orchard

How Do I Tell If My Apples are Ripe?

August 6, 2018 by Nathan Smith Leave a Comment

We’re at the early stages of apple season in Edmonton! The earliest of the common cultivars that are grown here are starting to ripen.

Although we still have a few months of apples ahead of us, we are starting to hear a lot of questions about how to know when an apple tree is ready to pick. It’s also worth remembering that the correct level of ripeness depends on the use for the apples. We tend to like our apples a bit more ripe for cider than we would to eat fresh.

There are also some misleading reasons it may seem like the apples are ripe, but they may not me. A few things that I would be cautious to rely on are:

Colour – Yes many apples will develop a different colour (often red) when ripe. However, this vary a lot depending on the cultivar and how much sunlight the fruit is getting. Some apples may start developing a red blush in August, over a month before they are ready to pick!
Falling apples – If some apples start to fall, check them a bit more closely before rushing to pick the whole tree. This can be a sign that the tree is ready to be picked, but apples get heavy and there may be some windfall before they are ripe.

There is no 100% way to know you are picking the apple at the exact perfect moment of ripeness, but here are a few suggestions to help.

1. How easy is the apple to pick?

The first step to testing an apple is to pick one. For many trees the apples will come off easily when the apples are ready. If you really have to work just to get the apple off the tree, there is a good chance it isn’t ready yet.

2. How does it taste?

Simple and straightforward, does the apple taste ripe? If it is really hard, sour and starchy, it might need more time. This one can still be tough just because the texture and flavour of apples varies so widely. But if you plan to eat the apples fresh, if it tastes good, then you are probably good to go.

There is nothing wrong with tasting an apple to see if it seems ready.

Apple Maggot Workshop at Operation Fruit Rescue Edmonton

June 20, 2017 by Kristy Rhyason Leave a Comment

This past Sunday, we were fortunate to attend a workshop put on by Operation Fruit Rescue Edmonton (OFRE) on controlling apple maggot.

Apple maggot has become a bigger problem in Edmonton in the last few years. Sara, the resident apple maggot expert, said that people have even started cutting down apple trees in desperation and because of a lack of information.

We have been very lucky to not come across any apple maggot yet. Last fall, we heard horror stories from people who spent hours picking a tree only to realize the apples were basically empty on the inside because the apple maggot was so bad. Our strategy became to start by cutting open a few apples before picking to make sure we wouldn’t suffer the same fate while foraging.

How to Control Apple Maggot in Edmonton

Crash Course in Growing Hardy Fruit in Alberta

May 3, 2017 by Nathan Smith Leave a Comment

There are lots of resources out there for gardening and growing fruit. A quick search on Google will yield more advice than a person could ever read. I’m sure most of it is good advice. The problem is that it is often published somewhere far far away. It’s always hard to know what is the best advice for the northern prairie.

On a basic level apple trees anywhere are still fundamentally apples. Much of the tree care will be the same everywhere. But we also know that some things probably aren’t the same. Our extreme temperature variations, complete with long sunny summer days, cool summer nights, and sometimes frigid winter cold snaps is a departure from most regions associated with apple production. That doesn’t mean growing apples here is impossible, but it might sometimes be a bit different.

I find many people living on the prairies don’t really see our climate as a place that can produce fruit. There seems to be a general idea of “you can’t grow that here” in the local mindset. I think this is starting to change, but it also seems like some of the local knowledge about northern fruit production is harder to come by.

Local Learning Opportunity

The University of Alberta Botanic Garden offered a course on growing hardy fruit in Alberta. We signed up months ago as soon as we heard about it. It was a rare chance to get some local knowledge and experience. I also realized it was the same instructor as the grafting course I had taken about a month earlier, which was great. I highly recommend taking any opportunity to learn from Thean Pheh if you are interested in growing fruit in the Edmonton area. He is incredibly full of knowledge and experience.

The course was a great chance to learn a bit about science and botany, but it was also very practical. Perhaps the most valuable part was a chance to get local knowledge and experience.

Contrary to popular belief, our instructor insisted that the climate in and around Edmonton actually produces amazing apples; not without challenges, of course. Our harsh winters and relatively short growing season compared to traditional apple growing regions do complicate matters. Still, there are over 150 known varieties of apples growing in and around Edmonton.

We got the inside scoop on so many things! We got personal recommendation on what varieties of apples grow the best. How to deal with local soil conditions. Ways to have more success with apricots. How to deal with the occasional frost that occurs before the apples are mature.

As people become more interested in local food production, it is increasingly important that this knowledge isn’t lost. There course was so full of information that we both left with pages full of scribbles, notes, and diagrams. Luckily, we didn’t have to rely only on our notes because Thean Pheh also has books. We grabbed a copy of one on growing fruit in Alberta and one on grafting to supplement my equally scrawled notes from the last course. We know these will both incredibly useful as we keep expanding our urban orchard.

Falling in Love with Perry While Tasting Cider at Nashi Orchards

April 30, 2017 by Kristy Rhyason Leave a Comment

I have a confession, cider-lovers – perry has never been my drink of choice. I always viewed it as cider’s inferior cousin. It seemed too sweet with no depth of flavour (ironically, something that people who haven’t tried REAL cider say… I should have known better).

I visited Nashi Orchards and my opinion totally changed; their philosophy of no sugar added perry had me sold.

When I drove up to the orchard, their driveway was in bloom framing an old barn with a beautiful mural of their name over top of a pear. It literally took my breath away.

It was both orcharding and marketing goals. This is the most beautiful orchard I’ve ever visited. Every visitor I saw went to take a picture just like this one with their trees and name – beautiful orchard marketing! I really hope to replicate the feel of that entrance space someday in our own orchard.

Once I had enough pictures and recovered from the overwhelming beauty, I headed inside for a tasting.

Tastings were $10 and I was able to try five different perries and ciders – Black Swan Cider & Gin Gin Perry being my favourites of the bunch. They had unique flavours, were dry, and with a very fruit-first flavour. I enjoyed them all and rated them highly on UnTappd. I bought a few bottles to take home for Nathan and friends to try. I particularly wanted my whiskey-and-cider-loving friend to try the Black Swan Cider which is made from foraged apples and aged in a bourbon barrel.

You too can visit Nashi Orchards for a cider & perry tasting:

25407 Wax Orchard Road SW, Vashon, WA 98070
Saturday and Sunday 12 pm to 5 pm

This visit inspired me to try making our own perry this fall. I think if we make our own we can aspire to that non-sweetened dry flavour this is so addicting. I’m also wondering what other perry I should try – if you have any suggestions, leave a comment!

A Day in the Orchard – Learning to Prune

April 29, 2017 by Nathan Smith Leave a Comment

After the cider making course finished I stayed one extra day for an orcharding workshop at Washington State University. Of course there would be some differences between growing trees in coastal Washington state and at home in Edmonton. But an apple tree is still an apple tree and I hoped to learn some skills that would be applicable anywhere.

Fruit Trees at the WSU Mount Vernon Demonstration Orchard

A Bit of Botany and Pruning Theory

The course focused on something that is good to know when growing a fruit tree anywhere – pruning. I’ve tried to learn more about pruning ever since we got our first fruit trees a few years ago. I’ve found it a bit difficult to completely wrap my head around. There are actually a lot of resources on pruning (perhaps too much). There is some consistency in advice, but there are also a lot of different approaches and suggestions. Different books use different terms and sometimes provide conflicting advice.

I also feel a bit wary about removing parts of the trees. I know it is for the best, but it still feels a bit sad when it is time to actually make a cut.

We spent the morning going through some of the botany and theory behind pruning. I actually found this really helpful and interesting. Having a better understanding of why a tree might respond to pruning in different ways helped me make more sense of some of the advice that is out there . It also helped me understand why my first attempt at pruning wasn’t as successful as I would have liked.

I think a challenge with pruning is that it isn’t something that necessarily always has a “right” answer. You need to consider not only how you want the tree to grow, but how different fruit trees will respond uniquely. Even various types of apple trees will produce fruit in different places, which can impact the pruning. Every tree, even within the same variety, is a bit different. There isn’t a universal approach because there are a lot of factors to consider before making a cut.

Real Life Application in the Orchard

After getting the theoretical foundation, we actually went out into the orchard. The instructor pointed out examples of pruning that were successful and others that could have been better. He also offered suggestions to help improve the trees. In a few particular cases he went right up and used the saw where he saw problems. It was incredibly helpful to see somebody with experience point out the cuts they would make and explain why.

Discussing where to prune an apple tree.

Although he was pretty decisive and ruthless in his decisions, it was nice to hear that there was more than way to approach each tree. We discussed solutions for trees of various ages, sizes, and cultivars.

Even though some trees were leafing out, we were assured it wasn’t too late to make important cuts.

The theory combined with the practical demonstration is what really made the course helpful for me. I definitely feel much more confident taking another stab (or cut) at my apple tree at home. I know our pear tree also needs some work. While pears and apples aren’t exactly the same, I think I can at least approach the pear tree a bit more strategically now. Some other types of fruit, grow quite differently and I’m still watching our sour cherry trees with a bit of apprehension.

Even though there is still more learning to do, I think I will at least be able to make more sense of all of the resources that are out there.

Local Cider Apples (& a Couple of Pears) at the Scion Wood Exchange

April 16, 2017 by Nathan Smith Leave a Comment

Since I had learned a little bit about grafting, the next step was to find some actual scion wood that I could practice on. Although there are some places that you can order scions from, the ongoing challenge is finding the right apple varieties for the Edmonton area. Fortunately, the timing was perfect and shortly after the grafting course the DBG Fruit Growers group held a scion wood exchange. Many other fruit growers from the area brought wood from their fruit trees that was available for purchase or exchange. Although the weather sure didn’t feel like it was almost grafting season, it was fun to visit the gardens under a fresh blanket of snow.

This was a perfect opportunity, because not only is it a chance to get access to fruit varieties that have been successfully grown locally, but the varieties are actually identified and named. This is a helpful starting point as it is much easier to track different apples when we know what they are! We also had the opportunity to ask some of the attendees if they had any suggestions for cider apple varieties.

After chatting with many of the fruit growers, we ended up with scions for 7 apple varieties and 2 pear varieties. It was exciting to get so many, but now we have to find somewhere to graft them! Our little apple tree already has 5 varieties on it, so there is only so much room for more. There is a month until the time of year suggested for grafting. In that time we’re going to have to try to find space, and more trees/rootstock to graft all our scions onto.

The types of apples we got were:

Our little haul of apple and pear scions

Trailman
Kerr
Red Wonder
Norkent
Antonovka
Edmonton Boris (Admittedly just for the name…)
Lee 17

And a few pears:

Krazulya
Krasnobokaya

Although it will still be a while before we actually get any fruit from them, we can hardly wait to give them a try and increase the diversity of our little urban orchard.