Gardening 2020

MoochNNoodles

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I found a new (to me at least) apple variety at the local orchard. Cinnamon Crisp I think it was called. They said it was similar to a Honeycrisp with a good crunch. It. Is. SO. Good!! I don't taste "cinnamon" but to me it tastes like apple pie. :yummy: They are a perfect size to go with lunch or as a snack too. I've been wanting to plant some kind of fruit tree. If I can get those somewhere; I think that's what I'd do. I just need to see about space and things. I was thinking about planting some new lilacs on one side of my house. But that space might work for a couple apple trees instead. Maybe I can do both.
 

rubysmama

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I found a new (to me at least) apple variety at the local orchard. Cinnamon Crisp I think it was called. They said it was similar to a Honeycrisp with a good crunch. It. Is. SO. Good!! I don't taste "cinnamon" but to me it tastes like apple pie. :yummy: They are a perfect size to go with lunch or as a snack too. I've been wanting to plant some kind of fruit tree. If I can get those somewhere; I think that's what I'd do.
I love apples, and those ones sound delicious. Not to be confused, of course, with apples already named "Delicious". ;) Definitely do some research before planting apple trees, as I already mentioned you have to have at least 2 trees to to get edible apples. And not sure if, like high bush blueberries, the trees need to be different varieties, or if they can be the same.
 

MoochNNoodles

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I love apples, and those ones sound delicious. Not to be confused, of course, with apples already named "Delicious". ;) Definitely do some research before planting apple trees, as I already mentioned you have to have at least 2 trees to to get edible apples. And not sure if, like high bush blueberries, the trees need to be different varieties, or if they can be the same.
I’ve always heard to plant two. It looks like if I can get them; they won’t be the cheapest because it’s unlikely to be local. I’ll definitely do my research. It would be cool to have a property large enough for a bit of orchard space. Few apples, a few pears or plums and peaches! :yummy:

My mother had one apple tree but eventually cut it down. She did get some decent size apples but they were always mishappen had bug issues. One of her friends has a mini-farm and told her she needed to spray in addition to better pollinating. She’s trying a fig tree now. The local orchard uses kaolin clay on their apples. One of the guys driving the tractor for apple picking told us about it because people would see the residue and think it was a chemical pesticide. (I would have too if he hadn’t said it.) They had a lot of bee hives nearby so I’m sure they are concerned for them too. No bees; no fruit trees!
 

catapault

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Honeybees are not native to the USA. Colonists brought them from Europe. Along with earthworms but that's another story. We have native solitary bees, such as bumblebees. Crab apples are native for us, but domestic apples are thought to have originated in the mountains of Kazakhstan.

They're working a generation or so out from Honeycrisp. I had some named Evercrisp. Good, not better.
 

DreamerRose

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Research those apple trees. I'm sure there are some that are self-pollinating if you want only one. I used to have one Red Delicious and one Golden Delicious. A neighbor who also had fruit trees kept a hive or two, so we had plenty of pollinators. I did spray, but the way to get really large apples is to pinch off all but one apple from a cluster while they are still tiny. That reduces your harvest, but really we had bushels and bushels of apples from two medium size trees. More than we needed.

The trees come in miniature, small, and large sizes when fully grown, so if you don't have much space, the miniature trees would do well.
 

Graceful-Lily

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After only a month in the fridge (first placed them in there November 18th), my apple seeds sprouted. I'm out of dirt and pots so I'll have to see if I can find some online or in store next time I get groceries. Not expecting good apples from them. Just wanted to experiment.
 

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rubysmama

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After only a month in the fridge (first placed them in there November 18th), my apple seeds sprouted. I'm out of dirt and pots so I'll have to see if I can find some online or in store next time I get groceries. Not expecting good apples from them. Just wanted to experiment.
Very cool. :thumbsup:

Now I'm thinking I'd like to try growing an apple tree from seed again, but not sure if I have any soil around either. May have to wait till spring.

About the seeds, did you soak them before putting them in the fridge?
 

MoochNNoodles

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DH found a cool wheelbarrow that might become my Christmas present. It has 4 chunky wheels but is designed so you can dump it. It looks sort of like a cross between a wagon and a wheelbarrow. I often use my kid’s wagon to move soil and pots around the yard. So I think it would get a lot of use. I need to look at them again. They had different sizes and one hooks to a riding lawn mower too. We have a hitch on our mower to help move the kayak trailer already so this could be really great!
 

Graceful-Lily

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Very cool. :thumbsup:

Now I'm thinking I'd like to try growing an apple tree from seed again, but not sure if I have any soil around either. May have to wait till spring.

About the seeds, did you soak them before putting them in the fridge?
No soaking or scarifying. I just placed them on a wet paper towel in a container and stuck them in the fridge. I say go for it! It's not a great time to be planting these now but I'm inside and bored. And my peaches and orange seedlings are doing great so I think they will be fine until spring.
 

rubysmama

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No soaking or scarifying. I just placed them on a wet paper towel in a container and stuck them in the fridge. I say go for it! I
Couldn't be much easier than that. :)

Just did a quick google search about apple trees grown from seed, and I knew they wouldn't produce apples the same as the one the seed came from, but didn't know why. Now I do. It's because the seed contains genes from both the tree it grew from, but also the tree the pollen that the bee brought came from. More at this link: The Downsides to Growing an Apple From Seed
 

rubysmama

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This is them now. 18 germinated and there was more but I didn't have space for the others so I tossed them. Hoping there will at least be a couple strong ones from this bunch.
Oh, they're so cute. Isn't nature amazing! :)
 
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