altadenamara, thanks for the book tips, i will look for all 3 u suggest ! i've read all i can get at our little library , but they may be able to buy some i suggest as this is a rural area and " gardening/farming " books get good use. i've been tearing up the internet for over a year now researching,sourcing and basically educating myself. i expect anytime now yahoo or google is gonna respond telling me to quit looking up fuit tree stuff. trust me i'm aware of the costs involved in my "orchard project" and it's just a part of my re-forestation and wildlife enhancement project. i wish i could slow a little on the trees , but i definitly have to water them to get them established and i don't wish to drag fruit tree establishment ever the next decade so i have to put a fair number in each year. my zeal on research and such is to hopefully reduce the number of mistakes i'm bound to make and have already made a few. thanks altadenamara harvestman , nafex appears to be on my to do list. i believe they have books and videos and such you can borrow as a member and i bet that alone is worth the nominal dues. i am snooping around a bit locally to see what the pros are growing here and what info. i can gather from them regarding pests and diseases. have penciled in the roxbury, jonagold and baldwin. been eyeing them all up and so far can't find a negative. planted a golden russet this fall and with your info. another is forthcoming. gravensteins are 1 of my favorites and i already planned on 2 planted in successive years due to their biennial tendencies even though i doubt that makes a diff in what years they decide to bear. i will add a 3rd now in the hopes of getting some every year. as i don't currently have any pears . i plan on a chojuro and shinko this spring as for the asians. i do wish a seckal and am searching for a suitable pollinator to keep it company. i believe they should do well on my property. as pears seem to be the most "carefree" fruit i do want to plant at least 50-100 as part of my 300 tree total. i have approx. 25 old apples and 3 groves of prunes and plums along with 2 huge apricots. the apples produce well but do get "wormy". no pests and problems with the plums and prunes. apricots only bear 2 years out of 3 but have huge crops that don't get big individual fruits however they are edible. the deer stand under them when the wind blows just daring 1 to drop. last year in addition to a dozen or so apples i planted sweet cherries, apricots, and peaches to see " if they grow" and later " see if they produce" my fave dessert apple is a grimes and my cooker is a summer rambo. im wistfully dreaming of these 2 in the future. thanks harvestman

Friend of mine goes to the mountains a lot and always buys apples on the way home. The lady at the orchard let him try a Virginia Beauty and he said it was great. Did a google search on it and it seems it was a popular apple that is making a comeback. I may try to find some scion next winter. I wonder how well it will do in SC with high heat and 600 chill hours.

Chestnut crab consistently wins rave reviews for flavor(hasn't fruited for me, so I can't speak first-hand), and came out of the UofMN program, so it should be cold-hardy for you there. Wickson also gets good reviews for flavor, but I've not fruited it, either. Centennial crab(DolgoXWealthy)is a first-rate "lunchbox apple"(edible crab) - a favorite here, my one tree doesn't produce enough of them to surpass the demand for fresh eating, so I have no idea about cooking with them - we would never waste a tasty Centennial to make some ol' applesauce. Kerr crab(DolgoXHaralson) is good,too. A little smaller than Centennial, with a more tart flavor and a musky 'wine' undertone. Dolgo is pretty good, in its own right; I like to eat 'em, but it also makes pretty good jelly Some of the red-fleshed crabs might work for you; they're crappy here(as Ed Fackler warned they would be) - but certainly would add nice red color to anything you made with them. Almata is best here(reasonably tasty right off the tree), followed by Geneva, with Giant Russian and Winter Red Flesh both bottom-of-the-barrel.

You're right, I could top-work the trellised trees by cutting them off at the lowest wire and grafting there. Definitely a viable option, since the root system is already developed. I've grafted so many trees in my orchard that I had to stop. One semidwarf on mm111 has upwards of 6 or 7 varities and I can't keep track.. I was diligent about labeling at first but I eventually got lazy! Yes, I have been to Vernon's orchard, thats where most of my trees and scion wood are from. I'm about 45 miles east of his farm, in central NC. That's crazy that Red Rebel is delicious in Cally. I updated my page with some more recent pics. Cheers!