Dont post much but trees are on my mind this am ,, How many here put a fair amount of effort into apple trees and fruit in general ,, my son started a small orchard in 2007 and it has grown to be his full time employment and i love working along side in my retirement . We grow several different varieties and that helps spread out the harvest some , press lots of cider , we are located mid Minnesota and are just finishing pruning ,, looking forward to planting season in about 6 weeks ,, Gearing up for some march winter for a few days then warmer they say ,, Just to keep it trapping related im in charge of varmint control which includes racoon ,rabbits, gophers , voles ect ,,, tell us about your fruit trees at your location

Sounds like a sweet operation. I only have 8 trees. My dad has 6 trees, and together we'll press about 30 gallons of cider a year. I enjoy taking care of them. I'll be pruning mine tomorrow.

Do you have your own press? If so, I'd love to see pictures. We have ours pressed at a nearby orchard.

I have somewhere around 500 apple trees here of various varieties. Some I have bought, some I have dug up from old homesteads and others have just come up all on their own in the middle of nowhere. I typically find 25-50 "new" trees each Spring. There is a sweet spot when the apples leaf out before anything else so they are easy to spot. I have to cage most everything to keep the deer and rabbits away but the mice/shrews/voles do by far the most damage. I have had pretty good success in saving the girdled saplings if I can catch them early and wrap the damaged area with painters tape. I would guess 75% or more will survive of the damaged ones.

We use a lancemen water press ,, about 1200 gals year ,, about 3000 trees ,, theres nothing like home pressed cider and that really helps sell it ,, had deer problems but got them fenced out with 8 ft woven we could not do it here without the fence ,, when we have extra late season dec time frame pour out a 20 bu bin outside the fence and deer consume that in less than a week

Fore voles we make tree guards out of quarter inch galvanized about 10 inches across and 24 inches high and that keeps them off em , Most tree damage is voles but rabbits are blamed more very high deer densities here equals easy venison

Just finished pruning my only tree.
It's an original from before the farm was divided into lots and sold.
Kind of an Angry Orchard tree.
3 yrs getting it back to fruit bearing when it polinates.
A lost variety I believe.
Very nice eating.
Maybe I'll try harder to identify it, if it fruits this year.
Guessing 60 yrs old or more.

My Grandparents had a 73 acre combination dairy farm (13 cows!) and orchards in New Milford, NY. They grew many of the old varieties that I'm not sure are even cultivated anymore like Northern Spy, Baldwin, Wolf River, Lobo, Greening, Milton, Winesap. They also had McIntosh, Red Delicious, Cortland,etc. We used to pack 3 lb. bags and the larger sizes were packed in cardboard boxes and were trucked to the market in Hunts Point, NYC. During WW1 (before my time!), they shipped them in barrels for the military which apparently were sent overseas. I remember pruning trees in late winter, spraying all summer and picking/packing from early September to mid November. Those were some of the best years of my life. We sold the farm in 1978 after my Grandparents had passed away.

This photo is from about 1948

You speak of the older varieties we grow of those ,, wolf river, cortland , macintosh , Haralson for the people from Minnesota also lots of the newer ones also

Which apple varieties fall to the ground last? Google says Goldrush. Is that a good deer one? Suggest a better one?

Big Sam and 160 where do you get your trees. How big are they when you usually get them. Plus which ones do the best in our area? Sorry for all the questions.

If I want to be patient (and cheap) I buy 18-24 inch trees from Yellow River Nursery in WI. If you get 100 they are around $3 each. If I want "instant gratification" I buy 6-8 foot trees from a nursery near McGregor, MN. I think the name is Gelby or something like that. They offer a "variety pack" of 6 adult trees of their choosing and I believe it is about $250. Many of these trees will produce apples the same year they are planted. They choose the varieties but I have been happy with ALL of them. If you need the contact info for either place let me know and I will be glad to help you out.

We order from nurseries on both coasts ,, buy in 100 lots cost with ship runs about $15.00 ea , pick your variety rootstock 2-3 years in advance to get what you want though , lots of great apples out there right now most have some honeycrisp cross in their heritage

I have around 40 producing fruit trees in my front yard and in front of front barn. I have apple, pear, plum, apricot, peach, nectarine and cherry trees there. I also have a grape arbor there. I have around 140 yards of Montmorency cherry trees along my spring fed ditch line. There's a few hundred producing cherry trees. I have one hundred some grapevines on the hillside straight back. I put in 266 grapevines and then about died from an adverse reaction and never got them on wire. I have a few hundred producing mulberry trees and some feral apple and crabapple trees in my woods, some of which produce very heavy some years.

I bought an 85 gallon press at auction, right before my adverse reaction. I've still never used it.



I have producing American and hybrid hazelnut trees and hundreds of producing black walnut trees. I have small chestnut, pecan and shellbark hickory trees.

I have elderberry, raspberry, honeyberry, blackberry and prickly ash that produce fruit too.

I started a nursery, last year and have large numbers of small trees.

Keith

160 I know you are at least a few hours north of me maybe more. I'm near Hinckley. What variety have you found to do well and be a good eating apple for our general areas? Thanks.