At the end of last year I started expanding the orchard adding 5 fresh trees of pear and plum.
Now this January 2015 to build on the cider brewing capability I'm adding 4 specialist cider apples trees and 2 crab apples.
Following the clearing and pruning our apple harvest of 2013 was very good and prompted me to try making dried apple rings and to take up brewing cider.
In addition to the 5 trees added last year I'm now going to build on the cider brewing capability by adding 4 specialist cider apples trees and 2 crab apples.
The crab apple varieties of "Red Sentinel" and Butterball" were chosen to be added to the orchard because their prolific blossom also makes crab apple excellent pollinators for all other apple and cider-apple varieties. As typically crab apples produce five to ten times more pollen than a typical apple tree, and their blossom is also usually more long-lasting than that of normal apples, and spans several of the mainstream apple flowering groups.
These crab apples have a second benefit as they can also be useful for adding to cider blends that need extra pectin.
The crab apple varieties of "Red Sentinel" and Butterball" were chosen to be added to the orchard because their prolific blossom also makes crab apple excellent pollinators for all other apple and cider-apple varieties. As typically crab apples produce five to ten times more pollen than a typical apple tree, and their blossom is also usually more long-lasting than that of normal apples, and spans several of the mainstream apple flowering groups.
These crab apples have a second benefit as they can also be useful for adding to cider blends that need extra pectin.
On Friday the bare root tree order arrived when the weather was still quite icy, but today Saturday the sun came out and the ground was thawed enough to get a spade into it for digging the holes. So after marking out the new tree positions with wooden steaks and old tyres it was finally time to start the digging. |
As the quality of the soil is poor I decided to dig bigger holes and put in plenty of old wood twigs and leaves to hold water and provide nutrients.
I've put the crab apples in at the front of the orchard where they will be the most visible from our house to show of their ornamental value.
This starts in spring with a profusion of attractive scented blossom, and the brightly coloured ornamental looking fruits can hang attractively on the tree throughout autumn, providing colour in the orchard and possibly a source of food for the wild birds, also they can have attractive bronze leaves.
Managed to get the two crab apple trees planted before having to pack up for the day as visitors were arriving.
This starts in spring with a profusion of attractive scented blossom, and the brightly coloured ornamental looking fruits can hang attractively on the tree throughout autumn, providing colour in the orchard and possibly a source of food for the wild birds, also they can have attractive bronze leaves.
Managed to get the two crab apple trees planted before having to pack up for the day as visitors were arriving.
Update on Sunday 25th :
Had more time today so managed to get the final four cider apple trees planted.
The ground on this part of the slope is very sandy with only a few inches of darker soil under the grass. So for these trees I again dug extra large holes about a metre deep and again put leaves and old rotting wood at the bottom to provide nutrient sand retain water in much the same way as hugelkultur. |
The advantages of the hugelkultur method are the gradual decay of the leaves and wood as a consistent source of long-term nutrients for the trees.
Also the rotting logs and branches act like a sponge so that rainwater is stored and then released during drier times.
Also the rotting logs and branches act like a sponge so that rainwater is stored and then released during drier times.