What's Growing in the Garden

trc65 · Sep 16, 2022

Right now, I only have the Winesap and a Honeycrisp. Need to get another pollinator for the Honeycrisp as it's a little too far away from the ornamental crabs for good pollination. Winesap is a triploid variety which has sterile pollen and won't pollinate other trees.

The Honeycrisp only produced about a dozen apples this year, so no other apples to mix with the Winesap for cider. Another reason to get another tree or two...

sprucegum · Sep 16, 2022

trc65 said:
Right now, I only have the Winesap and a Honeycrisp. Need to get another pollinator for the Honeycrisp as it's a little too far away from the ornamental crabs for good pollination. Winesap is a triploid variety which has sterile pollen and won't pollinate other trees.

The Honeycrisp only produced about a dozen apples this year, so no other apples to mix with the Winesap for cider. Another reason to get another tree or two...

All of ours were old varieties, my hands down favorite was winter banana. They are very late and don't turn bright red until we get a light frost or 2. Large, red, and firm with a sweet banana like flavor. Good eating and great for pies.

Sprung · Sep 16, 2022

I'd love to plant some fruit trees, but we've never had to take care of fruit trees before. What's involved in growing and taking care of them? Some previous research led to people saying just do nothing all the way up to the amount of work they put into a few trees is about near a full time job. Not really having a good idea of the work involved has kept us from planting some. Apple, cherry, and pear are ones that would interest us if we ever plant fruit trees.

How are the Winesap apples? Never had them and am curious about the taste.

Our favorite variety, which we discovered at a local apple orchard, is Zestar. They have a nice balance of sweet and tart, without being too much of either. They are not mealy. And we've liked them for both fresh eating and baking. They're an early apple, so one of the first ones ripe. This weekend I'll be making a batch of apple pie filling using them - as I have the last couple years after discovering them.

In MN there were a few apple trees in the church yard, behind the parsonage, that one of the members took care of (along with his own personal orchard of a couple dozen different types of trees). One of the trees back there was an old Haralson - old enough that the old timers at church remembered eating apples off it as children. That tree produced some great tasting apples. Was a sad day when we cut it down, but it was mostly dead and was only getting worse.

Sprung · Sep 16, 2022

Still harvesting peppers - and hope to be doing so for a bit yet. Have a couple varieties that I haven't picked any of yet as they're not ripe yet - still waiting for them to start turning colors. But last night I used shishitos, along with some poblanos, cubanelles, and jalapenos, and made poppers - peppers stuffed with a cream cheese/sour cream/shredded cheddar mix, then wrapped with bacon. Freeze them, then put in Foodsaver bags and back into the freezer. Will be great to pull a package or two out and smoke or grill them whenever we want some. Last night's batch was the second batch I've done thus far.

Tonight I'm canning pickles and dilly beans. This weekend I'm also working on drying herbs in the dehydrator.

With tomatoes finally coming in, I'll be making sauce soon.

Running out of freezer space - and that's with two freezers. There are worse problems to have!

sprucegum · Sep 16, 2022

Sprung said:
Still harvesting peppers - and hope to be doing so for a bit yet. Have a couple varieties that I haven't picked any of yet as they're not ripe yet - still waiting for them to start turning colors. But last night I used shishitos, along with some poblanos, cubanelles, and jalapenos, and made poppers - peppers stuffed with a cream cheese/sour cream/shredded cheddar mix, then wrapped with bacon. Freeze them, then put in Foodsaver bags and back into the freezer. Will be great to pull a package or two out and smoke or grill them whenever we want some. Last night's batch was the second batch I've done thus far.

Tonight I'm canning pickles and dilly beans. This weekend I'm also working on drying herbs in the dehydrator.

With tomatoes finally coming in, I'll be making sauce soon.

Running out of freezer space - and that's with two freezers. There are worse problems to have!

With just the 2 of us we have to be careful not to overdo the preserving. Hard as it is to waste a little we have learned it makes just as good compost before it's been canned, pickled, or frozen

. Wife has a couple dozen empty jars left for some carrots and beet pickles then we are done. Haven't forgotten those dried beans, we need a good frost to kill the plants, then I will pull them and put them in the attic to dry.

Mr. Peet · Sep 16, 2022

sprucegum said:
All of ours were old varieties, my hands down favorite was winter banana. They are very late and don't turn bright red until we get a light frost or 2. Large, red, and firm with a sweet banana like flavor. Good eating and great for pies.

No frost yet?

sprucegum · Sep 16, 2022

Mr. Peet said:
No frost yet?

Nope

trc65 · Sep 16, 2022

Winesap is a tart/sweet heirloom variety that dates to the early 1800's. Good flavor, we've used them for pies, butters, dehydrated, applesauce, and cakes. Here is a quote from one site describing the flavor: "Winesap apples have a sweet, fruity, and spice-like aroma and a balanced, sweet-tart flavor with tangy, sweet, and subtly savory wine-like nuances."

They've got a fairly thick, tough skin but I don't peel them before eating fresh. Crisp, non mealy texture, they are sid to be a decent storage apple although I don't try other than keeping some in the fridge. Historically, they were used a lot as the base apple for ciders. They are one of the latest maturing apples and it can be well into October for maturity some years.

Don't know if they would survive in your area Matt, they are a zone 5-8 apple.

Growing apples is not difficult, but can require a lot of insecticide sprays if you want really nice looking ones. They should be pruned every year in late winter, but pruning my two semi dwarf trees takes about 1 hour annually. Pears are about the same as apples in regards to care, annual pruning and insecticide sprays periodically.

Cherry trees (sour) need annual pruning, but a lot less sprays.

Bottom line on fruit trees is all of them will need annual pruning, but that is no big deal. From there, it's up to you how much you want to spray or monitor for insect pests. Some won't spray at all. Some will spray every week or ten days, which I think is way overkill unless you have an orchard that is selling to the public.

Unless you have a lot of space, I'd recommend dwarf rootstock on fruit trees. Even a semi dwarf tree can overwhelm small areas. I buy mostly bare root trees in the spring which will generally be 3-5' tall.

Time from planting to fruit production varies and is generally quicker for dwarf than semi dwarf. Apples 4-5 years, pears 5-7 years, cherry and plum 3-5 years. The time will also vary somewhat depending on variety.

2feathers Creative Making · Sep 16, 2022

trc65 said:
Winesap is a tart/sweet heirloom variety that dates to the early 1800's. Good flavor, we've used them for pies, butters, dehydrated, applesauce, and cakes. Here is a quote from one site describing the flavor: "Winesap apples have a sweet, fruity, and spice-like aroma and a balanced, sweet-tart flavor with tangy, sweet, and subtly savory wine-like nuances."

They've got a fairly thick, tough skin but I don't peel them before eating fresh. Crisp, non mealy texture, they are sid to be a decent storage apple although I don't try other than keeping some in the fridge. Historically, they were used a lot as the base apple for ciders. They are one of the latest maturing apples and it can be well into October for maturity some years.

Don't know if they would survive in your area Matt, they are a zone 5-8 apple.

Growing apples is not difficult, but can require a lot of insecticide sprays if you want really nice looking ones. They should be pruned every year in late winter, but pruning my two semi dwarf trees takes about 1 hour annually. Pears are about the same as apples in regards to care, annual pruning and insecticide sprays periodically.

Cherry trees (sour) need annual pruning, but a lot less sprays.

Bottom line on fruit trees is all of them will need annual pruning, but that is no big deal. From there, it's up to you how much you want to spray or monitor for insect pests. Some won't spray at all. Some will spray every week or ten days, which I think is way overkill unless you have an orchard that is selling to the public.

Unless you have a lot of space, I'd recommend dwarf rootstock on fruit trees. Even a semi dwarf tree can overwhelm small areas. I buy mostly bare root trees in the spring which will generally be 3-5' tall.

Time from planting to fruit production varies and is generally quicker for dwarf than semi dwarf. Apples 4-5 years, pears 5-7 years, cherry and plum 3-5 years. The time will also vary somewhat depending on variety.

A small sidebar on apples. Clear cedars from your orchard area they overwinter the fungus that creates apple rust.

Sprung · Sep 16, 2022

sprucegum said:
With just the 2 of us we have to be careful not to overdo the preserving.

I hear you on that - though we've got two young boys who are getting to that stage where it seems like they eat their body weight in food each week. An exaggeration, for sure, but some days they do eat real well. One of those freezers is just meat - especially since we buy beef by the quarter and pork by the half. Even still, we've got some stuff that I canned too much of in previous years, so didn't do more, or as much if we wouldn't need as much. And some things they go through quick - I am hoping to get my hands on enough Concord grapes this year for a double batch of jelly, because last year's batch is already gone... Grape is their favorite jelly.

trc65 said:
Winesap is a tart/sweet heirloom variety that dates to the early 1800's. Good flavor, we've used them for pies, butters, dehydrated, applesauce, and cakes. Here is a quote from one site describing the flavor: "Winesap apples have a sweet, fruity, and spice-like aroma and a balanced, sweet-tart flavor with tangy, sweet, and subtly savory wine-like nuances."

They've got a fairly thick, tough skin but I don't peel them before eating fresh. Crisp, non mealy texture, they are sid to be a decent storage apple although I don't try other than keeping some in the fridge. Historically, they were used a lot as the base apple for ciders. They are one of the latest maturing apples and it can be well into October for maturity some years.

Don't know if they would survive in your area Matt, they are a zone 5-8 apple.

Growing apples is not difficult, but can require a lot of insecticide sprays if you want really nice looking ones. They should be pruned every year in late winter, but pruning my two semi dwarf trees takes about 1 hour annually. Pears are about the same as apples in regards to care, annual pruning and insecticide sprays periodically.

Cherry trees (sour) need annual pruning, but a lot less sprays.

Bottom line on fruit trees is all of them will need annual pruning, but that is no big deal. From there, it's up to you how much you want to spray or monitor for insect pests. Some won't spray at all. Some will spray every week or ten days, which I think is way overkill unless you have an orchard that is selling to the public.

Unless you have a lot of space, I'd recommend dwarf rootstock on fruit trees. Even a semi dwarf tree can overwhelm small areas. I buy mostly bare root trees in the spring which will generally be 3-5' tall.

Time from planting to fruit production varies and is generally quicker for dwarf than semi dwarf. Apples 4-5 years, pears 5-7 years, cherry and plum 3-5 years. The time will also vary somewhat depending on variety.

Very good information, Tim - thank you! With our proximity to Lake Michigan, we're in zone 5b. That Winesap sounds like a delicious apple.

Hmm, maybe I'll discuss with my wife over the winter and go from there... The space we have, it would have to be dwarf trees. And, being realistic, we wouldn't be able to get everything we might want - so we'd have to be choosy about what would make the most sense for us. I wanted to do a couple Concord grape vines this year, but that got shot down...

Nature Man · Sep 16, 2022

sprucegum said:
Not a whole lot growing, few tomatoes left to ripen and hopefully some late sugar snap peas. Been digging potatoes as we need them since July, looks like way more than we need. My daughter in law takes her maple products to the farmers market on Fridays so I sent along a few red Norland potatoes. Hopefully she doesn't bring them all home.View attachment 231391 View attachment 231392

That’s a lot of potatoes! Definitely have to share! Chuck

trc65 · Sep 16, 2022

Winesap is a good multi-use apple, but my all time favorite for fresh eating is Honeycrisp. I've got to do some reading and sampling to figure out what my next variety will be.

sprucegum · Sep 17, 2022

Nature Man said:
That’s a lot of potatoes! Definitely have to share! Chuck

My daughter in law had good luck with that batch of Norlands at the farmers market, she sold out. I've got 2 more short rows of the same variety, I will let her sell another row and keep one for storage. I have 3 other varieties that I don't think produced as well, when I get them dug I can decide what to do with them. I give some to my two sons and daughter, but they are busy young families that eat on the run quite a bit so staples like potatoes sometimes take a back seat. I have a pretty good storage place for them and last year they lasted into April, we purchased one 10 pound bag which got us through June. I started digging baby reds on the 10th of July. Some old timers used to can a few potatoes for that time before the new crop was ready, wife said she would rather pay $10 a year for some store bought.

trc65 · Sep 19, 2022

You can tell fall is here by the colors I'm seeing.

New England asters. Same species, just natural variation in color.

My big pumpkins aren't as big as last year, but I've got more than one this year.

Mike Hill · Sep 20, 2022

Sprung said:
I'd love to plant some fruit trees, but we've never had to take care of fruit trees before. What's involved in growing and taking care of them? Some previous research led to people saying just do nothing all the way up to the amount of work they put into a few trees is about near a full time job. Not really having a good idea of the work involved has kept us from planting some. Apple, cherry, and pear are ones that would interest us if we ever plant fruit trees.

How are the Winesap apples? Never had them and am curious about the taste.

Our favorite variety, which we discovered at a local apple orchard, is Zestar. They have a nice balance of sweet and tart, without being too much of either. They are not mealy. And we've liked them for both fresh eating and baking. They're an early apple, so one of the first ones ripe. This weekend I'll be making a batch of apple pie filling using them - as I have the last couple years after discovering them.

In MN there were a few apple trees in the church yard, behind the parsonage, that one of the members took care of (along with his own personal orchard of a couple dozen different types of trees). One of the trees back there was an old Haralson - old enough that the old timers at church remembered eating apples off it as children. That tree produced some great tasting apples. Was a sad day when we cut it down, but it was mostly dead and was only getting worse.

One of the things to think about when growing apples (and other fruits) is the size of the tree. You can of course, grow a standard , but there are a number of different ways of growing apples that can reduce the size of the tree. Some are intensive and can increase the yield per acre, some can just make it easier to harvest. There are also, a number of rootstocks that when the apple variety (or varieties) are grafted onto them that yield out different sized trees at maturity. For grins, 40 years ago I grafted 3 spur type apples to some very dwarfing Melling rootstock. 40 years later one is still alive and even if I don't prune it, it will not get over say 7' or 8' tall. I keep it at 5-6' tall. An excellent source of information is a group called NAFEX (North American Fruit Explorers). They have a publication that is called Pomona. They deal in information of all sorts of fruits as well as exchanges of scion wood. They may still have interest groups that concentrate on different fruits that were a great source of information. I do not know how active or how easy it is to find information now as the pandemic hit them hard. There are also varieties that are less susceptible to the different diseases and pest of apples. Most apples have minimum chill requirements, there are some that have lesser requirements and can be grown in warmer areas. Of the estimates of 7,500 to 75,000 varieties of apples grown world-wide there are certainly some unusual ones that can be found, and you can rest assured there is some that fit your wants and needs.

sprucegum · Sep 25, 2022

I harvested my heirloom dry beans yesterday. Usually I wait for a hard frost and some sunny weather to harvest and dry the whole plant. After drying they can be threshed by putting them in a large feed sack and beating the crap out of them. This year the frost is holding off and we have been getting a lot of rain. My crop was going down hill so I pulled the plants and stripped off the pods. We spread them on the attic floor to dry, any afternoon sun on the west facing roof warms things up pretty fast.