Pomona

Ken Schramm

Ken Schramm
I hate conventional apple growing, but it is just about the only way you can grow apples in Michigan without having end up as Frass Fest '10. Just about. You can put your apples in individual bags to insure that the coddling moths and Ragolitis pomonella don't end up ravaging your precious Kandil Sinaps, Sweet Sixteens and Tydeman's Late Oranges. So I did. If all goes well, there will be many cool apples sans bug shit this year.

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Roxbury Russet

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Gala

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Calville Blanc d'Hiver

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On this tree: Scaffold is Jonagold, plus Yellow Bellflower, Winter Banana, Red Cox

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Spigolds

Just a stupid amount of work. Was it worth it? I'll tell you in October, but I've already had one Gravenstein, and it was pretty satisfying.
 
Sheesh...I sense an army of Mexicans at work. Let us know how the results are. I don't think anybody is this dedicated on the Lake Ontario fruit plain here in NYS.
 
Wow. That is a lot of work for somebody(s). Where in MI are you doing this? Do you take any to a market?

PS I hate to think of the closest landfill come harvest time. Do you reuse any of those baggies?
 
Lars - Troy, just north of Detroit. The crop is usually about 25 bushels, and in the past, I have pressed them into sweet cider, which I sell at work and donate the dough to the Red Cross. This year, since they should look pretty good, I am looking into taking them to a local farmer's market.

I thought about the waste thing. Troy does not do curbside recycling of plastic bags, but... My recycling center is the SOCCRA facility, and I can recycle plastic bags there. I do use the center - I have to drop off all my pruning if I get it bundled before curbside collection starts, and I have to take my electronic items, paint cans and used oil and there, but it's only 2 miles away, and I do it.

Precisely what the carbon footprint on recycling is - compared to the pesticides I was using - I can't say, but I'm happy to not be applying them all summer. Both environmentally and personally; nothing sucks worse on a 90 degree day that to have to don the full length spraying gear and go sweat buckets for an hour or two.

I did it all myself (as well as 90% of the cherry harvest). I have a world of respect for Mexicans. It's really difficult to find pasty white folk who will work that hard.

Anyone that wants to find out what at Tydeman's late Orange or a Cox's Orange Pippin tastes like is welcome to come by at harvest. Y'all are helping me learn the wonders of the Loire and Beaujolais, the least I can do is kick in an apple or two. Spigolds make Golden Delicious taste like Wonder bread.

(Just noticed I mis-ID'd the Galas as Fujis earlier - corrected)
 
Ken, thanks for the reply. I'm no bleeding-heart tree-hugger or anything, but the first thing I thought of when I saw all those baggies were landfills. Glad to know they get recycled.

I definitely know where Troy is. I'm from the east side of Detroit and my parents still live there, so I get back from time to time. It would be great if you could post (or send a message) when you start harvesting. I'm always looking out for a great apple and would love to try some that have had so much hard work put in to them. Thanks again for the info.
 
So, they're getting ripe now, and the bags seem to have done the trick. The reports that the bags would have to be removed for the apples to color up properly appear to have been balderdash. They taste great. And they're frass free.

Forgive the photographic skills. Putnam Weekley I ain't.

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L to R: Sekai Ichi, Calville Blanc d'Hiver, Hawaii, Spigold, Jonathan, Northern Spy, Ida Red.

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A really nice Spigold on the tree.

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L to R: Egremont Russet, Holstein, Royal Gala, Cortland, Cox's Orange Pippin, Red Delicious, and that same Spigold that was on the tree in back, as a reference on how big they are. (edited to correct an error in variety identification)

The whole thing was a pain in the butt, and I think the real verdict is that apples and the rest of my pursuits are not in harmony. The trees will be coming out this winter. I am going to concentrate my time and effort on the fruit I need to grow to get the commercial mead making venture scaled up to the necessary levels.
 
Love the photos. Can you do something to approximate how they taste so we can vicariously enjoy them another way?

Sorry to hear that the trees are coming out but I understand the need to focus.
 
That Cox's Orange Pippin and Northern Spy make me wanna cry. I grew up with some godforsaken ageridden apple trees on a farm in northeastern Pennsylvania and I can still remember the wild bright taste of an apple picked in the frost air of an autumn morning.

Thanks!
 
I'll add some descriptive comments on the styles after I get them all pressed tomorrow. Some of the sweet cider will head to the fermenter, some will go into the freezer, and some will be sold, and the money donated to a charity that strikes my fancy.

While I was intently picking on a low branch yesterday, my head down, pulling the bags from the apples, a bird in the tree in front of me went absolutely spastic. It had to be either the most demonstrably garrulous chickadee I had ever heard, or someone else with issues. As I looked up to investigate, I actually said out loud, "whoa, what's up buddy?"

It was a male cardinal, gone berserk, flapping, chirping wildly. As I was trying to make sense of his behavior, I caught the motion of another bird. A big Cooper's hawk, lighted on the other side of the tree, its pursuit obviously arrested by the dense foliage of the Jonathan tree. He or she looked me over, decided I was bad news, and flew over my house headed toward the park across the street.

The cardinal was spared. I picked the last of the Egremont Russets.
 
originally posted by Ken Schramm:
I'll add some descriptive comments on the styles after I get them all pressed tomorrow. Some of the sweet cider will head to the fermenter, some will go into the freezer, and some will be sold, and the money donated to a charity that strikes my fancy.

While I was intently picking on a low branch yesterday, my head down, pulling the bags from the apples, a bird in the tree in front of me went absolutely spastic. It had to be either the most demonstrably garrulous chickadee I had ever heard, or someone else with issues. As I looked up to investigate, I actually said out loud, "whoa, what's up buddy?"

It was a male cardinal, gone berserk, flapping, chirping wildly. As I was trying to make sense of his behavior, I caught the motion of another bird. A big Cooper's hawk, lighted on the other side of the tree, its pursuit obviously arrested by the dense foliage of the Jonathan tree. He or she looked me over, decided I was bad news, and flew over my house headed toward the park across the street.

The cardinal was spared. I picked the last of the Egremont Russets.
Thank God you're still with us.
 
I feel truly blessed. It was touch and go for a few there, Tom, touch and go. I can hear the relief in your voice even now.

This hawk has left the remnants of several other less fortunate birds in the yard recently. I imagine orchards make for easy pickin's.
 
Brzme: Maybe. Not that its conclusive, but have a look at http://www.youtube.com/user/PomologistDan - I'm guessing it can be done, but I don't know anyone who is doing it commercially.

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The assembled crowd seems to have a proclivity for acidic tastes, so off the top, here are the three apples you may not be familiar with that will likely suit your fancy.

Calville Blanc: Clarion acidity. This apple contains as much ascorbic acid as an orange. Flesh is both dense and crisp. Skin is thin and flavorful. Cream-colored flesh, streaked with yellow, has a spicy (allspice?) component. Some folks like these better after they have aged a bit. They lose some of their edginess, and take on flavors likened to banana. I prefer them while they are still citrusy and screaming.

Spigold: All-around spectacular apple. Eats well out of hand and cooks on the scale of Northern Spy half of its parentage along w/Golden delicious. Huge. Skin thicker than I prefer, like Fuji, but not quite as tough. Crisp, and stays crisp for months. Off-white flesh, close to Honey Crisp in texture, breaks cleanly at the bite, but does not have that unflagging celery-like tooth resistance of Honey Crisp. Considerably more flavor, though, characterized more by melon and platonic apple flavor.

Roxbury Russet: Tartest of the bunch. Skin like a paper bag, but densely complex flavor profile, centered on acidity. Flesh is firm, but not breaking. Notes of lemon, pear and Muscadet.

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Roxbury Russet

Cortland: Macintosh x Ben Davis offspring, it has some of the Mac profile, but is less caricatured, lasts longer, and cooks a little better.

Egremont Russet: Hard as wood when picked at or just before ripeness, and far less tart than Roxbury. Much of the flavor is in the skin, which is think, but not as tough as Fuji or Red Delicious. Tastes like pear nectar.

Hubbardston Nonesuch: Big, rock hard, slightly rough and uniquely bumpy/peened skin. Crispest of the russets I grow. Has sucrose like sweetness, but with more depth of character than the grocery store sweeties. Cooks up well.

Coxs Orange Pippin: Thin but rough skin, aromatic even through the skin. Flesh is firm with some grain and gives easily. Honey, Christmas spices and tropical fruit very juicy, almond, vanilla and Lyles Golden Syrup. This is such a distinctive apple that its character can be clearly perceived in its offspring like Holstein. Its a great apple.

Ida Red, or Idared, depending on whom you ask, has the nicest blush and is one of the most aromatic apples in my orchard. Crisp, acidity at about a 6, honey, sweetened condensed milk and pineapple juice. Great culinary apple.

Holstein is a child of Coxs. Flesh cream/yellow in color, dense but not hard unless picked and eaten right at peak. The taste is nutty, and spicy, tart but less skewed toward acidity than the headliners.

Sekai Ichi is a cross of Red and Yellow Delicious. I will not rue its departure.

Hawaii is actually pretty tasty, crisper than the russets, but not as compelling as the tart crowd.

I like Jonathan quite a bit. It hails originally from NY, but many say it hits its stride in Michigan, and I have to say, mine are darn good. They have plenty of acidic backbone, lots of spicy, almost incense-like character, but fall apart totally when cooked.

Others I have that didnt bear this year: Hudsons Golden Gem is the most pear-like apple Ive ever had. Zabergau Reinette is another acid lovers dream (Kesey ate em by the bushel), and Freyberg lives up to its reputation of having a strong note of anise in its skin and flesh, and is really fun to taste.

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The bags have been retrieved and are now bagged themselves and ready to recycle.

Thats way too much about apple disorder. This is a wine board.
 
The Orange Pippin sounds great, as do the high-acid varieties. Wonder if anyone here in the Big Apple sells them?

Oh, one more question: I recently used some Pink Lady apples, from New Zealand, for cooking. They were huge. Peeling them was like peeling a bowling ball. But they cooked-up well enough... held together, not too sweet. Is that the usual behavior for this kind?
 
Pink Lady is a brand name - they are a club variety. Like most high acid varieties, they do have a decent rep as a culinary variety:


The grocery store giants are my version of spoof - fertigated with 12-12-12 to monstrous size.

If you are looking to find good apples, you could try


Now's the time.
 
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