Just some picture of this years fruit.
We had a bad Tent Caterpillar year. Second bad year in a row. Mild winters are not our friend. I will spray "Organic" if 2013 - 2014 winter is mild.
Marionberry
Butterfly bush ( Buddleia)
Aroniaberry
Heritage Raspberries
Desert King fig
Discovery Apple
Artichoke (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus)
Methley Plum
Orcas pear
Shipova, (×Sorbopyrus auricularis) is a hybrid between the European Pear ( Pyrus communis) and the Common Whitebeam (Sorbus aria)
Shiro plum
Dan Bae pear
Shinseiki pear
Frost peach
Quince
Walnut
Sea-buckthorn
Eric
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Definitely not storage apple -- lucky if it stays good until September in the fridge. It doesn't have the complex depth of flavor that autumn apples do, but it's crisp, sweet and light without being watery. Definitely better than supermarket apples, that goes without saying.
It's disease resistant -- No spray regiment at all this year, but no sign of fireblight, cedar apple rust or ...what's the other one? Downy?/Powdery? mildew? (don't get that on any of my apples -- only on a mystery volunteer sapling). It does get black speck but that just scrubs off with a veg brush.
It's disease resistant -- No spray regiment at all this year, but no sign of fireblight, cedar apple rust or ...what's the other one? Downy?/Powdery? mildew? (don't get that on any of my apples -- only on a mystery volunteer sapling). It does get black speck but that just scrubs off with a veg brush.
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j3707 wrote:Nice!
Have any Medlar?
Not any longer. The voles chewed all the roots off last winter. Little Bastards! This Spring while walking the orchard, I notice the tree was leaning more than usual, I grabbed hold of the tree and it pulled right out of the ground. It was like a sharpened pencil. I've lost about half dozen trees to voles over the years.
Summer 2012
Medlar butter is good tasty stuff. I will be planting two new trees this Fall.
Eric
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Bummer! Was it on a fruit tree rootstock?
I've heard hawthorn is a good rootstock for Medlar. I've got a couple common hawthorns at my place, If I can get my hands on Medlar scion wood by Spring, I'm going to do some grafting.
Hawthorn is a pretty tough tree, I wonder if it would hold up better against voles?
I've heard hawthorn is a good rootstock for Medlar. I've got a couple common hawthorns at my place, If I can get my hands on Medlar scion wood by Spring, I'm going to do some grafting.
Hawthorn is a pretty tough tree, I wonder if it would hold up better against voles?
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Breda Giant medlar was the variety I had. No mention of rootstock on the nursery invoice, so I would assume it was on its own roots.j3707 wrote:Bummer! Was it on a fruit tree rootstock?
I've heard hawthorn is a good rootstock for Medlar. I've got a couple common hawthorns at my place, If I can get my hands on Medlar scion wood by Spring, I'm going to do some grafting.
Hawthorn is a pretty tough tree, I wonder if it would hold up better against voles?
My brother has a medlar. Maybe I will try grafting to hawthorn or my quince tree.
If I can get some extra scion what do have to trade. Also would you like to try grafting quince to your hawthorn.
Eric
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j3707 wrote:Sorry, I could have been more clear...
I have Brooks plum, if you're interested in trading at some point. Got a few other plums and pears....feel free to PM me if you like.
Are those the native Hawthorns you have up there?
We have non-native English hawthorn [Crataegus monogyna]
and native Black hawthorn (C. douglasii)
A trade, when trees are dormant, would be nice.
Eric
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I just got some grass clippings from my neighbor. I think I needed it for the trees, is that right? I couldn't remember what it was suggested for, I just noticed that they were about to toss a huge pile into the woods! I'm sure I could get some from their woods pile too, if I need it we don't really have grass here as I'm sure you could guess not much of it!
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Eric has a whole orchard of those -- Cardboard+mulch.
Compost/composted manure, spoiled hay, etc. in fall and in spring.
It doesn't have to be grass -- it can be leaves, hay, straw, cut weeds (but it's a question of how much weed seeds are mixed in) -- it harder to get them weed seed free later in the season.
Compost/composted manure, spoiled hay, etc. in fall and in spring.
It doesn't have to be grass -- it can be leaves, hay, straw, cut weeds (but it's a question of how much weed seeds are mixed in) -- it harder to get them weed seed free later in the season.
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Strictly speaking, you want to avoid putting spoiled fruits under fruit trees.
Ideally, what you want to do is use vegetables under fruit trees and fruits under vegetables. This is supposed to help keep pests and diseases that may be in the decomposing remains from re-infesting/re-infecting.
If you have a large orchard as well as vegetable garden, I understand it's best to keep separate compost piles and use the compost made from veg garden waste for the orchard and compost made from the orchard waste in the vegetable garden.
If you can make hot compost, then this wouldn't be an issue.
...Oh wait, isn,t this...? ...sorry Eric, we've gone OT in your thread...
Ideally, what you want to do is use vegetables under fruit trees and fruits under vegetables. This is supposed to help keep pests and diseases that may be in the decomposing remains from re-infesting/re-infecting.
If you have a large orchard as well as vegetable garden, I understand it's best to keep separate compost piles and use the compost made from veg garden waste for the orchard and compost made from the orchard waste in the vegetable garden.
If you can make hot compost, then this wouldn't be an issue.
...Oh wait, isn,t this...? ...sorry Eric, we've gone OT in your thread...
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my neighbor and I go out trees together at the same time. hers are fruiting this year. her apple trees are huge. lots of apples on one of the trees. what we noticed is, she has two rows of trees. the trees next to her driveway are all nice and big and healthy looking and producing stuff nicely. as the trees get closer to the woods, they get smaller and smaller, to where the closest ones are, there are barely any branches on them. she's going to try lime as well.
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Roots, We are Borg
Eric
https://soils.tfrec.wsu.edu/webnutrition ... soilpH.htm
Ideally, a range of 6.0 to 7.5 is optimal for orchards; however, excellent orchards occur on soils ranging in pH from 5.0 to 8.0. In general, the availability of micronutrients is lower in alkaline soils. Nutrients such as iron and zinc may not be in a form available to plants. In contrast, phosphorus may become limiting in acid soils. Also, in acid soils, aluminum can become available. It is not a nutrient and is toxic to plants in high concentrations. At pH 6 and higher, very little aluminum is in solution.
Additionally, soil pH affects the abundance of microorganisms. Bacteria are generally more prevalent in alkaline soils and fungi dominate in acidic soils. This is important because microbes are responsible for the cycling of nutrients. The most diverse and numerous populations are found in near-neutral soils. Furthermore, soil pH influences pathogenic microbes, and growers can adjust pH to manage some plant diseases.
Nutritional problems associated with low pH (<5.0)
bark measles of Delicious apple
manganese (Mn) toxicity
calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) deficiencies
restricted root growth or regeneration due to aluminum (Al) toxicity
reduced availability of P
reduced efficiency of N and K use and poor response to N and K fertilizers
bark necrosis
stunted growth
High pH values may also lead to nutritional problems.
The availability of many micronutrients (Mn, Cu, Zn, and B for example) decrease as soil pH increases.
Eric
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