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Post by benmnwi on Mar 21, 2024 11:02:27 GMT -6
"Spies for pies" is an old quote. Northern Spy is allegedly the best apple for apple pies/crumbles/whatever. The variety is also noted for being slow to bear, especially when grafted to standard rootstocks. I'd guess the Menard's trees are grafted to some kind of semi-dwarf rootstock, but that's purely a WAG. Northern Spy isn't noted as being super winter hardy, but it should be good to 4a. I hope rootstock selections are hardy for where they sell trees. I don’t trust these big retailers with the hardiness issues. There are even differences between metro areas and rural in hardiness. For $32 it's worth a shot in my opinion. I don't have a Northern Spy, but I have a Prairie Spy that is an excellent eating apple. That tree was very slow to bear, but the tree itself grew very large during that time. If you have a decade to wait, being slow to bear isn't a bad thing since the energy all goes into the tree framework instead of fruit. In the long run those trees should produce some massive crops compared to quicker fruiting options that have a smaller tree.
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Post by smsmith on Mar 21, 2024 12:13:58 GMT -6
I don't have a Northern Spy either, but do have two Prairie Spy (I have never seen it confirmed via DNA testing, but have seen speculation that Northern Spy is one parent of Prairie Spy) trees. I grafted mine to dolgo rootstocks in 2015. Both trees have produced nice crops for a few years now. They are a good all purpose variety. I'd guess Northern Spy would be also be a good multi-use variety for people as well as a later ripening variety for the critters.
On the topic of late hangers...I drove past both the Courthouse Crab and Tank crab mother trees a bit ago. Both still have fruit hanging. C.C. has more, and the fruit is larger. Both would be a source of calories for critters after the incoming spring snow storm.
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Post by Sandbur on Mar 21, 2024 13:06:18 GMT -6
I don't have a Northern Spy either, but do have two Prairie Spy (I have never seen it confirmed via DNA testing, but have seen speculation that Northern Spy is one parent of Prairie Spy) trees. I grafted mine to dolgo rootstocks in 2015. Both trees have produced nice crops for a few years now. They are a good all purpose variety. I'd guess Northern Spy would be also be a good multi-use variety for people as well as a later ripening variety for the critters. On the topic of late hangers...I drove past both the Courthouse Crab and Tank crab mother trees a bit ago. Both still have fruit hanging. C.C. has more, and the fruit is larger. Both would be a source of calories for critters after the incoming spring snow storm. Both Tank and CC should be getting near their first apples from my grafts. I had a Red Prairie Spy, but gave up on it and cut it down. I should have waited longer.
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Post by smsmith on Mar 21, 2024 13:17:08 GMT -6
I don't have a Northern Spy either, but do have two Prairie Spy (I have never seen it confirmed via DNA testing, but have seen speculation that Northern Spy is one parent of Prairie Spy) trees. I grafted mine to dolgo rootstocks in 2015. Both trees have produced nice crops for a few years now. They are a good all purpose variety. I'd guess Northern Spy would be also be a good multi-use variety for people as well as a later ripening variety for the critters. On the topic of late hangers...I drove past both the Courthouse Crab and Tank crab mother trees a bit ago. Both still have fruit hanging. C.C. has more, and the fruit is larger. Both would be a source of calories for critters after the incoming spring snow storm. Both Tank and CC should be getting near their first apples from my grafts. I had a Red Prairie Spy, but gave up on it and cut it down. I should have waited longer. My Red Prairie Spy graft struggled for a few years and died. I'm guessing the "better" colored sport lost something in hardiness/vigor compared to "regular" Prairie Spy. Lots of people only want red apples. I don't care what color or how ugly an apple is, I only care about how they taste. Most folks would turn their noses up at any of the russet apples. I love them.
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Post by Sandbur on Mar 21, 2024 14:01:54 GMT -6
Both Tank and CC should be getting near their first apples from my grafts. I had a Red Prairie Spy, but gave up on it and cut it down. I should have waited longer. My Red Prairie Spy graft struggled for a few years and died. I'm guessing the "better" colored sport lost something in hardiness/vigor compared to "regular" Prairie Spy. Lots of people only want red apples. I don't care what color or how ugly an apple is, I only care about how they taste. Most folks would turn their noses up at any of the russet apples. I love them. You might have got that RPS scion from the tree I cut down. I am impressed with St Edmund’s Russet. I just need to be more aggressive when picking them.
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Post by smsmith on Mar 21, 2024 18:18:18 GMT -6
My Red Prairie Spy graft struggled for a few years and died. I'm guessing the "better" colored sport lost something in hardiness/vigor compared to "regular" Prairie Spy. Lots of people only want red apples. I don't care what color or how ugly an apple is, I only care about how they taste. Most folks would turn their noses up at any of the russet apples. I love them. You might have got that RPS scion from the tree I cut down. I am impressed with St Edmund’s Russet. I just need to be more aggressive when picking them. I think I did get it from you. That was a good number of years ago. I'll be interested to hear what you think of Golden Russet when it fruits for you. I had one Bullock last year. I'm hoping for a few more this year. Pomme Gris should have a few fruit this year too.
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Post by benmnwi on Mar 21, 2024 18:50:43 GMT -6
I have a mn 1743 russet ( I think that’s the name) that isn’t much of an eater in my opinion. I think I planted a couple russets years ago thinking they could be good future cider varieties, but I’ve never used them for that.
At least yet. They are large trees that are productive, so even if they aren’t my favorite the deer will like them.
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Post by smsmith on Mar 21, 2024 20:11:53 GMT -6
I have a mn 1743 russet ( I think that’s the name) that isn’t much of an eater in my opinion. I think I planted a couple russets years ago thinking they could be good future cider varieties, but I’ve never used them for that. At least yet. They are large trees that are productive, so even if they aren’t my favorite the deer will like them. I don't have that variety, but I do know that many russets (and non russet too, like Keepsake) need some time in the crisper to hit peak flavor. Many folks don't like them even then due to the rough skin edited to add...your comment about russets being good for cider is spot on. Hard cider folks like them because they have a lot of flavor and high sugar content. Sweet cider folks like them for the same reasons...they're just not fermenting the sugars into alcohol
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Post by Sandbur on Mar 22, 2024 2:49:44 GMT -6
I have a mn 1743 russet ( I think that’s the name) that isn’t much of an eater in my opinion. I think I planted a couple russets years ago thinking they could be good future cider varieties, but I’ve never used them for that. At least yet. They are large trees that are productive, so even if they aren’t my favorite the deer will like them. I might have the same tree. I need to check the tag, but mine might be 1734. From SLN. I have no fruit yet, as gophers set it back a bit.
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Post by benmnwi on Mar 22, 2024 11:08:26 GMT -6
I have a mn 1743 russet ( I think that’s the name) that isn’t much of an eater in my opinion. I think I planted a couple russets years ago thinking they could be good future cider varieties, but I’ve never used them for that. At least yet. They are large trees that are productive, so even if they aren’t my favorite the deer will like them. I might have the same tree. I need to check the tag, but mine might be 1734. From SLN. I have no fruit yet, as gophers set it back a bit. You're probably right - I ordered that tree from SLN, so I bet it is 1734.
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Post by smsmith on Mar 31, 2024 6:39:40 GMT -6
I don't have a Northern Spy either, but do have two Prairie Spy (I have never seen it confirmed via DNA testing, but have seen speculation that Northern Spy is one parent of Prairie Spy) trees. I grafted mine to dolgo rootstocks in 2015. Both trees have produced nice crops for a few years now. They are a good all purpose variety. I'd guess Northern Spy would be also be a good multi-use variety for people as well as a later ripening variety for the critters. On the topic of late hangers...I drove past both the Courthouse Crab and Tank crab mother trees a bit ago. Both still have fruit hanging. C.C. has more, and the fruit is larger. Both would be a source of calories for critters after the incoming spring snow storm. I just read elsewhere that Prairie Spy's parents have been confirmed as Wealthy x NW Greening Interesting to note that Fireside has the same two parents. edit...man, I'm old. It dawned on me that I had posted a link to updated DNA info on MN apples quite a while ago on another thread. I'll see if I can post the actual chart instead of a link.
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Post by Bwoods11 on Apr 8, 2024 8:34:42 GMT -6
BLB.. when does the Battle Lake nursery get their Apple trees in ??
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Post by biglakebass on Apr 9, 2024 8:27:55 GMT -6
BLB.. when does the Battle Lake nursery get their Apple trees in ?? Not positive, but should be coming in about now.
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