In this post I will be discussing my beloved Granny apple tree that finally got a little love this year. When we moved to this property in 2014, there were already a number of fruit, nut, and berry bushes. Most of them growing wild because they were either left to their own devices or were naturally occurring because they are native to this area, growing wherever the wind and animals take them.

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It's been decades since we've lived on a homestead and we never had a fruit orchard specifically, so this is all very new to us. Lack of knowledge, time, and ability put us behind in our goals of a highly productive sustainable permaculture food forest. As the past few years have gone on, little has been done in the way of caretaking for the pre-existing orchard.

We're unsure what the different varieties are but know that there are 2 types of pear, up to 4 types of apple, and one or two types of grapes. As I already mentioned, there are wild native fruit and nut trees but I won't discuss those.

There are two apple trees closest to the house, in zone one of permaculture - the area most frequently visited. So far, these trees are the only thing planted in this zone 1 area. There is another zone one experimental area in the rear of the house but it does not have fruit trees and will eventually be relocated because it's not in the best spot.

Because these trees were already left unattended before we moved in, and we've been unable to give them the attention they needed, they went a lil cray cray. The only real thing we did was trim the low lying branches so as not to be decapitated when mowing around them.

Unfortunately, last year one of the two was trimmed pretty heavily shortly after it came out of dormancy. This put a lot of stress on the tree. The result was it didn't do very well. It looked pretty bad, to be honest. It was pruned too hard, too late, and also had a rough time of it because of cedar apple rust (really need to do a post on this because it is horrible). When plants are under stress, they have a harder time withstanding diseases and pests (just like humans).

The second apple tree, which I am pretty sure is a Granny Smith, needed a good pruning, too, but with our life obstacles plus seeing the condition of the first tree decline after pruning, it was put off until the end of winter. I have to admit, because this tree is my favorite it's been getting the most love. There are 3 other apple trees in what used to be the original orchard from the previous owners. They've gotten no attention whatsoever.

In the below images I will take you through 2017 until now on this particular tree. First two pictures are some cute little baby apples.

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DAWWW. NOW AREN'T THOSE CUTE?

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Here is Granny in the early spring of 2017 as she was starting to wake up a couple of weeks before flowering. As you can see, there was a storm a brewing. I really like this picture because of the way the clouds appear in the background.

Anywho...you will notice the branches in the middle are crossed and all tangled up. Because the cedar apple rust disease is transmitted by air during the wet season, as well as mold and mildew which proliferate in damp conditions, the crowded branches were making our tree unhappy. When branches are so closely crowded in a tree's canopy there is not enough air flow, which promotes the growth and spread of fungal diseases and pests.

Luckily, even though this specific tree was not affected much by the cedar apple rust, it did have black spot mildew on the apples. It comes off with a good scrubbing in vinegar water, but that was too time consuming for us to do for the majority of the apples. We wanted to sell these at the farmers market but scrapped that idea because processing the apples was too intensive for us.

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Late winter, 2018. I made more of an effort to research how to care for apple trees. I learned the best time to prune heavily is when the tree is dormant. I also learned about how to choose which branches to prune. Prune crossed branches, diseased branches, branches impeding air flow, and branches damaged by pests. Try not to prune more than 1/3 of the tree.

You can see here that quite a bit was removed. More than was planned on. There were a couple of large branches growing right through the middle of the canopy, cluttering most of the other branches. Taking those two large branches out really opened up the tree. There was a third large branch that was not intended to be removed, but ultimately had to be because there was a wood burrowing insect that had made itself a cozy home.

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This picture is a good comparison of the picture from 2017. As you can see, the interior of the tree is much less cluttered with fewer branches crossed. Some of the branches were too high to get at without a ladder. Yeah, I know. Probably need a good ladder. Eventually. Anyway, Some of the branches could be reached, but with so much of the tree already removed, it was decided to wait until this fall or late 2019 winter to take any more off.

By the way, once a tree is pruned it must periodically be pruned. FOREVER! Pruning will stimulate growth. Pruning in certain ways can affect the type of growth stimulated, but either way, as I understand it, once a tree is pruned it will send out new branches reaching straight up, competing with other branches for light.

It will also cause the tree to make branches grow all kinds of directions, resulting in the crowded and crossed branches you see from the 2017 picture. Supposedly, if never pruned, a tree will naturally grow without wonky or vertical branches. Whether this is true, I don't know. I've no personal experience on the matter.

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And, VOILA! Here is the tree now. The branches are not overloaded with fruit. You don't want too much fruit it will stress the tree out resulting in less fruit the next year. There has been very little fruit drop because the tree is growing healthy and strong with just the right amount of apples. Granny has that pregnant glow, don't you think?

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Fruit as of yesterday, June 8th, 2018. The apples are now about the size of a half dollar. They look very much like Granny Smith apples. They tasted crisp, sweet, and tart, last year so, far as I'm concerned, this is a Granny Smith. Last year they had a little pink on them. I'm not sure what that was about but it looked like they were a little sunburnt.

UNFORTUNATELY...

Dun

Dun

Dun

(TO BE CONTINUED)

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ALL IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHT 2018 BY ME, @phedizzle. Hope you enjoyed them!

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Well, there you go. That's all for now. If you enjoyed this, please consider upvoting, resteeming, commenting, and following. Until the next post, take care.

Here are previous posts of mine:

STORIES:

BAREFOOT IN THE BOONIES: EXPOSING MY ROOTS (introduction post)
BAREFOOT IN THE BOONIES: Chapter 1
BAREFOOT IN THE BOONIES: FAMILY OWNED: Chapter 1 Section 2
BAREFOOT IN THE BOONIES: ABANDONED BASEMENT: Chapter 1 Section 2

2011 GARDEN:

2011: DESIGN AND BUILD
2011 BACKYARD TRELLIS, PERIMETER, & VOLUNTEER
2011 TIRE PORTION OF THE GARDEN
2011 BRASSICAS-TIRE GARDEN
2011 DWARF ORCHARD

RECIPES:

SANTA DELIVERED SHROOMS-SHITAKE OYSTER SCRAMBLE
SWEET CINNAMON POPCORN
MOCK ALMOND JOY--CHEAPER AND HEALTHIER
HANGRY TERIYAKI
RASHES--WHY I SWITCHED TO THIS COMMON DIY LAUNDRY SOAP AND HOW I MAKE IT
SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH FORAGED FINDS: FIRST FOOD FORAGE OF 2018

POEMS:

WATCHING THE SPRING WAKE UP
SHE IS DYING
WEEPING WILLOW

PLANTS AND ANIMALS-EDUCATIONAL:

GRASS IS OUR FRIEND
LITTLE BLUESTEM--BENEFICIAL AND BEAUTIFUL
BEHOLD THE BEAUTY OF THE FALSE INDIGO BUSH

WALK ALONG WITH ME:

WALK ALONG WITH ME 1
WALK ALONG WITH ME 2--WINTER 2017/2018

2018:

WILD TURKEY TAIL AND REISHI MUSHROOMS
HUGELKULTUR BED STARTED BUT THERE IS A LOGISTICAL OBSTACLE.
2018 CURRENT HAPPENINGS: FOOD FOREST EXPANSION
WILD EDIBLES AROUND THE HOMESTEAD

CONTESTS/REVIEWS

Chronic and Coffee MSP Review--25 SBD contest for the best MSPWAVES Radio Reviews
VOICES FROM THE MOUNTAINS Review--25 SBD contest for the best MSPWAVES Radio Reviews

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(Created by @bembelmaniac)

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(Created by @soulturtle)

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So come say hello in the following Discord chat rooms:

#homesteadersonline: https://discord.gg/VKCrWsS
@qurator: https://discord.gg/pJtWp57M
#minnowsupport & #PAL: https://discord.gg/B4ZjGBa