[Firewood Bandit]

Back in 2015 I started a renovation of my orchard. Pulled out the standard sized trees with a mini excavator, built 1,000 feet of 8' deer fencing.

In 2016, 2017 & 2018 planted 680 apple trees on a high density setting. 3/4 are 3 varieties of Honeycrisp, but also have Gala, Cortland, Macintosh, Zestar, Wolf River and Granny Smith. Installed drip irrigation, and have moved to an air blast sprayer to keep them healthy along with a Case DX33 loader tractor to run it.

Anyway things are now starting to come into production. Sold 51 bushels this week to a local produce market along with a bunch in the previous weeks. I have a cadre of people who have been buying apples for years.

In the orchard business we have a saying, to make a small fortune, start with a big one.

But I enjoy it and has been a good pastime since 1991.

 

[Firewood Bandit]

More, plus the new T shirt the wife got me, Oh and Beau the dog.

 

[LittleHillFarm]

Been thinking about trying a couple of apple trees next spring but in the middle of big farming country it's hard to grow any fruit trees. Stuff like 2-4-D and glyphosate really takes a toll on them but we can't grow high yielding grain crops without it. If I do plant some I'll have a lot of questions for you no doubt!

 

[bfloyd4445]

More, plus the new T shirt the wife got me, Oh and Beau the dog.

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So are you using old school chemicals or are you using phermones traps etc.?
I lost some of my trees two years ago in a storm that shut down the whole county even stopping a commuter train dead on the tracks for three days and have yet to replace any., Thinking of maybe going the same way as you except tilth organic.

 

[BigJim55]

boy them apples look good and healthy i think! no trees of fruit on my ground, but 5 miles from my place is lots and lots of acres of apple trees. orchards that has been around for many yrs--back when all the apples was picked into bushel crates, my dad hauled them to market for the owner's, and i got to steer his truck thru the orchard while it was being loaded, boy i thought i was one tough trucker-hehe. heck i might of been 7 or 8 at that time. as long as i didn't throw the stackers off the back of the bed, i was doing a-ok then.
they have been picking already around here--everything goes on flatbed trailers now.

 

[Wyobuckaroo]

WOW.... Nice orchard and fruit...
Here in the far north zone 2 we have a lot of wild, domestic fruits here in the far north bush.. Much more than many expect.. We pick a lot of free apples from town... Mostly for people who don't want to have to do the work to take care of there trees, and to keep bears out of town...

We slice and dehydrate a lot of fruit for our meat rabbits, and can a lot for our chickens.. Crunching the numbers it is cheaper than bagged feed to make it worth the work to do it....

Again with our short growing season and winters if we get 5 kilos of local sauce or eating apples a season it is an exceptional season..

 

[MDrew]

We have an orchard at work that we have been rehabbing the last few years. Many of the trees are over 100 years old, The last 2 years they have really started producing again.

I have 2 trees at the farm. Not many apples this year, very dry early.

 

[Superglidesport]

I'm literally surrounded by an apple and peach orchard. There are thousands of apple trees directly across from my driveway entrance.

My farmer neighbor maintains the orchard which is owned by the town. From what I've been told this orchard has been producing since the 1700's. A little history here, the Colonial Patriots would retreat into these orchards to hide out after harassing the British before the Revolutionary War.

I don't know anything about growing fruit but there's nothing better than a freshly picked apple or peach.

 

[notwrkng]

I'm planning to put in about a dozen fruit trees next spring. I tried Honeycrisp about 10 years ago at a different property but got very little fruit. Harrelson and Zestar did well though. I live in Minnesota where the Honeycrisp originated but have heard it is a difficult and low yielding apple. Is that your experience? Given my past experience with Honeycrisp I am planning to go with yellow transparent, Harrelson, Zestar and Sweet Tango. All are Minnesota hardy and should spread out the season, however I would like to have a few Honeycrisp if I thought they would produce. Any advice would be appreciated.

About the dog, is it a Grif or GWP? I have a Grif and consider him without question the world's best dog. The wife doesn't always agree, but that's not new. I hunt upland birds a lot and there is nothing better than a day in the field with my dog.

 

[Drifterbike]

your apple trees look great. I live just down the hill from Stone's apple orchard. When i moved in I had a small 12 tree orchard. My problem was i was working two jobs and never had time to spray them. It seemed like my three cherry trees were bearing trees and just has I was ready to pick them the birds would get them. The Pears were super hard. one by one theywent down and i used the wood in my smoker. The chunks of apple wood and cherry do well in the smoker.

 

[Firewood Bandit]

So are you using old school chemicals or are you using phermones traps etc.?
I lost some of my trees two years ago in a storm that shut down the whole county even stopping a commuter train dead on the tracks for three days and have yet to replace any., Thinking of maybe going the same way as you except tilth organic.

Pherone trapping for coddling moth (or however you spell it) is only effective on large blocks of apple trees and then those on the perimeter not so much. I spray the accepted materials used in commercial orchards and base spraying decisions on the NEWA weather stations nearby.

FWIW, some of the products used in organic orchards are pretty nasty and rely on heavy metals and Sulphur based chemicals.

 

[Firewood Bandit]

I'm planning to put in about a dozen fruit trees next spring. I tried Honeycrisp about 10 years ago at a different property but got very little fruit. Harrelson and Zestar did well though. I live in Minnesota where the Honeycrisp originated but have heard it is a difficult and low yielding apple. Is that your experience? Given my past experience with Honeycrisp I am planning to go with yellow transparent, Harrelson, Zestar and Sweet Tango. All are Minnesota hardy and should spread out the season, however I would like to have a few Honeycrisp if I thought they would produce. Any advice would be appreciated.

About the dog, is it a Grif or GWP? I have a Grif and consider him without question the world's best dog. The wife doesn't always agree, but that's not new. I hunt upland birds a lot and there is nothing better than a day in the field with my dog.

I have had Duetsch Drahthaars for 35 years and still have one presently. The dog in the picture is a Labradoodle and he is a very social dog and a big part of the household.

Here is the one that passed away 2 years ago, he was a Dog's dog. His name was Yatt.

 

[bfloyd4445]

Pherone trapping for coddling moth (or however you spell it) is only effective on large blocks of apple trees and then those on the perimeter not so much. I spray the accepted materials used in commercial orchards and base spraying decisions on the NEWA weather stations nearby.

FWIW, some of the products used in organic orchards are pretty nasty and rely on heavy metals and Sulphur based chemicals.

I've used the pheromone traps and they have worked for me. Those in conjunction with chickens turkeys and peacocks and deer work ok. The foul keep the larve cheaned up and the deer take care of the fallen apples another larvae resovour. I have never used any man made chemicals but have less than 100 trees. This year the apple crop is very poor but i didn't fertilize. I'm thinking of planting an additional five acres of apples or less depending upon the cost.