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Post by benmnwi on Jan 6, 2023 12:42:45 GMT -6
It seems like the small hobby farm type setups where people can raise/shoot/grow their own food are in high demand around here. A nice orchard would appeal to both hunters as well as the tree-hugger types.
I do think that adding features like ponds, nice trails and some pretty things like prairies, open mature woods sections, etc. might appeal to a broader audience as well.
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Post by smsmith on Jan 6, 2023 12:49:37 GMT -6
It seems like the small hobby farm type setups where people can raise/shoot/grow their own food are in high demand around here. A nice orchard would appeal to both hunters as well as the tree-hugger types. I do think that adding features like ponds, nice trails and some pretty things like prairies, open mature woods sections, etc. might appeal to a broader audience as well. I've got the trails and wildflower prairie, some open mature oak woods, but no pond. I go back and forth on having one dug. Your area and mine don't have a lot in common "people wise" though. It seems a lot of folks down your way will drive a good distance for jobs at Mayo
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Post by smsmith on Jan 12, 2023 9:33:41 GMT -6
I ordered a couple each Kokuso and Northrup mulberry scions from Cricket Hill Nursery. I've got a white mulberry here that I brought from the old place, but it's a male (no fruit). It has double trunks, so I'm going to graft one each over to different varieties. I may graft one of my Trader mulberries over to Northrup too. I'm pretty disappointed with Trader so far. I've never grafted a mulberry, so I have my doubts about success.
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Post by benmnwi on Jan 12, 2023 12:48:40 GMT -6
It is getting close to the time that I should be thinking about what kind of scion I'll need for the 25 apple rootstocks I ordered this year. I decided just to use the red splendor crabapple trees as roostock from my county's soil and water department. They were a little undersized the last time I purchased them, but at about $2/tree I can't complain too much. Most of them still were grafted successfully despite their small size. I did learn that I need to cut a wider variety of scion size since you never really know how big the rootstock will be.
I'll probably just take scion from a wide variety of deer type crabapples I received from you guys and some wild trees around here that look good.
On that note, a week ago I noticed that the wild crabapple in my parent's yard has a great crop of fruit that is still hanging. I'll have to grab a scion off this tree. It appears to be the standard wild crabapple that is pretty common in SE MN. This tree is mostly shaded under some large bur oaks, so it normally doesn't have enough fruit to even notice the drop time. The tree isn't huge since it is living in shade, but it is at least 75 years old since it was big enough for my dad to mow around when they built their house there nearly 50 years ago.
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Post by smsmith on Jan 13, 2023 7:37:24 GMT -6
It is getting close to the time that I should be thinking about what kind of scion I'll need for the 25 apple rootstocks I ordered this year. I decided just to use the red splendor crabapple trees as roostock from my county's soil and water department. They were a little undersized the last time I purchased them, but at about $2/tree I can't complain too much. Most of them still were grafted successfully despite their small size. I did learn that I need to cut a wider variety of scion size since you never really know how big the rootstock will be. I'll probably just take scion from a wide variety of deer type crabapples I received from you guys and some wild trees around here that look good. On that note, a week ago I noticed that the wild crabapple in my parent's yard has a great crop of fruit that is still hanging. I'll have to grab a scion off this tree. It appears to be the standard wild crabapple that is pretty common in SE MN. This tree is mostly shaded under some large bur oaks, so it normally doesn't have enough fruit to even notice the drop time. The tree isn't huge since it is living in shade, but it is at least 75 years old since it was big enough for my dad to mow around when they built their house there nearly 50 years ago. If you want any scions from me, just let me know.
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Post by benmnwi on Jan 13, 2023 11:41:56 GMT -6
It is getting close to the time that I should be thinking about what kind of scion I'll need for the 25 apple rootstocks I ordered this year. I decided just to use the red splendor crabapple trees as roostock from my county's soil and water department. They were a little undersized the last time I purchased them, but at about $2/tree I can't complain too much. Most of them still were grafted successfully despite their small size. I did learn that I need to cut a wider variety of scion size since you never really know how big the rootstock will be. I'll probably just take scion from a wide variety of deer type crabapples I received from you guys and some wild trees around here that look good. On that note, a week ago I noticed that the wild crabapple in my parent's yard has a great crop of fruit that is still hanging. I'll have to grab a scion off this tree. It appears to be the standard wild crabapple that is pretty common in SE MN. This tree is mostly shaded under some large bur oaks, so it normally doesn't have enough fruit to even notice the drop time. The tree isn't huge since it is living in shade, but it is at least 75 years old since it was big enough for my dad to mow around when they built their house there nearly 50 years ago. If you want any scions from me, just let me know. Thanks, same goes to you if you need any scion from me. I don't think I'll need any scion this year since I'll just cut some off existing trees (many of those varieties originated from you and Art). I'm going to concentrate on late dropping apple varieties during this year's grafting efforts. I don't think it would be possible to have too many apples available for bonus winter wildlife calories.
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Post by smsmith on Jan 13, 2023 12:20:54 GMT -6
If you want any scions from me, just let me know. Thanks, same goes to you if you need any scion from me. I don't think I'll need any scion this year since I'll just cut some off existing trees (many of those varieties originated from you and Art). I'm going to concentrate on late dropping apple varieties during this year's grafting efforts. I don't think it would be possible to have too many apples available for bonus winter wildlife calories. I keep watching your "rut apple". It survives winters, but it hasn't put on much growth. I think I'll give it a small handful of fertilizer next year.
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Post by benmnwi on Jan 13, 2023 13:14:27 GMT -6
Thanks, same goes to you if you need any scion from me. I don't think I'll need any scion this year since I'll just cut some off existing trees (many of those varieties originated from you and Art). I'm going to concentrate on late dropping apple varieties during this year's grafting efforts. I don't think it would be possible to have too many apples available for bonus winter wildlife calories. I keep watching your "rut apple". It survives winters, but it hasn't put on much growth. I think I'll give it a small handful of fertilizer next year. The rut apple is an unknown variety that the prior owners planted in my front yard about 40+ years ago. I'm guessing it is a named variety they bought from a nursery, but when I asked them they couldn't remember anything so I just call it the rut apple. It is a good fresh eating apple and it starts dropping right in the pre-rut and continues through the rut. When it drops apples, it really draws in the local does and that's when we typically see a random nice buck in our front yard. I grafted this scion onto a few rootstock and have planted them near my best gun hunting stand. It is possible that variety is hardy enough for SE MN, but not quite hardy enough for your area. A shot of fertilizer might kick start growth. I also have a rut crabapple that is a wild tree from my friend's farm in SE MN. His farm has a ton of wild crabapples, but this is the only one that has decent sized fruit that drops during the rut. I killed a nice buck about 10 years ago after it chased a doe that was feeding under this tree. That tree has ping pong ball sized crabapples that also drop throughout the rut. I'm grafted several of those trees near the same stand by my house and I should get fruit off it this year.
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Post by smsmith on Jan 13, 2023 18:48:22 GMT -6
I keep watching your "rut apple". It survives winters, but it hasn't put on much growth. I think I'll give it a small handful of fertilizer next year. The rut apple is an unknown variety that the prior owners planted in my front yard about 40+ years ago. I'm guessing it is a named variety they bought from a nursery, but when I asked them they couldn't remember anything so I just call it the rut apple. It is a good fresh eating apple and it starts dropping right in the pre-rut and continues through the rut. When it drops apples, it really draws in the local does and that's when we typically see a random nice buck in our front yard. I grafted this scion onto a few rootstock and have planted them near my best gun hunting stand. It is possible that variety is hardy enough for SE MN, but not quite hardy enough for your area. A shot of fertilizer might kick start growth. I also have a rut crabapple that is a wild tree from my friend's farm in SE MN. His farm has a ton of wild crabapples, but this is the only one that has decent sized fruit that drops during the rut. I killed a nice buck about 10 years ago after it chased a doe that was feeding under this tree. That tree has ping pong ball sized crabapples that also drop throughout the rut. I'm grafted several of those trees near the same stand by my house and I should get fruit off it this year. I've got a Golden Delicious from GRIN that I grafted in '14 or '15. It keeps living but puts on very little growth. Every year I think it is either going to die or have its first blossoms. As long as trees survive winters, I let them stay. I should experiment with some fertilizer on those trees just to see what happens.
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Post by smsmith on Jan 18, 2023 18:40:07 GMT -6
Mulberry scions from Cricket Hill arrived today. I got more than I ordered. They were going to send them the middle of next month, but I contacted them to ask for either an earlier or later delivery due to my being in FL. They said they'd send them right away if that worked for me...a few days later they're here. Pretty impressed with them so far.
I got an email from 39th Parallel today, they'll be shipping my scions soon too.
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Post by smsmith on Jan 20, 2023 14:03:55 GMT -6
Scions from 39th Parallel arrived today. Shortest was just over 13", longest just over 15". Pencil caliper or slightly better. Probably the nicest looking scions I've ever received from a commercial source.
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Post by benmnwi on Jan 20, 2023 14:13:51 GMT -6
Scions from 39th Parallel arrived today. Shortest was just over 13", longest just over 15". Pencil caliper or slightly better. Probably the nicest looking scions I've ever received from a commercial source. What are you using for rootstock this year?
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Post by smsmith on Jan 20, 2023 14:21:06 GMT -6
Scions from 39th Parallel arrived today. Shortest was just over 13", longest just over 15". Pencil caliper or slightly better. Probably the nicest looking scions I've ever received from a commercial source. What are you using for rootstock this year? I didn't order any this year. I do have 10 wild apple plugs coming, but they tend to run a bit small for grafting the first year. I'll be grafting to rootstocks with failed grafts from previous years, some wild apple plugs from last year, and to wild trees.
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Post by smallchunk on Feb 18, 2023 11:42:40 GMT -6
I have some scion I could offer up to anybody that needs some too!
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Post by nhmountains on Feb 19, 2023 3:14:40 GMT -6
What are you using for rootstock this year? I didn't order any this year. I do have 10 wild apple plugs coming, but they tend to run a bit small for grafting the first year. I'll be grafting to rootstocks with failed grafts from previous years, some wild apple plugs from last year, and to wild trees. How’d that first wild tree that you grafted a few years ago make out? Any fruit on it yet?
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