First year for apples

[JimWWhite]

Our four-year old apple trees are making apples this year for the first time. We planted twelve trees back in late 2007 but one died. The others seem to be thriving. They're heritage apples from David Vernon's Century Farm near Reidsville, NC. They're not like any apple you'd see in a store or even in most farmers' markets. But taste one and it will take you back to when you used to sneak into Miss Abernathy's orchard and steal one for each pocket and get out before she caught up with you with her whooping stick. Since the original twelve trees we put in, last year we replaced the one that died plus added another twelve also from David's farm. And we also added six Kiefer pear trees last year too. Looks like we lost one of the apples but we're going to add another six pears and six apples this fall so we'll pick up an extra one to replace it. We also want to do some peaches over to the other side of the property along with some plums. Looks like I'll be digging more holes this year. Maybe this time I'll rent a big auger for my 1950 Ford Red Belly and save my back.

 

[lesa]

Excellent! I love the idea of an orchard. I am planting a couple fruit trees every spring. We use the post hole digger on the tractor (ours is a newer model though, 1957.) It makes digging a hole a breeze!

 

[vfem]

Congrats! We're getting our first apples this year from 1 tree that produced. We planted in 2008, so maybe next year will be more productive. We only got 4 apples, 3 peaches and 2 pears. The husband wants to add 3 more apples this year, 2 cherries and 5 plums. I'm not sure we can afford them this year, but eventually.

Nothing like the taste of back yard fruit to bring the memories flooding back!

 

[catjac1975]

Replacing the one tree. That sounds like chicken math.

Our four-year old apple trees are making apples this year for the first time. We planted twelve trees back in late 2007 but one died. The others seem to be thriving. They're heritage apples from David Vernon's Century Farm near Reidsville, NC. They're not like any apple you'd see in a store or even in most farmers' markets. But taste one and it will take you back to when you used to sneak into Miss Abernathy's orchard and steal one for each pocket and get out before she caught up with you with her whooping stick. Since the original twelve trees we put in, last year we replaced the one that died plus added another twelve also from David's farm. And we also added six Kiefer pear trees last year too. Looks like we lost one of the apples but we're going to add another six pears and six apples this fall so we'll pick up an extra one to replace it. We also want to do some peaches over to the other side of the property along with some plums. Looks like I'll be digging more holes this year. Maybe this time I'll rent a big auger for my 1950 Ford Red Belly and save my back.