woody agriculture

[green lady]

Anybody into tree foods? Nuts, fruit, that kind of stuff? We have walnuts; butternuts, heartnuts, English walnuts and a buartnut hybrid. Also just beginning with hazelnuts and chestnuts. Had our first ever crop of pine nuts this fall past.

Then, fruits; apples, pears, sweet cherries, pie cherries, plums and sometimes, peaches. Peaches depend on wheather there are spring frosts at bloom time, so some years there are none. Anybody else got some....and some tips on planting/growing?

[DieterD]

I had a black walnut growing once, but after a few years I had to move it to another area because we were putting in a Japanese Garden and it was in the way. Unfortunately it died after a year of being moved.
I will be putting in an orchard and have a number of fruit trees that will be going in this year.

[green lady]

What kind of fruits are you thinking about? Are you going to buy trees or start rootstocks and beg scions from your buddies? I have a lot of twigs I could send if you like to graft. It can be a lot of fun.

jocelyn

[Fowler]

I've got a couple of plums that I've been trying to coax along. Never had them before so I'm learning as I go.

I have two apples coming that my daughter started from seed. Curious to see what they do. I know it's a crap shoot but you only get dwarf trees when you buy them now. I like the big old apple trees that you see on the old farms. You never know. There is one that is in the line fence of my Grandparent's place. Some worker must have thrown away a core years and years ago. It's an excellent late apple. My father and I used to make detours when we were hunting to go and pick some. Speaking of which, I should try and get a clone off it someday.

[Journey's End]

I just bought two heartnut from him last year. Not planted yet as my husband is blind to small shrubs when mowing. Also, I'm in the process of debating moving the farm so I'm not sure how many more improvements I want to do. West of Summerside is just not doing anything for us anymore. I'd like something more centralized. Now to figure out if we can afford to relocate.

[niglefritz]

After having worked in the tree/shrub industry for a while, I developed a love for these things. It was many years ago, so I am not sure how much I may have forgotten.

A couple of days ago, I bought a book called "Fruits and Berries for the Home Garden" by Lewis Hill. It looks like it will be good for a refresher.

There was one book I would have loved to take with me when I left the nursery. I was told it was a very rare copy and I would most likely never see one like it again. It was excellent and one of the largest books that I'd ever seen. I used it often. Sadly, it was not mine and I had to leave it behind.

[Fowler]

They wouldn't let you copy it?

[green lady]

Gee, if it was rare and out of print, I would have photocopied that so fast, grin. Even if I could only get the bits I used the most, it would have been worth it. Speaking of apple scions and getting a clone, Go for it. Apples graft easily, and you can start a seedling from the apples from the old tree you like. All you need after that is a sharp pocket knife and some electric tape. The stock, the seedling that will form the root part, needs to be slightly smaller than a pencil...about a year old if it's vigourous, or two if it's slower. I can draw you a picture of how to cut it to join the two pieces, or you can look up splice or whip grafting on line. There are usually lots of pictures on line. You won't need a lot of those fancy tree dressings or wax if it's an apple...they heal fast.

[niglefritz]

It was 100s of pages long. I am talking a BIG book.

I should contact the new owners of the nursery to see if they still have it and if they'd mind parting with it. I have no idea if is even still there. If it is, they'd be foolish to say yes, in my opinion. I think that it was through the University of California or something of that sort. Considering, it still had oodles of relevant information for here. Trees, shrubs, an extensive library of insects, diseases, etc. with scientific information, pictures and more.

Haha...my favorite picture in it was a picture of a Japanese Tree Lilac. It was perfect...and I once was able to sell a young tree that had the potential to look the same if taken care of properly. That was an easy sell when I showed the lady its potential, but sad for me. If ONLY I had had a yard, it would have been mine!

As for dressing a tree wound, waxes, paint and such can trap insects and disease. You are usually better off not sealing a wound for this reason.

[Fowler]

Heh, I once knew a guy who photocopied a university textbook. Cost him $30 or $40 instead of $120. Then, for a special book like that one, you get page protectors and a big binder to hold it all.

Hmmm, you guys are right. I should try cloning that thing. I actually can get a sealing tape at work that I think they use for that stuff. It's not sticky, it just pulls and stretches and kind of stick to itself as you wrap.

Suppose rooting horemone could work? I used it to clone an old old hydrangia from my Grandmother's place. She said it had been there when they bought the farm so it would be about 100 years old. Don't even know if they had proper varieties of hydrangia back then. There was great losses. I started 20. Some didn't root and then some didn't survive the winter in the garage but I came out with 2 (gave the other to my parents).

On a funny note, just as I had it growing, young daughter got playing with shears and gave it a sever haircut in the fall. OMG I was mad. Turned out to be the best thing for it. The next spring, it took off like crazy. lol

I suppose, for the apple, the whip would probably give better chance of success.

[niglefritz]

Make sure you have the right rooting hormone for your needs. As well, be mindful what growing medium you choose.

For certain trees and shrubs (not all), mercilessly cutting back to rejuvenate them is the best thing you can do. It might seem scary, but it can do wonders.

Good luck!

[Fowler]

Yeah, I always check the bottle about 10 times to make sure I've got the right horemone. lol

[niglefritz]

Sounds like me and then I still wonder.. lol

[DieterD]

My plan is to eventually have an orchard with a variety of fruit trees. When my daughter was living in Winnipeg she had a pear tree in the back yard. The pears were small but good eating. Sweet and juicy.

I've never tried grafting, but will read up on it.

[Fowler]

Me too. I have a few pears, apples, plums (as I said before) and a couple of cherries going. Most stuff is still too young to do much. Sweet cherry is a bit out of its zone so it may never really produce for me. I see the sour cherry try but something often happens to the blossoms. A couple of years we had a crazy heat wave take them. Glad I'm not trying to live off the things. lol

[niglefritz]

Fowler, would you be willing to send me some seeds from that old tree? I would like to see what I might be able to do with them. I know my soil and weather conditions will be different here, but I would still like to try.

I wanted to post here that rareexoticseeds.com has a collection of apple seeds. They range in fruiting times from 70 to 180 days from flowering and fruits are sour to sweet. There is more here including fruit size, soil type, germination tips etc. I find this mix intriguing: http://www.rarexoticseeds.com/en/fruit-tree-seeds/malus-domestica-seeds-pyrus-malus-seeds-malus-sylvestris-seeds-apple-tree-seeds-common-apple-domestic-apple-seeds-malus-communis-seeds.html

[Fowler]

The apple tree I mentioned? Sure I can try and get some. Wouldn't be until late next fall though.

[niglefritz]

Thanks. I'm willing to wait. It makes me wonder what kind it really is...and how true to the parent it might actually be.

I also wonder if it might have to be grafted here to last the winter. It will be an experiment of a new kind for me. I hope it is a very successful and tasty one!

[Fowler]

I've wondered what it's parentage could be as well. Also wondering now (since you asked for seeds) how true the seeds might be. The nearest other tree is several hundred yards away. Nothing right close.

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