CRIMSON BEAUTY APPLE

  -by Dwight Bradley   The Crimson Beauty, or Scarlet Pippin, is an antique, early-ripening, red apple variety. Although still not widely grown in Alaska, it shows considerable promise. According to Beach (1905, Apples of New York, v. 2, p. 196-197), it originated about 1860 in Lynn, Ontario. Harold Jones, an Ontario agricultural researcher, is…

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Apple Thinning

By Tami Schlies Every July I spend time among my trees hand-thinning apple clusters. For twenty plus trees, it is time consuming. There will be spiders. My chickens get underfoot chasing the dropped fruit. But it is worth every moment of my time when harvest arrives. It hurts to break off all that potential fruit,…

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Update from Dwight and Lauren Bradley

  Lauren and I moved out of Alaska in mid September and drove two cars and three pets to Randolph, New Hampshire. We bought an old farm on 20 acres here; I worked at this farm in the 1970s, before becoming a geologist. The farmhouse is in great shape. There are three attached barns Two of…

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Ranetka Sightings! and Related Observations

  by Mark Weaver In last year’s ranetka article, I voiced concerns about the hardiness of the ranetka seedlings many of us have been using for rootstock. I have since found additional information that helps to answer the question of what “ranetka” is, where it comes from, and how much variability we can expect. Lawyers…

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A Garden Report

  by Mary Patania   Gardening 2013 The events of fall 2012 set the stage for 2013. We had huge amounts of rain 2012, July through August then a sudden quick freeze in Sept. The results of 2013 were: Early Spring: No garlic or tulips. The ground didn’t warm up until mid July. We had…

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Reindeer Sausage Apple Crisp Pie

By Carol Ross Apple filling: Made when apples are harvested and frozen in 12 or 16 oz plastic Cool Whip containers. Place plastic wrap on top of apples before putting on lid. Label and date.   5 cups large Rescue crabapples cut in quarters and cut out core and seeds, (not pared.) 1/4 cup brown…

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Orchard Report

By Tami Schlies If you’ve been to the membership forums, you’ll find a section where people are posting the results of the past winter. Very interesting to see what survived and what didn’t in various parts of the state. Like many people, I had terrible dieback on my Evans cherries. They are about eight years…

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President’s Message

  By Kevin Irvin This year has been quite the roller coaster as far as weather as I am sure you all know. Many iron-clad varieties had survival problems and it wasn’t just apples! It also is dependent on the micro-climate we each have at our respective orchards. Some fared far better than others simply…

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Ranetka is a Ranetka is a . . . ?

(Some Inconvenient Observations about Apple Rootstocks) By Mark Weaver — December 2012 In the last 20 years, productive apple trees and productive home orchards have proliferated in Southcentral Alaska to an extent once thought impossible. In large measure, this has happened because of the willingness of a few Alaskan and Canadian growers—real pioneers in the…

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From the President

By Pat Mulligan   Hello members.  Much of the value of this group is the sharing of experience. When one member tries something new, we all benefit.  Why should we miss new, hardier plants or make the same mistakes?  Our newsletters convey some of our experiences.  Please join me in thanking Dawn Deiser for scanning…

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Fireblight

By Seymour Mills I would like to offer something for the Fireblight that is very cheap to try and I think it will work. I’m pretty sure that is what I had to deal with. Mix a heavy solution of garden lime in water and scrub loose any diseased looking area and paint on the…

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SWEET SIXTEEN APPLES RIPEN IN ANCHORAGE

    A few years ago, Bob Boyer top worked Sweet Sixteen onto an old Siberian crab growing in Tony Route’s backyard near 8th & M just west of downtown Anchorage. The tree is one backyard north of the “8th & M mystery apple” which has been mentioned in past newsletters. The top worked tree…

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From the Editor’s Garden

By Tami Schlies Another season is over, with the golden birch and cottonwoods raining down their leaves in a forecast of the snow to come.  I sit at my computer once again, reworking in my mind all that has occurred in the brief summer since the last newsletter. Spring seemed to take its own sweet…

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ANNUAL TASTING OF ALASKA-GROWN APPLES 2006

ANNUAL TASTING OF ALASKA-GROWN APPLES By Dwight Bradley   2006 Results   The annual apple tasting was held at Bradley’s in Peters Creek on Sept. 23, 2007.  About 30 people were there and 19 rated the apples.  Fifty-five different apple varieties were tasted along with nineteen duplicates.  Another dozen or so varieties were brought for…

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PRUNING FOR FRUIT

  By Tami Schlies We have watched a lot of videos over the years on pruning apple trees, both in the early, formative years, and on old trees that need to be seriously reformed.  However, I think quite a few people likely have questions on how to prune other types of fruit, or even how…

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Orchard report for 2005 growing season – Peters Creek

by Dwight Bradley, Peters Creek Our orchard was laid out in summer 1992 so this was its 14th summer. It’s looking more and more like a real orchard and less like the “stick farm” that it once was.  Of the 50 trees that were planted in 1992-1993, only six remain (Heyer 20, Crimson Beauty, Norland,…

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Schlies Orchard Report 2006

Schlies Orchard Report 2006 By Tami Schlies This was a good year for fruit yield at our house.  Almost every apple tree produced fruit, and the Evan’s cherries actually produced enough for a couple of pies (well, would have if my son had not had a feast one day while he was looking for duck…

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Notes from Dan Elliot

I re-read the excellent Ecological Fruit Production in the North this summer.  Since it is out of print, I will pass on some information of interest. Pears need high phosphorus longer than apples (10-12 years) and only half as much nitrogen. For established apple trees apply 25-50 kg (55-110 lbs) of compost per tree in…

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Antonovka as a Rootstock

By Kevin Irvin Most commercially sold Apple Trees with a Hardy Standard size rootstock are budded onto M. Antonovka. Baileys Nursery a wholesale grower for the Nursery Trade uses Antonovka as well as Columbia, Borowinka and others as a Hardy rootstock. Most Nursery (Greenhouse) retail outlets here in Alaska commonly buy from Baileys among others.…

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Member Fruit Updates

Alice Brewer finally got some beautiful little pears off her pear tree Bob Purvis gave her years ago.   Neither Alice Brewer nor Lawrence Clark had apricots produce this year.   Dan Elliot says his best apple this year for flavor was Simonette 1847.

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New Fruit Variety Trials

By Tami Schlies Our visit from Bernie Nikolai this summer was very enlightening on a lot of fronts.  He is from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, which has weather most like our state, though a bit colder winters and hotter summers than Anchorage.  Their average frost dates are around may 24th and September 15th.  They only get…

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Did You Know?

Did You Know?     If you discover a girdled tree in early spring, use white silicone caulking on the exposed area to prevent desiccation and save the tree.  The bark may grow back.   Young apple trees do best in bare soil with no competing grass or weeds and no mulch.   Evans cherry…

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The Editor’s Garden

By Tami Schlies Greetings from the Editor’s Garden!  Our heat wave this summer has been great to many of my plants, and I wish I’d planted more beans and corn.  As they say, it is either a bean year or a lean year, and this is definitely a bean year!  My potatoes are suffering from…

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Apple production at O’Brien Orchards – 2002

Apple  production @ O’Brien  Orchards 49152 Orchard circle Kenai ,AK 99611 907/776-8726 E-Mail obrienorchards @gci.net 2000                                                    2001                                                    2002 Breakey   .25#                                     Breakey 10#                                        Breakey  25# Centennial   45#                                  Centennial 25#                                    Centennial Crab 184 # Bud 9 – 1# CGE    3#                                            CGE 5#                                               CGE 3# Carroll 30# Chestnut crab 2#                                 Chestnut crab 10#                               Chestnut Crab 43#…

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Annual Tasting Of Alaska-Grown Apples – 2002

  By D. BRADLEY   2002 Results   The annual Alaska-grown apple tasting was held in late September at Bradley’s in Peters Creek.  About 30 people were there and 20 people rated the apples.  We rated 63 different varieties, and 26 repeats.  The top five apples this year were Oriole (grown by Tom Marshall), Carroll…

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Orchard Report – Peters CreeK – 2002

Peters Creek, Alaska by DWIGHT BRADLEY Jan. 6, 2003   This was the third straight good apple year for us in Peters Creek.  The winter of 2001-2002 was about average, with coldest temperatures in the range of  -25°F (one day I’ll start keeping better track).  Winterkill was minimal.   We hosted a pruning workshop in…

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August 2002 Tours

by DAN ELLIOT APFG Members had an enjoyable and educational visit to Gene and Alaine Dinkle’s on Fairview Loop Road in Wasilla on a wet evening in August.  From giant cabbages to little crabapples, we were impressed by the variety and productivity of the established plantings. The prolific, large clump of red currant was called…

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At War with Voles and Fungi

by Tom Marshall   During the spring of the Year 2002 an army of voles invaded the orchard on my homestead west of Wasilla, Alaska.  They were probably attracted by the white clover in the lawn surrounding the trees.  The invaders girdled 6 trees killing them outright and severely retarded 6 more trees.  Unfortunately, one…

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Recipes – Spring 2002

Homemade Fruit Juice from Jackson Gardens   Pick berries when ripe and freeze.  Later, thaw berries in a strainer to remove juice naturally, without killing the healthy enzymes in them.  Once the berries are thawed and strained, you can use a juicer or steamer to get the last of the juice out.  Freeze the juice…

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Dan’s Apple Comments

By DAN ELLIOT   This past season was good for South Central apples.  Although dry, spring was early, fairly sunny, and warm.  Blossom peak was about June 4th – many years it is around the 10th.  We were almost a week earlier than Fairbanks.  Although July was cloudy, the ground had already warmed and the…

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Orchard Report – Edmonton – 2001

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada by THEAN PHEH November 28, 2001   I live in Edmonton which has a microclimate in Zone 3.  I also have contacts with other growers in Zone3 and 2 in Central Alberta.   The first killing frost of 2000 arrived late, giving the plants about two extra weeks to prepare for the…

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Apple Recipes from the 2001 Apple Tasting

Apple Pie Bars from Teddy Tebo   Filling 4 cups pared, cored sliced apples (1/8 in. thick) 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup flour 1 t cinnamon 1/4 t nutmeg 1/4 t ginger 2 egg whites, slightly beaten     Crust: 2 cups flour 1/2 cup sugar (optional) 1/2 t baking powder 1/2 t salt 1…

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Annual Tasting Of Alaska-Grown Apples 2001

By DWIGHT BRADLEY The annual Alaska-grown apple tasting was held in late September at Bradley’s in Peters Creek.  About 25 people attended and 12 people rated the apples.  We rated 52 different varieties, plus 22 repeats, or 74 apples altogether.  Bob Boyer also sneaked in his usual ringer—a Ginger Gold bought at Fred Meyers which…

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Orchard Report – Peters Creek – 2001

Peters Creek, Alaska by DWIGHT BRADLEY Dec.8, 2001   This was the second straight good apple year for us in Peters Creek.  The winter of 2000-2001 was very mild, no colder than about 0°F.  We didn’t have a decent permanent snow cover until sometime in January; meanwhile, a couple inches of glare ice built up…

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Orchard Report – Ketchikan – 2001

Ketchikan, Alaska by JERROLD KOERNER December 26, 2001 We are late in getting out our written evaluations on our trials of early ripening apple varieties here at the nursery.  Ketchikan experienced another horrible spring, much like the spring of 1999.  The apple bloom was delayed more than four weeks, spring temperatures were below normal, and…

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Orchard Report – Cottage Grove, Minnesota – 2001

Cottage Grove, Minnesota by ROBERT PURVIS August 21, 2001   This spring, my 1-year-old trees of M.604 and Debbie’s Gold apricot both blossomed on a warm day in late April, 2 wk after the last frost.  The bumblebees worked the blossoms, and the trees tried to set fruit, but ultimately they all fell off.  Now…

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Orchard Report Peter’s Creek August 30, 2001

  by TAMI SCHLIES   It is hard to believe that summer is almost over already.  It has not felt cold enough to be fall yet, but the trees have that bronzy sheen that speaks of the golden days of autumn just around the corner.  Perhaps milder days will give me the incentive to clean…

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Gladys Wood Elementary School Apple Tasting Results October 4, 2000

by HUGH HARRIS These are some additional results from an independent group with no vested interest in apples – Kindergartners!  Three classes participated, each child voting for the best apple.  This was also for the closing of “A For Apple” for the month of September.  Norland again seems to have taken the day!   Apple…

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Book Reviews May 2001

Book Review: by JERRY KOERNER   NAFEX member George Stilphen is offering a second printing of his book The Apples of Maine.  Back in 1993, George updated the original Apples of Maine by Bradford that was originally published in 1911.  George’s first printing was only 500 copies, which sold fast and are almost impossible to…

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Featured Fruit: Apple

Apples are members of the rose family, or Rosaceae, and the genus Malus. The common wild apple of Europe and Asia is M. pumila. Other wild species are M. sylvestris (a wild crab), and M. baccata.  The Western Crabapple, M. fusca, grows wild on the Kenai Peninsula (rare) and along the coast of Southeastern Alaska…

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Updated Apple-Tree Growth Curves For Peters Creek, Alaska 2001

Updated Apple-Tree Growth Curves For Peters Creek, Alaska By D. BRADLEY In January 1998 I measured the heights of the 77 apple trees then growing in our orchard and plotted tree height against age to get a growth curve.  In November 2000 I made new measurements of the 100 trees now growing.  The results are…

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Book Reviews January 2001

Reviews continued:   by DAN ELLIOT Happy New Year From the New President!  At the December meeting I passed around three books related to training and pruning I borrowed from the NAFEX library.  Debbie Hinchey suggested I write short reviews on them for the members not present. The video mentioned last here was shown at…

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Annual Tasting of Alaska-Grown Apples – 2000

  By D. BRADLEY   2000 Results   The annual Alaska-grown apple tasting was held in early October at Bradley’s in Peters Creek.  About 30 people were there (including a reporter from the Chugiak-Eagle River Star) and 19 people rated the apples.  We rated 35 different varieties, and 15 repeats.  The highest-rated apples this year…

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Orchard Reports – Fall 2000

  Peters Creek, Alaska Dwight Bradley, Sept. 1, 2000 It’s finally starting to look like an orchard. Without a doubt this has been the best apple year since we planted the orchard in 1992.  Most trees survived last winter with very little damage.  Bloom lasted from June 3 to somewhere around the last week of…

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Why Fruit Trees Fail to Bear

reprinted  with permission from WSUCE  publication Your fruit tree normally will begin to bear fruit soon after it has become old enough to blossom freely. Nevertheless, the health of your tree, its environment, fruiting habits, and the cultural practices you use can influence its ability to produce fruit. Adequate pollination is also essential to fruit…

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APPLE GROWING NEAR EDMONTON, ALBERTA

  —by Bernie Nikolai   Dwight Bradley suggested I update the Alaska Pioneer Fruit Growers, with my recent experiences in apple growing in central Alberta. By way of introduction, I have an orchard of about 200 apple trees one half hour drive west of Edmonton, Alberta. My trees are from one to five years old,…

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ANNUAL TASTING OF ALASKA- GROWN APPLES

  — D. Bradley   1999 Results   The annual Alaskan-grown apple tasting was held at Bradley’s in Peters Creek on Sept. 25, 1999. About 30 people were there, and 19 rated the apples. We tasted 31 varieties of apples, a dozen repeats of these same varieties, two varieties of pear, and one each apricot…

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MILE 108 APPLE

 —Kevin Irvin   The Mile 108 tree on the Seward Highway (about 10 miles south of Anchorage—editor) came to my attention via Verna Pratt this past spring. It was originally found by a lady who does nothing but search and enjoy the “big outdoor” garden. This tree has endured many a winter along the inlet…

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APPLE WINTER SURVIVAL IN MINNESOTA

—David K. Wildung (Horticulturalist, North-Central Experiment Station, Minnesota)   (This article is from the North-Central Quarterly)   The winter of 1995-96 will be remembered as the coldest winter on record in Minnesota. The all-time state low minimum temperature of -60° F was recorded at Tower, MN on February 2, 1996. While the official low temperature…

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ANNUAL ALASKAN-GROWN APPLE TASTING

 —Dwight Bradley   1998 Results   The annual Alaskan-grown apple tasting was held at Bradley’s in Peters Creek on Sept. 26, 1998. About 25 people were there, and 17 rated the apples. We tasted 31 varieties of apples, a dozen repeats of these same varieties, two varieties of pear, and one each apricot and plum.…

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OREOLE APPLE TREE UPDATE

    Tom Marshall provided some new information on his Oreole tree, which is topworked with 19 other varieties. The tree bore 350 Oreoie (of which 66 were blown off in a bad August windstorm), 74 Geneva Early, 37 Novosibirsk! Sweet, 26 Trailman, 19 Parkland, 15 Yellow Transparent, 21 Centennial, 7 Whitney, 1 Norcue, 7…

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BYFLUI NALIV: A PROMISING ANTIQUE RUSSIAN VARIETY

    Dwight Bradley   In September, we had a visit from a geologist who spent his 40 or so years in Russia, then moved to Colorado a few years ago, when the standard of living in Russia started to spiral downhill. Like many professionals from Moscow, he owned an acre of land about an…

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BURGUNDY AND WOLF RIVER APPLES RIPENED IN ANCHORAGE

    by Dwight Bradley   The Burgundy apple is a large, red, relatively new variety that has some promise as a commercial variety in the colder apple-growing parts of upstate New York and northern New England, and southern Quebec. Pam Warner reports that her Burgundy tree ripened its .first fruit this past growing season…

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RESULTS OF THE SEPTEMBER 1997 ALASKAN APPLE-TASTING

    —by Dwight Bradley   The annual tasting of Alaska-grown apples was held at Bradleys in Peters Creek in late September. About 30 people attended, and 23 turned in scoresheets. Bob Boyer contributed three of the top four apples this year: the winner, Ginger Gold, plus runner-up September Ruby and Sunrise. Tom Marshall’s Oriole…

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OREOLE APPLE TREE

  -by Tom Marshall, Anchorage   In 1969, weary of looking at my neighbor’s unfinished garage through my one picture window, I planted what I thought was a crab apple from Swedberg Nursery in battle Lake, Minn. My thought was that its early season pink blooms and foliage would beautify my house near Merrill Field…

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FOUR-YEAR SUMMARY OF ALASKAN APPLE-TASTING RESULTS

    — by Dwight Bradley   The following table summarizes the results of four consecutive years of apple tastings of apples grown in the Anchorage-Matanuska Valley region. This is a partial list of all the varieties that have been brought at one time or another to the tastings. For this table, I took only…

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Bending To Pressure

This Michigan growers apple orchard is bending over backwards to increase yield.   By Jean D. Aylsworth   LEO Dietrich, an apple grower from Conklin, Mich., has tried bending the leaders on some two-year-old trees to control tree vigor and possibly increase yields as well.   In a planting of Northern Spys on Mark rootstock,…

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SUGAR CONTENT OF ALASKAN APPLES AT THE SEPTEMBER 1996 APPLE-TASTING

  by Dwight Bradley   In the last Newsletter I reported on the September 1996 apple tasting, but forgot to include data on the sugar content. Bob Beyer took a slice of each apple that we tasted and squeezed a bit of juice into an refractometer, which measures sugar content in brix (I don’t find…

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‘Summerred’ Apple: A Delightful Addition to ‘Chinese Golden Early’ and ‘Rescue’ Eating Applies for Southcentral Alaska

    Curtis H. Dearborn*   ‘Summerred’ is the first apple of high eating quality ever to have developed ripe fruits on the tree in the Cook Inlet region of Alaska. Its flavor is a blend of ‘McIntosh’ and ‘Delicious’ and its fragrance exceeds that of ‘McIntosh.’ The texture of ‘Summerred’ resembles that of ‘Golden…

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RESULTS OF 1996 ALASKA-GROWN APPLE-TASTING

  by Dwight Bradley   The Annual tasting of Alaska-Grown apples was held at Bradley’s in Peters Creek on September 26. About 30-35 people attended, and 26 turned in scoresheets. In all, we tasted 50 apples, including 40 different varieties and 10 repeats. Almost everyone agreed that this was an excellent group of apples —…

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ORCHARD REPORT 1996

  by Helen Butcher (Received July 8, 1996)   The Golden Transparents received for Mothers Day 1986 have had a steady, not always consistent production. Several years ago I started culling down to two left on each group with resulting larger, regular-sized apples. Maybe the weather played a part? The trees are in the open…

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IN PRAISE OF SIBERIAN CRAB

  By Bernie Nikolai   I’ve always felt that the magnificent Siberian Crab has received a “bum rap” over the years. Here we have a tree that can take -50°F with zero snowcover, and come out smiling the next spring without any injury! It has a tough corky bark which makes it virtually immune from…

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Apples in Alaska

  CURTIS H. DEARBORN Research Horticulturist   Apples are not native to Alaska oven though there are areas along the coast with milder weather conditions than those where apples are grown in other regions of the world. Oregon crabapple (Malus fusea) of southeastern Alaska is the only member of the Malus genus indigenous to Alaska.…

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SPRING ORCHARD REPORT 1996

  by Dwight Bradley   Owing to the lack of snow cover until January the winter of 95-96 had the potential to be rough on tender plants. I heard one report that the ground in Anchorage froze down to 14 feet below the surface. Whether or not this is an exaggeration, there certainly were a…

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The quest for new apple genes takes ARS plant explorers to Central Asia.

The quest for new apple genes takes ARS plant explorers to Central Asia.   ?????? ritz Waller has been in the apple business since the 1960’s. Today he grows 12 popular varieties—including McIntosh, Jonagold, and Empire—on his 250-acre apple orchard in Wolcott, New York, near Lake Ontario. One of his biggest expenses is the chemicals…

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Nineteenth-Century Russian Apple Varieties in Alaska

  by Dwight Bradley   My interest in Russian apples was recently rekindled by a short note by George Quesada in the Fall 1995 issue of Pomona. Quesda came across an 1884 booklet by Charles Gibb of Montreal titled On the Russian apples imported by the U.S. Dept, of Agriculture in 1870. Xerox copies of…

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Results of Fall Apple Tasting 1995

  by Dwight Bradley   The Club’s annual tasting of Alaskan-grown apples was held on September 28, 1995 at the Bradleys in Peters Creek. Twenty-six different varieties were tasted, along with several duplicates. The clear favorite was Tom Marshall’s Oriole apple, followed by Parkland, Norland, Lodi, and Whitney Crab. Twenty tasters rated the apples for…

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ORCHARD REPORT

ORCHARD REPORT -by Michael J. O’Brien Nikiski   This report covers the production of fruit for this past season in my Nikiski orchard.   I have six Meteor cherry trees which produced one cherry each. These trees are seven years old.   Concerning apples, I had one-quarter to one-fifth the fruit as last year, approximately…

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FRUIT TREE THOUGHTS

  by Bob Boyer Anchorage   The following are blossoming dates (B) and fruit pick dates (P) for trees in ground or buckets.   Nanking cherry. B May 5, P Sept. 26. 1 gallon. Cavalier cherry. B May 22. No fruit. Chokecherry. B May 22, didn’t pick; put Cygon 2 on tree. White Nanking cherry,…

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REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON CHINESE GOLDEN EARLY

    -by Dwight Bradley   In the most recent edition (#20) of Apple Notes — A Prairie Pomologist’s Letter Exchange. editor Roger Vick has asked for information about the Chinese Golden Early apple. This short note is in response to his request. In the 1994 Census of Alaskan Apple Trees, Chinese Golden Early was…

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RESULTS OF ALAKASAN APPLE-TREE CENSUS, NOV. 1994

  — by Dwight Bradley   So far, I’ve received nine responses from Alaskan growers to the apple census in the Fall Newsletter. I thank Dave Crusey, Doris & Jay Dearborn, Fred & Dawn Deiser, Burt & Cindy Durham, Michael Green, Mel Monsen, Charlene Oakes, and Joe Orsi for their efforts. Another half-dozen growers have…

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PRESSING CIDER IN PETERS CREEK

  — by Dwight Bradley   Lauren and I made five pressings of cider this Fall in Peters Creek, from Alaska-grown apples. The best cider was made from the leftovers from the Sept. 22 apple tasting. There were at least fifteen varieties, and even though half of them underripe, the result was still superb. Nearly…

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FRUIT-RIPENING DATES IN FAIRBANKS

  —by Clair hammers   I had a very good apple, plum, and cherry plum crop this-year. No pears or apricots. I also had some grapes (Valiant) and elderberries for the first time. One of my elderberries set two different crops about a month apart — and they both got ripe. The following is the…

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RESULTS OF APPLE TASTING AT SEPTEMBER MEETING 1994

— by Dwight Bradley The annual apple tasting was held at Bradley’s on September 22. About 30 people attended, perhaps a third of them non-members. We sampled 34 Alaska-grown apple varieties, which were contributed by about half that many different growers. People also brought a variety of excellent apple pies, apple- and raspberry crisp, apple…

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BOOK REVIEW -Growing Apples in the North

BOOK REVIEW   Up until a few years ago, there was not much published literature on apple growing that dealt specifically with the problems we face in Alaska. La Culture de la Pomme dans le Nord (Growing Apples in the North, 271 pages), published in 1992 by Eddy R. Dugas, is just the book we…

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ANTIQUE COLD-HARDY APPLE VARIETIES IN NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND

by Dwight Bradley   The northern counties of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine have long been a proving ground for hardy apples. The growing season is about the same as in Anchorage (late May to early September), and the winters are about as cold (record low temperatures for most towns are -40° to -50°F). For…

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1993 APPLE TASTING RESULTS

By Pam Neiswanger Warner   Many thanks to Jay Dearborn and Dearborn Farms for their bountiful support of our 1993 Anchorage-area apple tasting!!   And thanks also to Tom Marshall, Elmer Jeske, Hugh Harris, Erik Simpson, Don Cox, Arvid Miller, and Bob Boyer for sharing their summer harvest with everyone! Once again, the weather was…

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Joe Orsi’s Summer Apple List

Joe Orsi’s Summer Apple List Table l.–Some early ripening “summer apple” varieties suitable for trials in Southeast Alaska (Orsi 10/92).   1Variety Parentage Origin 2Bears Sitka Exper. Station Tested Fruited 1 Adanac Battleford, Open Pollinated – J-MA     2 Almata Beautiful Arcade ´ Fluke 38 Crab – LA     3 Beacon Malinda ´…

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FRUIT TREE SURVIVAL RECORD FOR WINTER OF 91-92 IN FAIRBANKS, AK.

The following had no winter injury:   APPLE 922 END                                                                               IMP. BATTLEFORD                          RED SUMBO AKANE                                                                                 JACQUES                                             RED WELL AL MA SWEET                                                                   JOHN WALLACE                               RENOWN ANOROS                                                                               JORDAN RUSSET                              RESCUE ARBOR DALE                                                                     KEEPSAKE                                          ROMFO UNKNOWN ARCTIC RED                                                                      KERR                                                    ROSTHERN 18 BATTLEFORD                                                                    LEAFLAND                                          ROSYBROOK BIDDY                                                                                  LIVELAND RASBERRY                  SCOT 144 BREAKEY                                                                            LODI                                                      SEPT. RUBY BREAKEY X CRIMSON BEAUTY                                LOWELL                                             …

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DETERMINING FRUIT RIPENING DATES

By Bob Purvis   “Can variety A ripen its fruit before the onset of winter?” A cultivar’s ripening date is an important consideration, next only to winter hardiness for selecting fruit varieties to be grown in a climate with a short, cool growing season. During my tenure (1984-1989) as president of the Alaska Pioneer Fruit…

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STEM BANDING ENHANCES ROOTING OF APPLE ROOTSTOCK CUTTINGS

By Pat Holloway   “Softwood shoots of M.9 and MM. 106 were banded with Velcro for up to 20 days before cuttings were propagated. Banding 10-20 days increased percent rooting and number of roots/cutting and the longer the banding the greater the effect. In M.9, banding resulted in a higher survival rate and increased new…

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APPLES FOR ALASKA DON’T FORGET THE CLASSICS

By Leslie Toombs   In trying to grow bigger, better, hardier, and earlier fruit it is exciting to acquire and plant each new apple variety as it is released from the experiment stations. While new fruits suitable to our Alaskan climate will be discovered in this way, we should not overlook the historic apples suitable…

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1991 APPLE TASTING RESULTS

ANCHORAGE – Dimond Greenhouses was the scene of our annual Apple Tasting Event last September 19, 1991—and what a scene it was! Apples everywhere! Jay Dearborn acted as our special guest host and brought several apple varieties from the Valley for our tasting pleasure. Other members brought different varieties from their own crops and we…

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THE YORKSHIRE GREENING APPLE

According to Lawrence Clark, a Yorkshire Greening’ apple has been growing in Anchorage for more than 20 years. It produces one of the largest apples of all the cold- hardy varieties growing in Alaska. Scionwood from this cultivar was offered in the grafting workshops this past April Below is a description of this cultivar taken…

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Tree census 1991

Since this is the year of the census, why restrict the counting just to people? NAFEX member Ruth Edmondson answered her own question by planning a “Back to our Roots” census adventure for Sunday, May 20. Volunteers will make a block-by-block count of flowering fruit trees in the Anchorage Original Townsite and Elderberry Triangle as…

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SURVIVAL OF FRUIT TREES IN DELTA JUNCTION 1988-89

Below is a summary of the survival of our fruit trees after the winter of 1988-89. We experienced about a week of temperatures in the -60 F range with a low of -68 F. They were protected by 18 inches of sawdust in a 12 inch diameter metal cannister and a snow cover of about…

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FRONT AND CENTER: CLAIR LAMMERS

Chapter member Clair Lammers has been in touch with me a few times over the past two months and has written down some of the things he is testing in a very favorable microclimate close to Fairbanks. During the nine years he has kept records, it has yet to go below -32 F at his…

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ALASKAN APPLE-TREE CENSUS RESPONSE FROM JERROLD KOERNER OF KETCHIKAN

    One of the most interesting census reports received so far was from Jerrold Koerner of Ketchikan. He is growing 262 varieties of apple, of which 25 are producing. His variety list is reproduced below; it includes a number of English varieties. The oldest trees are now ten years old. His favorite three varieties…

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Overwintering Fruit trees in Alaska 1988

During the winters of 1986 and 1987 and 1987 to 1988 I overwintered in pots, a number of apple, pear, plum, apricot, and sweet and tart cherry trees. The decision to grow things in pots was based on these considerations: First, a black plastic pot provides a warm environment for growing new roots on bare-root…

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A few Baccata facts

Did you know (or ever want to know?) that malus baccata was first introduced as a cultivated plant in 1784 by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Q, Richmond, Surrey, England. It grows wild in North Eastern Asia to Northern China. It has been hybridized with at least four other Crabapple species and the list of named…

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News from Fairbanks, 1988

I picked a single fruit off my “Yellow Transparent” apple tree this summer. It was slightly unripe on September 9th. The apple was smaller than the “Hyer 12” at the Experimental Farm. I have been doing a lot of research this summer into possible rootstocks for the Fairbanks area. The Peking cotoneaster and the American…

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Arborgards — better than burlap

After some bad experiences this past winter with bark rotting caused by wet burlap applied originally to my apple trees for sun scald protection, I found an alternative: Arborgards. Arborgards are white spiral perforated tubes, 24 – 40 inches high, made of durable, springy plastic. Used by professional landscapers to protect trunks of newly planted…

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Apple tasting 1988

The Alaska chapter held its fourth annual apple tasting party at the October meeting. 32-35 people attended, including photographers from the two Anchorage newspapers. Lawrence Clark opened the meeting by passing around an unknown apple, but no one correctly guessed its identity to win $5. The apple was “Kerrybrook”, a Canadian cultivar. A total of…

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Apple Allergies …

Apple Allergies … Submitted by the Boyers   Hi Tami, Bob wanted me to forward this info to you. Perhaps you would be interested in including it in the newsletter. Marianne   From: apple-crop@virtualorchard.net [mailto:apple-crop@virtualorchard.net] On Behalf Of Jonathan B. Bishop Subject: Apple-Crop: Spraying and food allergies   Hello all, I just had an inquiry…

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