Scott,

Thanks for your post; it is really helpful for those of us in the mid-Atlantic looking for what grows well here. I was rather intrigued to know what you did this year regarding spraying. I seem to recall that you had planned to use Surround.

On the apples, peaches and plums I used Surround plus spinosad and it worked very well. I had some curc damage but it was mainly from starting the sprays a bit too late. I probably had 10% moth damage or less over all fruits, which is very good as far as I am concerned. I also bagged quite a few fruits with footies but I expect I will skip that next year since the sprays worked well enough. The apples in footies are more likely to be blemish-free so they did help, if I had only a few fruits I would consider bagging instead.

On the downside, I had a lot of fireblight strikes and may need to spray antibiotics next spring. I had done copper dormant sprays in previous winters but last winter I only did lime-sulphur and I wonder if that did not put me at more risk. I had never had major fireblight problems before. Also some varieties of apples have significant surface blemish problems, they need some disease spray I guess. I am leaning to just pulling those guys out rather than having to spray the apples for diseases. Cedar apple rust has been cosmetic on most trees but also a few trees seem to be magnets and those may have to go.

Scott

Thanks Scott,

I really enjoyed reading your opinions.

I'm disappointed to hear that Howard's Miracle has been difficult because I was planning to plant one this spring.

I've been disappointed with the health of my European plum varieties that I have grafted onto a Peach rootstock. this year the Italian Prune and Early Laxton have been having a very hard time. The only plums I got were 2 Reine Claude de Bavay fruits. The one that was ripe "tastes like candy" according to my girlfriend.

My grapes are putting on their first crop this year.

I've been tasting them every day or so because I've never had them before and I'm not sure when they are supposed to be ripe.

So far Sweet Seduction is my favorite be far and Venus seems like a dud. Sweet Seduction is very sweet when ripe and has a spicy finish that almost leaves the back of my throat itchy. I only allowed a handful of bunches to grow this season. I'm looking forward to getting enough to juice.

My Muscat Ottonnel may not be ripe yet. It is my only seeded grape and the fruits are much larger than the seedless. So far they are very bland. Hopefully they add flavor as they develop. I'm not too optimistic though because I assume that grapes go from sour to sweet, but that a grape that is destined to be flavorful will have some type of flavor before it is dead ripe. Hope I'm wrong.

I also have Canadice and Glenora that hopefully aren't ripe yet because they are either sour or not that flavorful.

Jupiter and Einset haven't fruited for me yet.

Murky, Howard Miracle may in fact grow fine in your climate which is quite a bit different than mine. For me it is a bad shot-hole magnet and does not pollinate well in spite of being quite a big tree. Also it has a very strange growing habit, sending out way too many small shoots to make a very dense canopy. This year I was set to get my first plum (that is plum in the singular, off a tree with a 5" diameter trunk) and something stole it so I never got to try the fruit.

One thing I am not sure about the Japanese plums that are not pollinating well is if they wil improve with age. I am probably going to get rid of my Howard Miracle this winter due to its unmanageable growth habit, and the Elephant heart is pretty much gone already since it was a shothole "typhoid mary" earlier this spring so I topworked it, but I am going to try to hang on to the others awhile longer.

Thanks for the report on the Sweet Seduction, I was interested in that one. I could not tell from the Raintree description if it was a vinafera or not but I am guessing it is.

Scott

I agree with your KOR assessment, but I want to ask you where you purchased your Ribston, because mine are small. I really think there are only a few places to obtain some of these varieties to make sure you get the correct one. I am about ready to pull Tomcot out of the ground. On Monday they are not too ripe, but on Wednesday they are going to the ground. Few things bother me more with a variety.
I am not happy with most plums I planted. They are nothing special. Very disappointed in Laroda. My dad always said Santa Rosa wasn't worth it and he was right. I do like Italien prune and will always have it in the orchard.
I am diametrically opposed to your position on sour cherries.
All views and observations are IMHO, and in consideration of my climate, soil, methods, taste buds, etc. etc.

How old are your Tomcot and Puget Gold? When did they start to bear fruit? That La Crescent plum sounds interesting, i'll have to look it up. I have a Reliance grape, but its only in its first year.

Geraldo, I was thinking my Ribston was from Cummins, but I just looked it up and it was from Botner. He is not completely reliable so you may be on to something there. I looked up some web pictures though and it does look pretty similar to the size, shape, and coloring of my apples. I also learned it is a triploid which tends to make apples big. My Tomcot also did what yours did, but the tree is right in a traffic area so I didn't mind it so much.

Frank, those apricot trees are in their 5th year. They fruited a touch last year and a bit more this year (still not a lot). I lost at least a year on them due to cicadas so you should subtract a year.

Scott

Scott, it is possible that there are two strains of Ribston running around out there, just as there are at least two strains of Foxwhelp apple. I guess. I have also heard this about Indian peaches and Bing cherry and Concord grape. A big Ribston would be a nice apple to have.

Scott-
Here is what my "Growing Fruit In The Upper Midwest" by Don Gordon says about "La Crescent" plum.

"LaCrescent ('Golden LaCrescent','Golden Minnesota'). Introduced at Excelsior, Minnesota, in 1923, this plum is a cross of 'Shiro' X 'Howard yellow'. The fruit is small to medium, and the skin is yellow, sometimes with a light blush. The flesh is yellow, sweet, juicy, freestone, and somewhat suggestive of apricots. The fruit quality is excellent for fresh eating, good for jam, and fair to good for jelly. The tree is vigorous but only moderately productive."

Not sure what would pollinate it? I have Superior and Alderman.

Scott-

How have your paw paw done this year? I know from doing a little searching you grow those too.

Thanks, Scott, for posting your observations. KOR looks seductive, but I'm not going to get any more trees. I can't care with the few I have. I envy your obsessive dedication! I agree on Galas's, the store-boughts just don't measure up. I just picked my three, yes THREE, today and surprised my wife with a slice. She is always astonished at the real food that comes out of our orchard and garden. Hmmm. Maybe just one more tree...

Franktank...I didn't get any pawpaws this year (but then again one bloomed b4 the freeze and the other afterwards and before now only one had bloomed).

I do see buds on 3 of my 6 for next year, though.

~Chills

I'm actually stratifying seed for next spring. I have zone denial and plan on chancing it. Too bad on that paw paw situation. Around here they are unheard of and very few people even know what they are.

Frank, I'll try to post a followup on my later harvests. I should go look at my pawpaws, the fruit are big and should be ripening soon.

Dethride, if you are obsessive like me you really have to watch it. All those variety descriptions are siren songs. I am actually quite relieved now that I have no more room for more trees, all I can do is graft varieties on to what I already have.

Scott

Here is the small orchard story here in southern New Hampshire.

Shinseiki pears -- sweet, delicious and plentful. 3 trees.

Hosui pears -- productive, large fruit, not ripe yet though. 1 tree

Saturn peaches -- attacked by some blight, tiny, terrible. This was the first year they bore fruit. 1 tree

Champion peaches -- white, delicious fruit, very small fruit though. I need to learn how many to thin out. Way too many fruit to be useful. 1 tree.

Elberta peach -- lots of fruit, some big peaches, still not rip yet. 1 tree

Queen's Cox pippin -- only 3 apples on this tree there were about 6. Will this tree ever produce any fruit? 1 tree

northstar and Lapin cherries -- terrible. Hardly any cherries. Maybe too young. The northstar got some kind of wilt on it too.

OK here are some more things for me which are coming out nicely.

Claygate Pearmain - this apple has loads of flavor, with a nice touch of sourness along with it. Excellent!

Hawaii This apple is a lot like its parent Yellow Delicious, but it is more "clean" in taste. Very aromatic.

Hewes Crab This is primarily a cider apple but I just love eating them fresh. They only have a small amount of tannins in them but a huge amount of flavor. They go mealy fast but they are so good I still want to eat every single bite of the mealy ones.

Mother I had some of these too early and they were nothing special. They need to hang on the tree until there is no green left on the bottom. At that point you need to pick them and eat them right away. If eaten this way they are one of the most aromatic and flavorful sweet apples out there. They go downhill fast. This is a great home apple and a horrible commercial one given the small window of picking. They ripen over a period of a couple weeks.

Reinette de Cuzy This is a French variety not common here. It has an unusual savory taste which I like a lot.

Canada Reinette This is primarily a cooking apple but is also great fresh eating if you like sweet-sour apples. It is sweet plus sour plus wonderfully aromatic.

Roxbury Russet A classic American variety which has been growing very well for me. It has a well-balanced sweet-sour flavor. Not aromatic like Canada Reinette however.

Indian Free peach This is different from the Indian Cling above, they are completely unrelated. It is a fresh eating peach with a delicate flavor that is unique. Not tart like the Indian Cling. It is very late, I just harvested them.

Honey Jar jujube Pleasant honeyed favor

Li jujube Nice and sweet; Honey Jar is a touch better but Li is also very good.

In general I would call jujubes "keepers" - pleasant crunchy fruit with no pests or diseases to fight off. I'm not sure why these guys didn't catch on more.

Scott

I see Sanhedrin Nursery lists the Indian Free peach. Does this ripen later then all your other peaches? Does it bloom later? How about fruit size? I've been tossing around adding an Elberta, but maybe this would work better.

Saturn peach: not worth the space in your orchard.
Sweet 16 apple: this? this is the apple about which people have been raving? No flavor one week and then the next they have brown seeds with not too bad of a flavor; only problem is the flesh turns brown almost instantly.
Splendour apple: what a dud.

Frank, Indian Free is the latest blooming and the latest ripening of my 30 or so peach varieties. Well, maybe not quite, Heath Cling has still not ripened. But the tree produced only one peach so the timing is not too accurate. The peaches have been a bit on the small side for me, bigger than apricots but smaller than the modern store peach. One advantage of the later peaches is you can produce more peach flesh on a tree with a later peach since it has so much longer to increase their size. In other words less thinning is needed.

Scott

Interesting, thanks. Your going to live to a 100 eating all this home grown fruit!

I'm sure I've probably asked and you've probably answered (either me or someone else) before, but how old were the jujube's when they started to fruit?

~Chills

Chills, I have found them to be inconsistent. You can get a few fruits the same year from some varieties, and some other trees are 4 years old with no fruit. Honey Jar and Li are some of the fastest ones. Tsao is also producing a lot for me (but, they are boring in taste so far). Lang, Sugar Cane, Shanxi Li and Shui Men are all four years old and no fruit.

Scott

Scott-

Could you please inform me where you got your "Indian Free" peach from? I'm tempted to order it since its so late for ripening, but i don't want to order the wrong one! I could only find it here:

http://www.sanhedrinnursery.com/detail.php?pid=242

Thanks.

Frank, I got it from the same ultimate source, Dave Wilson Nursery. I got it through Bay Laurel Nursery, one of the other nurseries selling DW trees online.

I owe another installment on the fruits.

Wickson - this little apple has been excellent. It needs to hang until the background turns yellow. It keeps a long time. The taste is more like a stone fruit: sweet/sour like a plum and the aroma of peaches and apricots. Yum!!

Myers Royal Limbertwig - A very nice apple on the sweet side with good aroma as well. It has the pendulant branch habit of many limbertwigs.

Rambour d'Hiver - a large French apple which is pretty obscure these days. It is actually not that different from many American apples, e.g. Stayman Winesap comes to mind. Not a strong aromatic favor but a very good sweet/sour balance plus an exceptionally good crunch.

Gold Rush - not too many apples this year but they are all excellent - hard, flavorful, with this unusual anise/spicy flavor. A truly great gourmet apple. The quality of the fruit has been very good. The tree did well except it gets cedar apple rust - not sure why this tree touted for such disease resitance is a CAR magnet.

Most of my White Winter Pearmain dropped to early, I think the tree lacked water (it sits on a raised area). But, a couple hung on and they are really excellent apples -- something like a Mutsu but quite a bit more concentrated in aromatic flavors.

My Geneva 3 hardy kiwis are coming in now, tons of 'em. They are ripening unevenly which makes harvest difficult. I don't like them until they have started to shrivel, they are too acidic before then. Fully ripened they are very good, a bit better than a good Hayward.

I had a big harvest of quince and made various compotes, jelllies, etc. I don't know how big a fan I am of them, it takes a lot of quince to make jelly and I feel like I am just flavoring sugar. My wife made a baked quince recipe which was very good. If nothing else the quince will be handy as pectin for other jellies and jams.

Scott

Scott, I love your reports and updates.

Last year I discovered quince and made jelly, quince butter which were both good. This year I started baking them and I think that is the best application. I also think sugar sweetened quince sauce is better than apple sauce.

I like them baked skin on halved or quartered with about half and inch of water and pretty well dosed with lavendar sugar. Mmmm, with a scoup of fancy vanilla icecream and a little of the reduced syrup from the pan it is amazing.

For the jelly/butter I'd cook the quince in a little water and then strain for juice. The juice became jelly and the solids become butter with a bunch of cinnamon and sugar. I liked the jelly (subtle) but others seemed to like the butter better.

All of the above was with Pineapple variety of quince I believe.

I wish I'd tried the Wickson crabs this year as was suggested to me.

Scott,

I am planning to plant a quince this fall or next spring. Quinces have a lot of culinary uses. In middle eastern cooking they are often cooked with meat. The Spanish have a quince paste called membrillo eaten with cheese or meats -- it is quite tasty. The quinces are stewed with water and then sieved and boiled with sugar and then put into grease proof pains and cut into small slices when cold. You can usually find lots of quince recipes in old English cookbooks, but a more modern author to check out is Jane Grigson. She has a whole book on fruit recipes you can probably locate on Amazon. Old 19th century cookbooks (and also some classic books on fruit growing) can be downloaded as (big) PDF files from Google books.

Thank you.

I think everyone here appreciates your updates.

Those kiwis sound good! My wife and I eat them whole, skin on. I've bought a ton of the New Zealand Zespri brand kiwis. They are gigantic and 3/$1.00 at the local coop.

Murky, thanks for the cooking tips. I was about to toss the jelly leftovers, a big bowl of quince mush, but decided to try some quince sauce so added sugar to the mush. It is indeed very good! I'm glad I can get double use out of it.

Scott

Thanks for mentioning the 'Indian Cling'. I planted one last spring. H Depot tag says it is 'Indian Blood Peach'. Grown by Glen Wilson Nursery, Oregon, and has print of a VERY large peach. GWN site says they grow 40 million pots a year!

On the internet ; "The 'Indian Blood Peach' has wild parentage and is said to have good disease resistance."

I need to transplant my 'Indian Blood Peach' to the peach row in front yard this winter. I'll add scions to my trade list after 2008 season.

Here is a link that might be useful: Indian Blood or Cherokee Peach