having only ONE apple on a tree! It doesn't bloom much since the big Norway maple in my back yard is shading it more every year. The apple tree is small (a dwarf) but too big to move. Maybe the maple will fall down some day.

baby apple

There are only a couple baby apples on my little Fugi apple tree this year. I need to remember to cover them very soon. Last year I didn't cover them and the they got eaten my bugs. They are deliciously crisp apples and I'd like to eat them myself!

not my year for apples

Last year I carefully covered all 5 of the apples on my little Fugi tree with stockings. They ripened perfectly and were delicious. But, not being convinced that this was necessary, I left them uncovered this year. Hmmm. All four apples this look terrible. I don't know what caused this. But I think I'll cover them next year.

apple blossoms

My little Fuji apple tree next to my vegetable garden is in full bloom. Lots of pure white blossoms this year! I'm imagining lots of apples.

Maybe I should start collecting knee-hi's. Last year I used stockings to cover the apples to keep bugs and squirrels away. It worked great and I picked five delicious crispy red apples. It was easier than spraying the tree, at least with only five apples.

Its not that I'm counting my apples - just hoping.

Apples (Malus domestica)

apple-tinis

Its time to celebrate finishing the plot expansion! This is the second apple from my little backyard Fuji apple tree. Delicious!

Recipe: To shaker, add crushed ice, dash of dry vermouth and gin. Shake well. Pour into chilled glasses. Add several apple slices and some dried cranberries. Cheers!

Apples (Malus domestica)
Topic: martini!

apple update

I've been meaning to post photographs of my FIVE(!) Fugi apples, which are ripening nicely on the little tree in my backyard. This is the first year I have had fruit on my tree that I planted about three years ago.

The top photos show an apple with and without its stocking. I'm using knee-hi's to protect my apples from bugs and squirrels. So far, so good! No spray on these apples. I took the stocking off just to check (and photograph), and then put it back on again.

Its funny how you can see the tiny ribbed pattern of the stocking on the apple if you look close. (To look close, click on the photo and then click on "all sizes".)

I'm not really sure how to tell when apples are ripe, but I suppose they need another week or two on the tree. I hope the tree can hold onto them that long. The branches of my tiny little tree are bending almost double under the weight if these apples. The tree is not in the best location. Too shady. I was thinking of moving it this year. The only problem is there is really no sun in my yard to move it to.

Apples (Malus domestica)

apples on the tree

I planted a nice little Fugi apple tree in my back yard about 3 or 4 years ago. It gets too much shade and I didn't think it was blooming at all. But today I noticed four small apples! I'd like these to ripen without bug or squirrel damage. Do they need a spray or net here in the NE US? Please leave me your advice!

Apples (Malus domestica)

apple blossoms

Apples (Malus domestica)