Response to Harvestman

12 years ago

Harvestman,

Sorry it took so long to get back to you on a couple of questions from other posts.

Reference the brown rot, why did I question Scott Smith or something to that nature by agreeing with Jean001a. Unfortunately, being in a hurry as I often am I only used my one disease reference books and brown rot was not mentioned as a disease of apples here in Virginia. That is the "Mid-Atlantic Monitoring Guide" published by Northeast Regional Agricultural Engineering Service Cooperative Extension, Ithaca, New York. So, that is why I agreed with Jean about Brown Rot not being an apple disease.

I stand corrected!

Secondly, why was I disappointed with Virginia Vintage Apple. I ordered a Virginia Hewes Crab from them last fall for Spring shipment. They shipped the tree in December. It was during our coldest part of December and the ground was frozen solid. Plus the out door temperatures did not go above freezing for a few days. I had to pot the tree at considerable expense. The shipping was already more than I pay other vendors. To add insult to injury, the tree ended up dying this spring. I do believe they will replace it after talking to them this year. I have visited their orchard and met the family, took some classes there a few years ago. I agreed with you that they are nice people. But, business is business. I don't have money to throw away.

Again, sorry I took so long to answer your questions.

Also, I got my first year's harvest from the Macoun. You asked that I let you know what I think about this apple from a post of mine a year ago about the Macoun. I am a little disappointed with the apple. I believe I took Jellylman's suggestion that it is a better tree for Virginia than the McIntosh. The Macs drop there apples here. The Macoun dropped some but nowhere near the Mac. I don't like an extra sweet, aromatic, crunchy apple. I have since found that Macoun is one of the parents of the Honeycrisp. Just another store bought apple in my opinion!

I try to grow apples that are not readily available in the store. I will confess to growing Granny Smith, but mine are so much better than the store bought ones! I decide when to pick them.

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Comments (5)

bart1
12 years ago
Hoseman -
Were in VA are you located? I'm also growing Macoun as it was (by far) my favorite apple growing up in Central NY. My memory of Jellyman's comments on it was something along the lines of, 'it's too hot and humid down here for it to ripen properly'. Something like that.

I'm further west and at a higher elevation from him (ie cooler, less humid, and fall comes on a couple weeks earlier) so I decided to give it a try. Hopefully I'll get some fruit next year.

Just wondering where you are and what your micro climate is like compared to Jellyman's in Great Falls.

Thanks,
Bart
alan haigh
12 years ago
Hoseman, too bad you didn't just put the crab in the ground in Dec. That probably would have worked better than a spring planting anyway. I plant up here until the ground freezes and the only trees that maybe suffer from it are mulberries. I'm talking about transplanting bare roots.

How much did they charge for shipping? Shouldn't have been too much by UPS just shipping inter-Virginia. Smaller companies often have to pay more for shipping though.

Maybe Macoun would function better in partial shade down there so it would ripen in weaker sun and cooler weather. A better mac type for you might be Spartan.

One season is totally inadequate to evaluate an apple and sometimes I change my opinion after several harvests. Jonagold is an example of a variety that is often very good here, but if it is too warm when they ripen it might not be. It is still well worth growing here because of its unique qualities- reliable annual bearing (unusual for a high quality late here), very good flavor, and the ability to hold it's texture when cooked, to name three.

I wasn't that serious about the rot issue and it was more about Scott than you. He usually is pretty studious and very reliable in his interpretation of research. I've gotten a lot of useful info from him.

Best, Alan Haigh
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hoseman
Original Author
12 years ago
bart1,

I am near the Northern Neck. We are about a week or two warmer than Jellyman in Great Falls, I am probably 70 miles South East of him. I think Harvertman might be onto something. I need to give them a another year or two before writing them off. Also, I have found picking at the right time and storing at the proper temperature for a given period of time will improve the taste of some varieties. But, as I stated in my first impression they were too much like the super market honeycrisp.
hoseman
Original Author
12 years ago
Harvestman,

Yes, I should have held it in the cool garage until outdoor temperatures were above freezing and then set it out. Actually, I have pulled snow back and set out fruit trees and they survived. But, I was prepared to do this as I knew the trees would be arriving in December. What got me here was the surprise. Also, I don't recall any statement about replacing trees that don't leaf out or live past a certain date like many nurseries do.

The shipping for one tree was $15.00, compared to my other orders for the year, Sanhedrin $15 for two trees all the way from the West Coast; Adams County invoice showed no shipping cost for 5 trees, price must have been priced into the trees. Virginia Vintage was also more expensive per tree. They have a tough operation growing heirloom trees "of old" and I suspect they feel they are offering something no one else has, which I agree
that they offer a larger variety of heirloom trees around.
alan haigh
12 years ago
Around VA but not in the country. Sounds like Trees of Antiquity might provide a better deal as does Cummins, right?

Last spring Sanhedran sent me the first retail order I've placed for some time because I usually order wholesale. I was surprised how small the trees were and annoyed that they'd removed so much root for shipping- they'd made the trees quite small to keep shipping costs down. Trees grew fine but I still lost about a year as when I get larger diametered trees with plenty of root.

It amazes me how much prices have gone up in 15 years or so for individual trees from these places. Now I know why people get tempted to by from Home Depot.

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