âÂÂBefore the reward there must be labor. You plant before you harvest. You sow in tears before you reap joy.âÂÂ
-Ralph Ransom

There will be better days MrsG.

-Eric

Aw man! I picked my yellow transparents and my wife made one of the best apple crisps ever! I just planted a Pristine so it'll be a while. My asian pears aren't plumping up as big, but maybe my thinning needs to be better and It's still early.

Sorry to hear this, Mrs. G. My trees seem to be 2-3 weeks behind, not sure why. My PF-1 peaches were ripe around July 20 this year. Last year were around July 7. My William's Pride are not ready for aweek or two. They were ripe at this time last year.

Asian pears are slow to size up,too. It's an odd year for me!

Mrs.G.

Hang in there. This is a trying year for a bunch of us. Hail damaged on April 9, cool and wet spring slow everything down. My D. Virginianas and Kakis dropped 2/3 of fruits due to too much rain. My early peaches were bland. The 12 differents variety of Asian pears are loaded but small despite of thinning. The Japanese beetles did a number on a lot of my fruit trees. They did not even spare the paw paws and I thought their leaves were use for insecticide.

Mamuang,

Have you decide to grow any Kakis yet? I came to a conclusion that Nikita's Gift hybrid persimmon is a awesome persimmon to have. Very cold hardy to zone 5, large 2-3 ", oh so sweet and better then candy when dry. Better tasting then a majority of Kakis I have tried. The tree is beautiful and only up to 12 feet tall. I fruits rippened in the middle to late October.

Tony

Thanks guys! This really has been a trying summer for quite a few of us. Once again we have rain for another two or three days. The grass is growing faster than my apples.

Noogs, my Pristine was a feathered three year old when it arrived. By the second year it had twenty apples on it. They grow fast and set fruit quickly which is one reason why I bought it. Sounds like I'll be making a 'Pristine' apple crisp tonight!

I really shouldn't complain too much as the hail damage many of you have suffered this summer would have put me over edge. Growing fruit seems to be the most challenging but exciting thing I have ever done. Far better than being an Exec. at Bloomingdales! No two years are ever alike. Thank goodness! Mrs. G

My Asian pears are small. I took about 120 more of 20 th century out to see if it will help. This variety cracked quite a bit. Shinko, hosui and KG do not.
Tony, thanks for your advice. I hope to plant 2. What is the other one you would suggest? I am thinking about the korean varieties.

Pristine will drop readily when it is ripe. It ripens unevenly. I just eat the drops until it is time to harvest the whole crop. Pristine ripens about now in the northeast.

Mamuang.

Tam Kam, Cold hardy and very large. Non-astringent.

Tony

My apples look horrible... the hail did a good number on them, and a lot of them are all funky looking from all the rain in May and June...tons of black spots/etc... There are still maybe a few dozen...

Most of the pluots are changing colors...the peaches are finally putting on some size... what a slow year! I would imagine it will still be 3 weeks before i eat a peach or pluot.

MrsG47 ,

This really has been a trying year. I can't honestly hope that next year will be better; it seems the weather is just getting more unpredictable. I got a large handful of Surefire cherries and that's about it. Surprisingly I may get some figs this year but they were protected in my garage. No apricots, pears, peaches, plums, or apples. I lost grape vines, persimmons, and a pawpaw.

The only silver lining is that usually after a devastating year like this year the trees will over-produce the next. I can only hope!

Milehigh! I hope the words in your last sentence are true. There is no giving up on my end, it is just so disappointing. I made a delish apple tart from my dropped Pristine apples and it was worth a few previous feelings. Now having close to thirty trees (OMG) at some point I just might be overwhelmed with fruit one of these years but that will be great. I am thinking of taking out a lawn and putting in more trees. I'm on the fence about it as I'm not getting younger and do it all on my own. I must say I gave my Montmorency cherry a devastating pruning this past February and the tree looks fabulous. The leaves are huge, it looks so healthy I just hope next spring I'll get more than 20 cherries. I will have a lot of Italian Prune Plum jam to put up along with raspberry jam but thats about it. My largest crop was from my black currants this year and the jam is fabulous! To see my peach blossoms fall to the ground (this past spring) one or two at a time was the big clue. I am watching my one 'single' peach like a hawk and plan to net it soon. You're right, just have to wait another year! I am netting my concord grapes so I have half a chance of harvesting some of them as well. I have never had such large clusters. Its a very pretty sight. I'm happy to have bridge tournaments during the winter and peruse the internet for more unusual varieties. Mrs. G

Mrs.G,

and peruse the internet for more unusual varieties.

This is where I get into trouble. The lighter the harvest one year seems to send me on a quest for more fruit the next. I am completely out of room now. I simply cannot let myself peruse anymore:(

What is scary is that I am not out of room. That is why I am not unhappy that the two new listed apples have white flesh! I did order two Calville Blanc d'hiver for next spring. I cannot find any info on how long they take to set fruit. I will peruse for you. Mrs. G :)

I really am out of room. No new tree goes in unless an old tree comes out.

The area I thought would have enough room for at least a half dozen more trees turns out to have soil and drainage too poor to sustain them. I'm concerned because I have my Seckel and Fugi there and can't really move them.

I wish this spring I'd grafted some scion from them onto other trees. Will do it next spring, but as you say, not getting any younger.

This post was edited by ltilton on Mon, Aug 5, 13 at 19:23