Ab Pip as in Newtown? I don't know, my niece's were pretty much bug free with no spray but it's (or was ... I'm working on her and her acres :) ) the only apple within sight and her pear is extremely hard and late. I'd love to put a scion from her tree there but I think it would be the same problem different apple. If you meant AR Black it seems fairly bug resistant. By the time that tree was bearing the bugs were winning the organic battle and I was giving up and not even trapping. I'd still get a handful that weren't perfect for storage but were edible. I had some perfect apples from it during my neglect period but nothing to get excited about. Most of the damaged late term apples from it were apple maggot, they're constant all through the summer. I didn't start spraying (which is where I am a newbie) until late June/early July last year and there were some curculio drops but nothing like from the Cortland/McIntosh. But they are rock hard, or if I was writing a catalog, "crisp" (I wonder if the kids that stole a branchful in September will be stealing any this year). I hope my flowers are off and it's not going to rain so I can get out and spray today. A good fruit set of McIntosh without a wave of curculio drops will be heaven.

Fruitnut - Thanks. Any pointers on what I'm looking for with cambium damage? What does that type of damage indicate? Applenut - I had been using my felco bypass pruners. What do you mean by little clippers, and are they less likely to spread fire blight? When using pruners, I did disinfect the pruners with lysol spray before doing the thinning. I didn't disinfect between each cut, as I had not seen evidence of fire blight. Is this a valid approach, or should I handle differently? Is the lysol spray as effective as a torch? Also... from the photos... some of the stubs that have fire blight are pretty short and lead to one of the future scaffolding branches (similarly, there is one near the top of the leader). The first photo is a good example of this. Do I need to remove these scaffolding branches (to 6-8" inside of the last fire blight)?

Sandra, The Cooperative Extension service is a nationwide educational network with the local (county), state and federal governments working with the land grant universities. Most of their information is unbiased and research based so it is always a good place to start accumulating some knowledge especially as it pertains to your local conditions. I'm a relatively new member to the GardenWeb. There is a wealth of information here from some very experienced growers. I think that this Fruit Forum is an excellant place to get information concerning varities and information for specific problems such as pest control,etc. A couple of years ago I stopped and talked to an elderly (75 year old) that has an apple orchard (200 plus) trees about what products he used for spraying. He recommended Immidan 70% WP for insects and Rally 40 WP for a fungicide. I have had good results with both. If I had known about this Fruit Forum years ago the good people here would have saved me hundreds of dollars that I wasted buying Fruit Tree Spray manufactured by Bonide. Inform yourself as to when to use copper, lime/sulphur and horticultural oil if you decide you will have to have some sort of spray program in order to harvest some useable fruit. You might call(or better yet, stop by if you have the time) your county extension if you have concerns about your trees blooming out of season. Hope your efforts are fruitful. Gary

No probs. It would always depend on the pie pan size. The 8 inch shallow type (store bought sizes), usually take about a quart of filling. I have a nine inch, deep type stainless steel pan with drip edge. It takes nearly 2 quarts of filling. I just finished it last night. The easiest pie crust are the rolled up ones in suppermarkets. You allow them to go to room temp, unroll, and place one crust in the pie pan, and lightly pres it in. Cut off any that overhangs the edges out to the rim. Then, smear soft margerine or butter on the inside bottom of the crust so it will not get soggy when its filled and baked. Add the filling, then place the top crust on. Wipe the edges with a water soaked paper towel where its to be sealed. I don't bother folding over/under the top crust at the edges, but instead, trim off the excess around the edges out to the rim. I use the tines of a fork to press a seal all around the edges. Then, I wipe the top with water and sprinkle a little granulated sugar on it. Cut a small hole in the top crust near the middle for steam to vent. Here, because my pie pans are bigger and deeper, I use two packages of crust. I unroll one, wipe it with water (using a wet paper towel), then carefully place a second crust on top of it. I use flour nd a rolling pin to roll it out a little larger, so it will fit my big pan. I do the same with the top crust, using the two remaining rolls of dough. I bake at about 425, for about an hour, or until lightly brown. Becuase the fork crimped edges tend to darken fast, I make a long strip of aluminium foil to wrap around the edges, so it will prevent too much browning at first. Once it all starts to brown on top slightly, I remove the foil from around the edges. If sugar is used, be prepared as it can boil over, so place foil under neath the pan. Because I use Splenda as a sweetener as it doesn't boil over or burn like sugar does.