Refractometer

ubro(2a) - "I had one last year that some animal got before I could taste it."

When my apples disappear, it is normally a bear.

Squirrels can be a problem also.

Picked Garland, large solid apple, more for cooking and cider.

Another so called Garland...both could be mixed up, this one is pretty good eating.

I picked Red Sparkle (pictured) this weekend. A small, firm fleshed apple with a nice sweet tart balanced flavor. I picked 1 of my 3 Cortlands, seeds were brown and came off as if it was ripe. It was more of a tart processing apple. The flavor was good though, but I prefer sweet eating apples.

Scads of Goodlands, a bit underripe, but I had to pick them this weekend -- we had 19 F (-7 C) Sunday morning.

Sorry the lighting is poor; took the pictures inside tonight.

granolabar (2) Well I hope it isn't a bear! I am more inclined to think squirrel ( he is gone now, my husband protects the fruit ) or my Golden Retriever. She loves apples, cherries, choke cherries and under ripe corn.

Well, that settles it ... no Golden Retriever at my place!

You had -7? Where was that? Our low has been -1 so far in East central AB

I live in a frost trap in Western Montana.

Konrad,

That apple slicer video that you posted earlier in this thread ... is that yours? Was it hard to build? It appears that apples are thrown in whole. Is that right?

Kerr crabapples seem to have not been hurt by the cold weather we had Sunday morning. I will be harvesting soon.

I am eating my one and only Honey Gold, a lovely flavour sort of like a stronger Golden Delicious. I marked the blooming date as May 28, picking date was Sept 29--- 124 days. I would upload a picture but for some reason my computer connection is slow today.

I like this apple, the trees and top worked branches have not yet shown any winter dieback. Last winter was hard on many of the more tender apple trees but this one was good.

Next up Macmahon White.

I tried to add photos to my post but for some reason, can't do it. Anyone else having the same problem?

That apple slicer video that you posted earlier in this thread ... is that yours?

Yes, slices whole apples,...it was easy, I'm a machinist but probably a handyman can build something similar using a pipe.

Here are the pictures of my Kerr apple tree that I tried to post last week. Got a BIG harvest this year.

Today I picked some large Redwell at the orchard...they just barely ripen in my zone, nice looking apple, more of a cooking type...was starting to graft over this tree in spring.

I tried a Norkent and of all my apples it dropped all the apples almost over night before their time. I will give it one more year and that's it/ It four years old and was not over loaded so don't know why it did this. All the other trees did not do this. Kind of disappointed after Konrad always raved about this apple

Well...I can tell you that at the fruit show most people favour Norkent. Didn't you tasted it? This is the reason we put on this show for locals to taste before you buy.

You might have several issues...

1. Perhaps you have a pest problem....on top of my mind it's the apple maggot, apples don't mature and fall off early... flavour can drastically change to negative!

2. The cultivar got mixed up.

3. Perhaps you're in the group of people who like tart apples...like some people favour sour cherries over sweet cherries.

4. Picture would help on your Norkent, inside/cut and outside.

Beegood, don't give up on your Norkent too soon. I was disappointed with the flavor of my Norkent apples this year (tree fruited for the first time), but I have other varieties that produced fruit that was better in flavor and quality a year or two after their initial crop. I figure if that many people are raving about Norkent, it's worth waiting a while longer before giving up on it.

I picked my McMahon white a few weeks ago, now I wish I had waited as we have not had much below -2C. I think it was too early, or maybe it is just a sour apple.

Looks like this is just about ready...seeds are getting brown, don't think much improvement in sugar in the last several weeks when colder.

Apples can take minus 5C usually pretty easy, some do better then others even at lover temp. Here we had a couple of times around minus 7-9C...still have some Pinova hanging, [late apple]. The Chestnut which was ready about 3 weeks ago and picked most but some left hanging are still on the tree and taste good, think this one took the cold pretty good.

Here a description of Norkent on line which I think is pretty correct...not pear flavour like some sites say or short storage live.

The flesh is greenish white, very crisp, aromatic and with a pleasant nutty flavour. It is very good to excellent for fresh eating, good for cooking and juicing, and stores for 14 weeks but looses its flavour towards the end. Note: The cultivars >Norda= and >Norkent= which are presently on the market, are nearly if not completely identical. It is unlikely that two crosses so diverse could be so similar in all aspects. The mix up may go back to the original material sent for testing. Do not pick early . The fruit must mature fully to develop full flavour.

Getting cold, [minus 9C high by the end of week!] so I took the last apples home from the orchard, [stored] for processing...

Zaychuck #1

Yesterday I juiced the rest, mostly Norkent, around 150L in bottles sitting in backyard for freezing.

Tonight I picked a new one for me, Hausmütterchen..still could us a little more time, might be fine after a week or so in the house. So far I rank it as somewhere in the middle for taste and sweetness..could have more sugar...about the same with Pinova also picked tonight, this one could stay hanging well into to winter...just didn't want to let go!

Hausmütterchen

Pinova

Nice pictures everyone, I especially like the red one! I never got around to growing any apple trees due to moving often, but I do like eating them and have made a habit of collecting seeds from the best tasting ones each year. Many of our apples, like the Moskvas (Moscow?) originate in Russia and are hybrids of Siberian crab apple. Later on they imported new strains from around the Baltic sea (Germany, Sweden, Poland) which are sweeter but often not quite as tolerant of cold. I very much prefer the Siberian ones which I grew up eating. They're often small, high in vitamin C and somewhat tart but that's exactly the way I like it. In fact I consider Roman style apples watery and bland.

I got these apples a week ago and they're surprisingly sweet, not too acidic at all.

The tree grows at 65 degrees north and should be quite hardy, and like I said the fruit is very sweet for a crab apple. No idea about the strain though. There used to be traveling Russian or more likely Karelian salesmen in the eastern part of the country and they often carried apple trees with them, most often seed gown. Many of these trees carry very acid fruit, but all of them are very hardy having survived -40 winters in the past century.

Here the juice ready for freezing...not filling all the way for expansion.

Wow! That is a lot of juice!

I have to learn to keep some of my apples on the tree longer. Yours are great Konrad.

And a Moose picking these Norson apples...from some years back

Good lord, we have moose here but I never had them eating my apples. Then again, when I think about it, most of my trees are not bearing yet and the ones that are, my dog protects.

I had a coyote come eat crabapples off the ground this winter a few times in my backyard. I think it’s hiding under my deck at times as well due to the tracks I see. Not great as I have cats. Gonna have to scare him if I see him again.

Yup, coyotes will eat cats. I was doing dishes one day, looked out the window just in time to see a coyote snatch my lovely calico mother cat off the rail fence. He shook her once and walked away. My little beagle was nipping his heals the whole time and I thought she was next, but I guess only cat was on the menu.

Except one of my cats looks like a bobcat and is 25lbs. May be able to hold it off considering the coyote is only 30lbs... lol.

25lbs? that is one large cat. The coyote wouldn't stand a chance, cats can often stand their own if they get the chance to use their claws. Mine was taken by surprise.

I harvested my Norkent apples yesterday. They were much better than they were last year, not bland but with very good flavor. I'm excited to see if they will keep for me as long as they do for Konrad.

I found out at the show that Norkent is bland when watered,
I don’t water..my seedling stock can handle drought. On the table Norkent is bottom left not in the bag.

That's interesting. Last year my Norkents were bland ... a hot, dry summer here and I didn't water them much. I watered them just the same this year, and it was a cooler summer, but the flavor was much better.

Dr. Evans said my Norkent is a different sport but I don’t think so. Too many people don’t consider growing conditions.

The ones in your picture look like mine do. I think you're right about growing conditions -- water, soil, amount of sunlight, temperature, fertilizer ... makes sense that they could have a big affect on the quality of the fruit. I also am learning not to make too hard of a judgment of a variety based on its first crop. With Norkent and several other fruit trees I have, the quality of the crop seemed to get better the second (and sometimes third) time around.

Yes..it can change from year to year, this year Edmonton Boris tasted really good. If you like a none tart soft apple and hardy for zone 3 then this is for you.

Hey Konrad

Is that table all your fruits? You have full size pears? What’s your favourite tasting apple? I always liked the honey crisp but I tried a friend’s 50 yr old apple tree this summer and fell in love with it. I don’t know what type it would be though.

Norkent still ranks on top for best eating and storing.

The bottom pears in ziplock isn’t mine but all on top. These are Bernie’s pears..still a little early to say which would make the best of all Russian pears we have. I have a local Beedle Pear and seems a pretty good, without astringency but a bit of tough skin which works really good to keep pests away..most Russian pears fall off from stink bug attacks soon after flowering.

This is Bernie with Dr. Evans

Here the Beedle pear.

Wish I could get this Beedle Pear scions here in the U.S.A.

My Beedle scion actually had less dieback this spring than the rootstock it was on.

Picked the Frostfire (aka Mn447) tonight as getting our first killing frost . Put in 2 Honeycrisp for size comparison. I really like this Apple. Very sweet, crispy and juicy. Stores for several months

Picked Golden Spice today, ready when turning gold.

Those look yummy. Going to have to try some pears and plums.

The Golden Spice are very hardy and easy to grow. They set big crops. They also seem to be a great pollinator for my other pears.