Apple of the week: Macintosh

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Patty Doll

While we are still picking Gala, we have added McIntosh to the mix.  McIntosh apples are classics in the apple world.  A person who truly looks forward to the McIntosh seldom is satisfied with other varieties of apples.  The McIntosh has a very thin skin, thus it bruises easily.  Very hard to pick and packers find it a nightmare when packing for wholesale distribution.  All that said, we have to agree that the McIntosh is an apple variety that is hard to match.

Its consistency is fine and while some think it is “too soft,”  its unique flavor is its greatest asset.  When cooking a McIntosh, the slice of the apple breaks apart and if it is sliced too thin, it will create a “saucey” pie or cobbler.  My suggestion to appreciate the best of both worlds is to cut the slices thicker and then you can enjoy its awesome flavor as well as the consistency.  Many of our customers use this variety to dry as the slight tartness is subtle and not overwhelming in their apple chips.  Grocery stores do not always carry this variety in their inventory to offer to consumers because it is not a “quantity” selling item.

The McIntosh is truly a variety to sample just to experience its flavor.  It’s been around for a long time and has a long history of satisfied users.

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Apple of the week: Gala

Posted on August 16, 2015 by Patty Doll

Gala Apples in CrateHarvest has begun in earnest here at the orchard.  This past week we have finished picking the Gingergold apples and now on to the Gala.  Ripening has slowed somewhat but the predicted higher temperatures this week will probably change all that.  We have started selling at the local Farmers’ Markets and that is always a highlight of the week, seeing old customers and meeting new ones.  Besides making the actual sale, it is good to catch up on the lives of our customers and their families. Continue reading →

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Soil+Sunlight+Water=Weeds!

Posted on August 5, 2015 by Patty Doll

These past weeks of summer have challenged us to be more aggressive in our preventative weed control program.

Weeds can be problematic. These weeds emerged 2 weeks after string-trimming.

Weeds can be problematic. These weeds emerged 2 weeks after string-trimming.

The frequent rains of these past weeks have created excellent growing conditions for the unwanted vegetation in the orchard that we call “weeds.” Weekly mowing has kept a control on the grasses but the weeds that thrive under the trees’ canopies and in the rows between the trees have really been troublesome.  We do use herbicides developed for orchards but the heavy rainfalls have hampered their effectiveness.

So what’s wrong with a few weeds?  Well, Continue reading →

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Summer Apple and Peach Diseases

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Patty Doll

It has been an unseasonably damp and wet July so far for our region of southeastern Indiana.  While the rains are good for maintaining the area’s water table, the extended duration of wet conditions contribute to summer diseases in the orchard.  Humidity and hot temperatures are perfect “scab” weather.  These weather conditions also add to the incidence of brown rot in peaches, powdery mildew, sooty apple blotch and fly speck.

Symptoms of apple scab on leaves. Image sourced from apsnet.org

Continue reading →

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June Drop in Apples: It is a Good Thing

Posted on June 21, 2015 by Patty Doll

Welcome rains have come to the orchard this week.  Conditions were getting dry and we were concerned about the new plantings and the stress that the trees were undergoing because of the lack of rain. Things are looking better now.

In late spring, immature apples fall from the tree. This is known as "June Drop."

In late spring, immature apples fall from the tree. This is known as “June Drop.”

“June drop” is occurring in the orchard.  Sometimes it is disheartening to walk through the orchard and notice the number of small, immature apples dropping from the trees and littering the ground beneath the canopy.  June drop is a natural life cycle of the trees.  Apple trees produce many more flowers and young apples that it can possibly support to maturity.  Only one bloom in every twenty is needed for a good crop on a mature apple tree. Continue reading →

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Replanting and Grafting Apple Trees

Posted on May 24, 2015 by Patty Doll
Grafted apple trees beginning to push.

Grafted apple trees beginning to push.

It was a misnomer on my part and it took me some years down the road of life to realize differently, but fruit trees do not have an infinite life span.  Disease, rodents, the ravages of nature, all take a tremendous toll on the trees in the orchard.  We plant trees every year.  Some years more trees are planted than others.  Tree planting is an example of  stewardship and a link of the present to the future.  There is no better way to touch the future than to plant a tree today.

The best time to plant trees in our climate zone is early Spring. We aim for early April.   Before planting a good plan is mandatory and our planning encompasses several factors.   Unless we have specific variety replacements for trees already planted, we try to plant in “blocks.”   Much of the success in planting depends on soil  conditions.  If your soil is fertile and well drained, it can support almost any kind of fruit planting.  Our soil is mainly heavy clay and this alone creates issues in the development of the trees.  We dig holes large and deep enough to accommodate the spreading feeder roots of the tree. Cramping the roots will hinder growth and the tree will not be anchored too well.  Set the tree into the hole and fill it with topsoil, lightly tamping it.   Watering is necessary if dry periods or drought exist, but there is nothing more beneficial to newly planted trees than a good soaking rain.
This season we also tried our hand at grafting some trees.  We had several “heirloom” apple trees that are showing the signs of age and we wanted to try to reproduce these varieties.  One variety is a Jonathon that has been in the planting of the original orchard and has the best flavor of any Jonathon that I have ever tasted.  We are happy to report that we are experiencing a 65% success rate.  Not too bad for beginners.  As this is new for us we are experiencing the normal learning curve, but none the less we will continue to experiment.
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2015 Bloom is Here!

Posted on April 26, 2015 by Patty Doll

IMG_20150426_111724Right on schedule, the orchard is in full bloom this week.  Typically, the third week of April, usually around the 25th of the month, the orchard bursts with fruit blossoms.  Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful is the only way to describe it.  The first variety to bloom this year was the Anoka, followed by the Zestar.  By midweek we saw blossoms on the Honeycrisp, Gala, Cortland and McIntosh.  By week’s end all varieties were “strutting their stuff.”  Continue reading →

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Spring has sprung?

Posted on March 28, 2015 by Patty Doll
Winter was thought to be behind us, but these past two nights have once again been cold and today there were snow flurries again.  Ah, the changeable Indiana weather!  Growing up, I was told that if you don’t like today’s weather in Indiana, just wait a day and it will change.  These up and down thermometer readings do make it difficult to grow fruit in our area, especially  peaches.  The peach crop this year doesn’t look promising, AGAIN!  This recent winter was milder than that of 2014, that is until the month of February.  Extremely cold temperatures the first weeks of February did real damage to the peach crop.  Peaches do not tolerate cold temperatures that dip lower than minus 10 degrees zero.  Several mornings in early February our thermometers registered  20 – 25 degrees below zero not taking wind chills into consideration.  Although we can probably make a somewhat educated guess, no one can determine the loss until bloom period.  Bloom is the defining factor as it is the indicator that fruit buds have survived the subzero temperatures.

Continue reading →

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Cold Weather and Snow

Posted on February 25, 2015 by Patty Doll
IMG_20150221_125335A winter storm moved through this area this past weekend leaving behind five inches of snow and plummeting temperatures.  Subzero readings are predicted for this week.  Up until this recent storm, our winter season was relatively mild with little snow, mostly rain.   These rains were most welcome.  Thanks to this moisture the local water table is making a slow but sure return to normalcy after the recent dry summers.  A good water table creates healthier trees in the orchard.
     Pruning is progressing.  Making good headways in the older apple trees.  Our new apple trees and our peach trees, however, are still in need of attention.  Hopefully, after this cold front moves through we will be able to go out again and try to finish for the year.

The two trade shows and fruit conferences we attended in December and January were good experiences and worth the time and effort.  We “networked” with other growers and were able to discuss issues common to all of us.  The trade show exposition gave us some new ideas for marketing and harvesting our orchard products.  Several new varieties of apples were on display for tasting and sampling.  Some were interesting while others were nothing too promising.  Since it takes anywhere from five to ten years to bring a product to market after the initial tree planting, it is prudent to do a little research on what varieties are available before you just jump in and plant.  As of now, can’t say we were too impressed by what we tasted.  This year our plan for the orchard is going forward grafting some of the old varieties that we have so we can continue to offer these to our customers.  Several of these varieties are not classified as “heirlooms” but tried and true varieties that are no longer available at nurseries, such as our “Golden Delicious,” and the “Jonathon” that has been in the orchard since it was originally planted.

Continue reading →

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Pruning our Apple Orchard

Posted on January 23, 2015 by Patty Doll
Orchard work is an all year long endeavor.  Holidays are over, trees are dormant and so out we go to start pruning. The moderately warm temperatures of late December provided us an opportune time to begin pruning in the apple orchards.  The ideal time to prune is when the trees have reached complete dormancy and temperatures are at or above freezing.  Most of the time for us this temperature range is not always feasible.  If temperatures are at 25degrees with no wind, you will find us donning insulated work clothes and taking the pruning  equipment out into the orchard.Pruning an apple tree

Why prune? Pruning is done during a tree’s productive years.  Pruning is indeed an art.  The process takes in analyzing the tree’s vigor and understanding the characteristics of each apple variety.  The decision to remove what branches from each tree is based upon how to establish fruit quality enhancement and how to stimulate tree vigor.  There is probably not a single pruning technique or method that is always perfect.  Each tree has its own unique characteristics and needs an individual touch.  Pruning is a continual learning process, putting into practice several basic concepts and rules.  Once you become familiar with tree growing habits and the basic pruning concepts you should be able to prune any tree with confidence.

Pruning fruit trees has several main purposes: control tree sizes, shape the tree properly and allow sunlight, air and spray to reach the fruit.  Just as we get haircuts to control and eliminate those “bad hair days,” we control the size of the tree with pruning.  Sizeable branches are removed to keep the trees from growing too tall.  Horizontal branches bear fruit but the vertical ones create the form, height and size of the tree.  Branches should be pruned so the initial fruit load actually helps position the branches downward or horizontally.  For fear they will ruin the tree, back yard orchardist sometimes refrain from cutting larger branches and treat the tree like a hedge, shearing off only tips.  This process will make a mess of a productive tree.  Shyness about cutting too much doesn’t help when pruning.  But again, it is imperative to learn what needs to be cut.

Sunlight on the fruit is vital for color and development.  Proper pruning makes the trees open so light can reach the inner branches.  Air movement around the fruit is also essential for disease control and development.  If fruit is not hidden under lots of leaves, it can dry quickly after a rain keeping bacteria from forming on the apple.  We create a thinning effect by removing branches that touch or rub against each other.  Branches that interfere with other parts of the tree are also removed.  Taking out some of the older bearing wood promotes new growth.  This pruning season we are removing much dead wood which is a combined result of the 2012 summer drought and the harsh winter of 2013 with its bitterly cold temperatures.  All trees took a major hit from these natural factors and that includes our fruit trees.

Continue reading →

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