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Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: goodlife on April 22, 2010, 08:11:28
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I have spent time this winter clearing an area for planting some more apple trees ::)..I've got 14 now and 5 crafted and ready to be planted this autumn..but I still got room for 5 more..or so.. ::)
Anyway..I have started to go through cataloques..and some names have jumped at me...Pickering seedling, Pitmaston pineapple, Nottingham pippin and Ashmead's kerner...anybody have any of these ...are they worth it...?
And another thing..I haven't grown any Nashi Pears ...do you get worth while crop in this country? Are you growing them...?
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Hi Goodlife,
I am sure I have seen Pitmaston Pineapple mentioned on here before, if you go into search you might find something.
I love apple trees and am about to look into replacing a couple in my garden that are probably about 70 years old and part of an old orchard. They have sadly died and I need to find new ones. Fortunately I had them identified at an apple day at Wisley so can find the nearest replacement. I found the apple tasting amazing, I never knew there were so many different flavours in apples. Sorry, I can get quite boring on the subject but not any help to you!! :-[
Good luck
T.
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Hi goodlife,
Pitmaston Pineapple is delicious, as is Ashmead's Kernel. I daresay others will have other recommendations, and I will say that it takes time to research fruits that will give you a crop over a long period and have compatible pollination periods. If you haven't tasted the varieties yourself, why not wait until the autumn and go to as many apple tasting events as you can? Besides the getting to sample the apples, you might also be able to get professional advice tailored to your site.
Remember to look into cooking apples - Bramley's is ubiquitous and grows as a huge tree, but there are other cookers that are all too often ignored: How about Golden Noble or Annie Elizabeth? Or Peasgood's Nonsuch? Or Arthur Turner with its lovely blossom?
One more thought: early varieties tend not to keep for long, whereas mid and late season ones store much better.
If you're harvesting pears in future, they'll need to be stored away from the apples or they'll make the apples ripen too fast. I haven't grown nashi pears myself because I like my pears melting and juicy, rather than crunchy, but I wonder whether the RHS does, at one of its gardens?
Enjoy the hunt for your Premier League apples! :)
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I already have enough cookers..and I always run out with eaters..at the moment I have Bramley, Chiver's delight, Katja, Jonagold, White transparent, Stamford Pippin, Melon, Cox , Greensleeves, Belle de Boskoop, Dutchess of Oldenburgh, Ingall's Red, Michaelmas Red and half a dozen Finnish ones that do not have english names....I'm apple nutter...if I was limited to grow just one thing..apple..every time..
I went couple years ago few apple day events...but they were no good..plenty to see but not many to taste and I'm limited how far to travel...
I only just finnished with my last cookers..still edible..started to shrivel but fine..I've had enough of them and birds have had a feast with them now..
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Belle de Boskoop is great, isn't it?
Ok, just a couple more ideas then: How about Herefordshire Russet, which is surely one of the very best modern varieties, and, for a change, a crab apple or two?
BTW: You've probably visited the National Fruit Collections at Brogdale already, so why not take a trip to the National Malus Collection in Essex? I visited a couple of years ago and it was very interesting.
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I'm impressed by Braeburn - & it stores so well.
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Oh I would love crab..but I have to limit myself for what I can easily use..mind though where ever I have been working as a gardener I have allways manage to talk the owner to have at least one form of apple..wether ornamental/wild or eater/cooker.. ;D
No I haven had chance to visit Brogdale...I've been slavering over they website though ::)..I'm so limited how far I can travel...I live in Notts..and I can only do daytrips...animals etc..cannot leave them..
Northern fruit group have apple day in Harlow Carr and I wen't to see that...there was lots and lots to see but the tasting bit was dissapointment..less than dozen varieties..and there was only about another dozen available to buy..But I did get apple identified so it was not total waste of the journey.
Tim... location makes all the difference..it must like your place as I tried and it did not do well for me..yes it does keep... ;D
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That's a shame about the tasting at Harlow Carr as there must have been about a hundred at Wisley. There is a website of apple days, nearer the time you might find one near home for you, I am sure it will be posted on here, it usually is.
Enjoy your apples which ever you choose. :)
T.
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..so nobody doesn't have any Nashi Pears then..?
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When I was a kid we were shown how difficult it is to tell raw apple from raw potato or raw turnip if you are blindfold with a peg on your nose...
With Nashi pears you don't need to bother with the peg or the blindfold...
I've always had my premier league as the fruits that make you go wow! Mango, Lychee, Tangelo, Greengage, Cherimoya, Durian etc.
Fourth division is for the ones that are just a refreshing drink - watermelon, nashi pear, asian plum, supermarket golden delicious etc. etc.
Not all apples deserve a place in the Premier League:
Ashmead's Kernel has the biggest wow factor I've ever tasted.
Pitmaston pineapple is great but needs to be eaten before October.
Orleans Reinette is what a Cox might achieve if it wasn't so bloody difficult to grow.
Ribston Pippin is a parent of Cox and has much more Wow.
Sturmer Pippin is the only apple that has wow left in December - much nicer than Granny Smith.
William Crump is the only red apple worth eating and certainly the only one worth a place in this exalted company...
Blenheim Orange deserves a mention for that fleeting subtle nutty taste on first bite - but if it isn't a good season and the fruit is more than a few hours old - nothing... so Second division at best.
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I had a go at growing Nashi pears (asian pear). I grew two from seed (although I understand that commercially they are grafted onto quince rootstock). They got to about 5 or 6 feet, 2 or 3 years old. They grew vigorously, but I noticed during the last year I had them, some very nasty black blotches on the leaves in early spring, and despite picking them off and other treatments, the blotches came back on fresh leaves. I didnt like the look of them at all, and since I have quite a few pear & apple trees and didn't want to take the risk of something awful spreading, I had them out and burned them.
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;D..there is plenty of those "turnip" apples around.. ;D..but I do like some refreshes too...white transparent apple is one of them and although not very sweet or strong with flavour department,,I had to grow one for just sake of childhood memories (scrumping)::)..I truly enjoy it and can hardly wait until July when it is starting to crop again. But idea of Ashmead's and Pittmaston is slowly starting to root in me...
I propably just have to give a call for few nurseries, give them good Q&A session and see what they really think about Nashi's....
Jenny...you cruel woman...how did you have heart after all that to turn your trees into firewood ::)..oh well...probably wise move too...you never know..
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Vinlander, my family love our Blenheim Orange tree and I have to put a word in to defend it. ;D
You're right about them not being 'keepers' (one of the reasons that I bought it was that we all wanted a variety that tasted really special eaten straight from the tree). Tastewise, it was one of a number of truly memorable apples we tasted at Brogdale the year we bought it).
The flavour (of ours, at least...) certainly isn't as fleeting as lasting just a few hours. ??? We've stored Blenheims for a week or so without any loss of flavour/aroma. Not that they get the chance to be stored (we did that as an experiment): the problem is fending off the triffid tribe who would otherwise picket the tree and eat every apple as it ripens.
Apart from the delicious taste of the fresh apples, Blenheim is also great for cooking - it makes stunning apple puree - which also freezes well. But it's probably not the best option for Goodlife, who doesn't need any more 'cookers'.
As a dual-purpose tree, it serves us well - though how I'd love the space for an orchard like yours, Goodlife. ;)
@ Goodlife and Vinlander: I'd certainly second both of your thoughts on Ashmead's Kernel. Wonderful apple. :P
Btw Goodlife, have you considered adding a quince to your beautiful orchard?
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"Btw Goodlife, have you considered adding a quince to your beautiful orchard? "
Have I..? ;D ;D ::)..I have considered anything and everything but I am starting to get limited with space and time so as for now I shall not have anymore fruit that take too much time in a kitchen... ::)
It does sound like I have a orchard..but no....I would love one..but all my trees are in a lottie..I have quarter of an acre and about half of it is some sort of fruit and berries... ;D
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Oh - I've just thought of Ashmeads Kernel's only disadvantage (the greyish looks aren't a disadvantage - I don't have to worry about kids stealing them).
The flavour changes from brilliant, zingy and sweet to brilliant, zingy and very sweet as the autumn progresses.
If it's a real hot Indian Summer then they can get so sweet by October that they go glassy inside. I think the osmotic pressure damages the cell walls and they lose the sweet/acid balance at this point. I doubt they would keep at all in this state.
It's only happened twice to me (in London) in the last 20 years though...
Cheers.
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Thanks to that....I've known some other apple do that..none of mine ..but have eaten some and I didn't really mine..childhood memories ::)
I've also come across with apples with "watery"cores..inside the core amongst the seeds the is definate drinkable amount of sweetish water...?
Anyway, I don't need all apples to be storable..just to munch straight out of the tree..well wipe the bird s.....off first ::)...heaven (not the wiping bit ::)) ::)
And what my belly cannot handle...well I just have to turn some into drinkable form..and store that way ;)
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'discovery'
[attachment=1]
and 'bramley seedling'
[attachment=2]
both in blossom today!!
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Ahh..so beautiful...... ;D
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They are just a delight! My apple cordons are flowering like never before - who needs ornamental trees when you can have blossom AND fruit?! :)
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Last winter I did 5 craft attempts...and they all have started to grow.. ;D ;D...now is that a first time luck or what?
Next winter I hope to find new owners for the couple of spare ones ;D..and maybe from the proceed I'll be able to get some other apple to my "family" of trees.... ::) ;D
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That's nature! ;D
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Jenny...you cruel woman...how did you have heart after all that to turn your trees into firewood ::)..oh well...probably wise move too...you never know..
;D ;D
Cruel to be kind !
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Laxtons Fortune is delicious. Charles Ross a great dual purpose and, from modern varieties, i urge you to ignore the twee name and give Scrumptious a try - a fantastic apple! You might look for varieties local to your region also.
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Scumptious is nice..I agree..but "next door" have one of those in his lottie so I do not need it as such...swapping.. ;)
I have come across Nottingham Pipping..as one the local varieties..but haven't had chance to "try before you buy"....and other local...Bramley...I have huge old one already... ;)
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I picked up a cox's orange and a green delicious I think it was from Instore newbury a week or so ago, I put them in the garden near the hedge and now they have all but died, they got watered when planted and manured, now, I am just angry I killed my trees....
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I picked up a cox's orange and a green delicious I think it was from Instore newbury a week or so ago, I put them in the garden near the hedge and now they have all but died, they got watered when planted and manured, now, I am just angry I killed my trees....
The current thinking is that fertiliser is extremely counter-productive when planting a bare-rooted tree...(and not great when you are planting a containerised one either) - at best you are encouraging the roots to stay at home by feeding them locally when you really want them foraging far and wide...
At worst too much fertiliser can burn roots especially the young growing ones - the fertiliser stops the roots getting water from the soil by setting up concentrated solutions in opposition to the osmosis you want.
The best thing to do is work and improve the soil as friable as possible so it snuggles around the roots, (but don't leave it too fine or it can waterlog), water well, and then put a metre square of black plastic around the base of the tree to stop the water evaporating. You can then water around this because trees expect to find 90% of their water at or around the drip line anyway.
If the land is badly drained (or for exotics like olives and guavas etc.) it's a very good idea to mound the soil for extra drainage but still put the plastic over the mound so you get the best of both worlds.
It works really well - I've never tried the un-recommended method but it sounds like you have!
Your problem is actually an opportunity - no gardening expert will ever recommend Cox (it suffers from disease problems unless sprayed within an inch of its life) and nobody with a sense of taste would ever recommend any of the (so called) "delicious" tribe.
Cheap apple trees are a waste of money if you aren't certain they will give you the result you need.
The maintenance costs (mostly time & effort) will make up 99% of the cost of the tree.
Owners of Siamese cats will tell you the price of the kitten is irrelevant when the mangiest moggy will eat several thousand quid's worth of cat food.
Get yourself an Ashmeads Kernel (RHS award of garden merit) or Claygate Pearmain instead of a Cox, and almost anything instead of a "delicious". I'd recommend Sturmer Pippin as an improved Granny Smith.
You need to choose apples like these that flower together or in adjacent groups (there's always an overlap) for pollination,
(www.gardenaction.co.uk/fruit_veg_diary/fruit_veg_mini_project_september_2b2_apple.asp)
but you could go for any other of the apples given first-hand recommendations in the recent threads.
Or go to an 'apple day' in October when you can try before you buy...
Cheers.
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I have to agree with that Vinlander....I inherited some sort of 'delicious'-apple..although it did flowered and bared fruit too, it never produced worth while fruit..and the tree needed constant attention..there was something wrong with it every year...so after 5 years...looking after it and getting it into great shape being left for some years into neglect..we finally put chainsaw trough it..no more..
I do not want to put all that efford without some return..and chemical sprays are no-no in my lottie.. ::)
I have bought few cheap trees in past and so far ok..but you do not know about the rootstock and often they do need right sort of pruning as they do tend to be just chopped in "will do" manner. But then again..price will reflect that..you get what you pay...Although you pay double for proper nursery grown bare rooted tree, but you know what you are getting..and they establish much better...and generally you end up with much more productive and healthier tree..money well spent.. ;D
Yesterday I had yet another stroll around lottie looking and re-checking how many new ones I can buy in coming winter..and result wasn't any different from the last count ::) ;D....checking..just in case there were mistake ... ::)....result= 5 more + 3 others to plant that I've already have for next winter... ::) ;D
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I inherited a golden delicious and cut it down. I now have apples not flannel.
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Oh joy..! ;D Deacon's Nursery cataloque dropped through letterbox today...
with offer "place order before end of June 2010 and get 15% off.." ;D ;D ;D
That will do me.. ;)
So I ended up with; Ashmead's Kernel, Pittmaston Pineapple, May Queen, George Carpenter and Lady's finger of Offaly... ;D
Now I just have to wait untill November... ::)