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a more fun question about top fruit
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dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45375
Location: yes
PostPosted: Wed Aug 05, 15 9:07 pm    Post subject: a more fun question about top fruit Reply with quote
    

there are about 20 existing apples,all the same but of unknown type(pollination group) as yet,they look like eaters and although probably about 150 yrs old and although a bit neglected and damaged they crop well(and one pear tree)

we have space for between 25 and 30 trees

what fruits should we plant to give variety,a long season and to help conserve some old varieties?

im up for plums,pears,maybe almonds?maybe some other apples (i want russets)but other top fruit are open for suggestion so owt that is tasty and fairly robust for a mildish yorkshire climate

the soil is old and low nutrient at the mo but that can be remedied and it has formed over alluvial clay,it is not boggy or too dry judging by the grass/"weeds" mix,the next area towards town is medieval ridge and furrow so the soil probably has potential for fertility.

tahir



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45389
Location: Essex
PostPosted: Wed Aug 05, 15 10:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

If there's clay underneath then you'll achieve fertility with good mulching (green waste)

The only almonds that'll do are bitter like marzipan; Ingrid and Robijn

Plums (jam)
Yellow pershore - bright yellow jam
Mallard - bright red jam
Heron - darker

Plums (dessert)
Herman - earliest and tastiest early
Early favourite - good early (after Herman)
Methley - Japanese type, same time as EF
Reeves - one of our favourites
Blue tit - good mid season
coes golden drop
Thames cross
Jefferson
Victoria or Mann's no 1 (Mann's is a little earlier)

Varieties I wouldn't plant:

Gypsy
Golden sphere
Manaccan yellow
Brandy gage
Golden transparent gage
Shiro
Early rivers

Apples (dessert):
Red Windsor
St Edmund's russett
Limelight
Discovery
Herefordshire russett
Red devil
Honeycrisp
Bakers delicious

That's all the memorable ones, really need to take my map out at harvest time! You must plant pears but all our good ones apart from Concorde look v similar and I haven't a clue which is which, will try and pay more attention this year

Last edited by tahir on Wed Aug 05, 15 10:16 pm; edited 1 time in total

Tavascarow



Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall
PostPosted: Wed Aug 05, 15 10:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Quince & Mulberries are two I want to try down here.
Not sure we have a climate suitable for almonds or peaches yet.
A few cider apple varieties would be nice.
& plums & gages are a must for me.

tahir



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45389
Location: Essex
PostPosted: Wed Aug 05, 15 10:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Peaches are fine apart from peach leaf curl (even on resistant varieties) much better under cover. Quince is very scabby with us

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45375
Location: yes
PostPosted: Wed Aug 05, 15 10:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

that is an ace list ,thanks mate

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45375
Location: yes
PostPosted: Wed Aug 05, 15 10:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

quince are easily avoided

i recon we have space for a dozen or so pears though .although they tend to get quite big shading the road and scrappy "lawn" of the offices next door at the north east corner should not be a problem as they wont affect the view from or to the pub

did i mention there is a quite nice pub adjoining the orchard? rather convenient for a post pruning lunch or "checking the trees"

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Thu Aug 06, 15 6:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

To me quince have a superb flavour, but need cooking or turning into jelly or wine. The plus side is that if someone pinches one and tries eating it, it will put them off rather. Medler is unusual and can be made into some interesting desserts. I think you can eat them raw if they are bletted too. Don't have any experience of mulberry, but it would be interesting and different.

Why wouldn't you go for Early Rivers Plum Tahir? I buy them and quite like them as an early plum.

tahir



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45389
Location: Essex
PostPosted: Thu Aug 06, 15 6:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Only because Herman and early favourite are both significantly better

Dpack pears will only be the same sort of size as apples nowadays. Where's yummersetter? She's more organised than me, should have more recommendations

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Thu Aug 06, 15 6:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Thanks Tahir. We don't really have any plums so I have to buy mine and Early Rivers and Opal are the earliest ones I can get.

OtleyLad



Joined: 13 Jan 2007
Posts: 2737
Location: Otley, West Yorkshire
PostPosted: Thu Aug 06, 15 6:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

The Northern Fruit Group have a big list of fruit grown in and around Yorkshire. Linky to their list.

The Chair, Hilary Dodson, happens to live in Otley. A veritable auhtority on all things fruity. She is advising us about suitable trees in our Community Garden.

They have demonstration gardens on 3 sites, Harewood being the nearest to you. I beleive they have quite a few 'Heritage' varieties from which you coul obtain scions for grafting.

Piggyphile



Joined: 02 Apr 2009
Posts: 891
Location: Galicia
PostPosted: Thu Aug 06, 15 6:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I am impressed with my Nashi pears, trees not too big so far, ripened on the tree last year and amazing tasting. Out here you can't get known cultivars but they are precocious and look lovely and are bomb proof (so far).

tahir



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45389
Location: Essex
PostPosted: Thu Aug 06, 15 7:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Which varieties have you got? We have one which isn't brilliant to eat but makes good juice

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45375
Location: yes
PostPosted: Thu Aug 06, 15 10:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

thanks folks

the info on pear size is useful,all the ones i have seen are old and huge( 20m seems a bit big )but if they are now reduced by dwarfing rootstocks to 3 to 5 it give much more scope in the layout and makes harvest easier

i will try to have a chat with the otley fruit folk as the climate cant be very different to here.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45375
Location: yes
PostPosted: Wed Aug 12, 15 3:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

this is worse than seed catalogs and an allotment

it looks like we have got a bit closer to making it happen and having looked at prices from maidens to standards im thinking that some of each might be sensible in order to start getting an income sooner in order to cover the running costs

yr one will be minimal income
probably post winter pruning ,deal with moths etc on the existing trees there wont be a decent crop until yr 2/3

how long before a 2 m standard starts to give a reasonable return on the extra price compared to maidens?

yummersetter



Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Posts: 3241
Location: Somerset
PostPosted: Wed Aug 12, 15 9:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Negatives first . . I'm wary of giving you recommendations because my two orchards are so much further south and some of my non-apple trees are borderline for late frost tolerance . . in the open ground away from the house walls I've had no apricots ever, no edible peaches, one japanese plum fruit. Several plums, peaches grapevines and crossbreed plum trees didn't come back to life this Spring even though it wasn't that cold. Mind you, there could have been another reason - these have been orchards for hundreds of years though the newly planted one was stripped of all the remaining old apple trees just before we bought it six years back.. On Google Earth it still shows the old trees and those are the areas where non-apple trees don't thrive, and I think the mouse and shrew colonies that lived under and among the old tree roots are eating the underground parts up to the collar of the new trees. I'm about to exhume the dead trees to be sure

Last edited by yummersetter on Wed Aug 12, 15 9:35 pm; edited 1 time in total

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