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Post by Sandbur on Sept 24, 2021 7:46:05 GMT -6
Thinking along those lines, if you collect seed from a Beech tree, you got a real Son of a Beech!
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Post by smsmith on Sept 30, 2022 19:09:21 GMT -6
My refractometer came yesterday. I tested a very ripe Smitty's and I got a reading of 18 brix. I really have no idea if the thing is accurate or not. Not sure I believe that reading. I'll mess around with some other fruit and see what happens. Just tested a Smitty's, a Chestnut, and a Not Whitney crab. 16, 14. 18 All are ripe according to the lift and twist test, as well as due to my experience with them. Chestnut is likely "overripe", Smitty's will be overripe in another week-10 days and the Not Whitney will continue to get riper (and higher brix) for another month or longer (unless we get a hard freeze in the low 20s). I'd sure like to know what Not Whitney actually is. I'm guessing all of them would continue to test higher for at least another month as they continue to ripen. edit...just tested a Tolman Sweet. The seeds weren't fully brown yet, so another few weeks to be fully ripe probably. It tested at 15. Even though not fully ripe, it sure was tasty.
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Post by badgerfowl on Oct 3, 2022 11:03:29 GMT -6
I tried a Kerr this weekend as I was finally up to our river bottom place again for duck opener. It was past ripe but a tasty little apple. Will have to try and pick them in the future at the appropriate time. Also tried Prairie Spy for the first time. That wasn't too bad. Hudson's Golden Gem was small but still that distinct pear flavor. Black Oxford still needs to hang a bit.
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Post by Sandbur on Oct 3, 2022 11:07:14 GMT -6
I tried a Kerr this weekend as I was finally up to our river bottom place again for duck opener. It was past ripe but a tasty little apple. Will have to try and pick them in the future at the appropriate time. Also tried Prairie Spy for the first time. That wasn't too bad. Hudson's Golden Gem was small but still that distinct pear flavor. Black Oxford still needs to hang a bit. i picked the last of the Liberty’s and also Nova Easy Gro. NEG wasn’t very good a week ago, but was very good now. Kerr also tastes great and I am wondering if I should make more sauce.
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Post by smsmith on Oct 3, 2022 11:20:28 GMT -6
I tried a Kerr this weekend as I was finally up to our river bottom place again for duck opener. It was past ripe but a tasty little apple. Will have to try and pick them in the future at the appropriate time. Also tried Prairie Spy for the first time. That wasn't too bad. Hudson's Golden Gem was small but still that distinct pear flavor. Black Oxford still needs to hang a bit. I've found that Prairie Spy gets better after a couple weeks in the crisper. Black Oxford here grows painfully slow. I'll let my two young trees stay as long as they stay alive, but I am starting to wonder if I'll be alive long enough for the damn things to ever produce an apple.
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Post by benmnwi on Oct 3, 2022 11:37:40 GMT -6
A second pear tree at my place had a productive year and I was very impressed with the flavor and texture. This pear is a Luscious pear and the fruit size and texture are fairly similar to the standard grocery store pears. I would say the pear isn't quite as soft, but they are close. It is also possible the pear needs another week or two to fully ripen, but they are definitely very good.
My Beierschmidt pear dropped all its fruit finally and there is no trace of any leftovers on the ground.
Last week I had a bulldozer guy doing some work at my place and he stopped to ask me what kind of apple tree I had growing back by my stand (I have a lot of fruit trees there, but he specified the tree with the big, red apples). It is a Cortland that had an excellent crop this year that is loaded with large fruit. He said every time he drove by that tree he stopped to grab a quick snack. By the looks of the deer poop under my trees there it appears plenty of deer are also checking out these trees as well.
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Post by benmnwi on Oct 3, 2022 11:46:37 GMT -6
Well I meant to put that previous post in the orchard walks section, but oh well.
On a more related note, both my Smitty's seedlings and Not-A-Whitney are growing well and looking good. It will be a few years before they produce a crop, but they are off to a good start.
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Post by smsmith on Oct 3, 2022 11:54:13 GMT -6
Well I meant to put that previous post in the orchard walks section, but oh well. On a more related note, both my Smitty's seedlings and Not-A-Whitney are growing well and looking good. It will be a few years before they produce a crop, but they are off to a good start. I'll be interested in hearing how Smitty's does in your location (and from anywhere else too). I've sent scions to a good number of areas, but don't hear much from most of those folks.
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Post by badgerfowl on Oct 3, 2022 11:57:43 GMT -6
I tried a Kerr this weekend as I was finally up to our river bottom place again for duck opener. It was past ripe but a tasty little apple. Will have to try and pick them in the future at the appropriate time. Also tried Prairie Spy for the first time. That wasn't too bad. Hudson's Golden Gem was small but still that distinct pear flavor. Black Oxford still needs to hang a bit. I've found that Prairie Spy gets better after a couple weeks in the crisper. Black Oxford here grows painfully slow. I'll let my two young trees stay as long as they stay alive, but I am starting to wonder if I'll be alive long enough for the damn things to ever produce an apple. I've got two Black Oxfords. One in the river bottoms and one at the parents house. River bottoms is older. Lake house one was 2016. both were loaded this year. I'll probably grab a few more Prairie Spy's this next weekend and leave them in the fridge for a bit. Some were pretty good sized.
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Post by badgerfowl on Oct 3, 2022 11:58:24 GMT -6
I tried a Kerr this weekend as I was finally up to our river bottom place again for duck opener. It was past ripe but a tasty little apple. Will have to try and pick them in the future at the appropriate time. Also tried Prairie Spy for the first time. That wasn't too bad. Hudson's Golden Gem was small but still that distinct pear flavor. Black Oxford still needs to hang a bit. i picked the last of the Liberty’s and also Nova Easy Gro. NEG wasn’t very good a week ago, but was very good now. Kerr also tastes great and I am wondering if I should make more sauce. I picked a liberty but didn't try it yet. Also an enterprise although it's probably not ready yet.
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Post by smsmith on Oct 3, 2022 12:03:53 GMT -6
I've found that Prairie Spy gets better after a couple weeks in the crisper. Black Oxford here grows painfully slow. I'll let my two young trees stay as long as they stay alive, but I am starting to wonder if I'll be alive long enough for the damn things to ever produce an apple. I've got two Black Oxfords. One in the river bottoms and one at the parents house. River bottoms is older. Lake house one was 2016. both were loaded this year. I'll probably grab a few more Prairie Spy's this next weekend and leave them in the fridge for a bit. Some were pretty good sized. I grafted my two Black Oxford's in 2020 if recall correctly. Neither is 3' tall. I've got a few grafts from this year that are taller.
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Post by badgerfowl on Oct 3, 2022 12:07:24 GMT -6
Here is my black Oxford in the bottoms. Planted 2015 on B118. Leaning like a sonofabitch.
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Post by benmnwi on Oct 3, 2022 12:09:53 GMT -6
It is funny how varieties can do well at one place, but not another. I had high hopes for Black Oxford, but it always seemed to struggle at my place and it finally died. Your tree has a great crop though, so clearly it is a good fit on your property.
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Post by benmnwi on Oct 3, 2022 12:18:17 GMT -6
Well I meant to put that previous post in the orchard walks section, but oh well. On a more related note, both my Smitty's seedlings and Not-A-Whitney are growing well and looking good. It will be a few years before they produce a crop, but they are off to a good start. I'll be interested in hearing how Smitty's does in your location (and from anywhere else too). I've sent scions to a good number of areas, but don't hear much from most of those folks. I have high hopes for the scion I received from you and Art. If they can survive in your area they should do great in SE MN and so far that has been the case for the vast majority of the scion I received from you two.
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Post by smsmith on Oct 3, 2022 12:48:16 GMT -6
I don't think anything you got from Art or me will have any winter hardiness issues in SE MN. Disease pressure could certainly be different down there however.
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