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We understand that allopathic spray medicines of whatever persuasion make up for specific biological and nutritional deficiencies in the orchard. Ergo, investing in soil health, foliar health, diverse biology, and plant allies makes all the sense in the world for growing healthy fruit. Here's where we prove it.
New book: Hardy Apples by Bob Osborne - 20 days ago
A new very nice book for us apple geeks! Hardy Apples - Growing Apples in Cold Climates, is just released. The author is Bob Osborne, the owner of Corn Hill Nursery in New Brunswick, one of the best nurseries in Canada, so Bob knows his subject... It covers most of the essentials, including the origins in Kazakhstan, tree biology, the orchard, the soil, planting and maintenance, pest and diseasby Claude Jolicoeur - Just Talk
Re: Dying bark - 5 weeks ago
Could it be cold damage? I can't see anything that looks like canker, which could be an other possible cause. Here in Quebec, we've had very cold temperatures this last winter (coldest since the last 20 years), and some varieties have suffered. I do have branches that were healthy last year and dead this spring...by Claude Jolicoeur - Fungal Pathogens
Re: Pear blister mite - 5 weeks ago
I've had an outbreak of pear blister mite about 8 years ago. My strategy has been to winter-prune all vigorous growth of the preceding year and burn the prunings. Spray of dormant oil in spring, a bit before bloom time. It took 3-4 years of this regime and the critters disappeared.by Claude Jolicoeur - Bug by Bug
Re: Root rot on young apple tree - 7 weeks ago
Did a repair to this tree. A few days ago I planted 2 small apple tree seedlings besides the affected tree. I also added compost to cover the dead tissues and recovered with wood chips. Today I grafted these 2 small trees to the stem. One thing this will tell: if there is something in the soil, then the 2 small trees should also get it... (click on )by Claude Jolicoeur - Just Talk
Re: Root rot on young apple tree - 8 weeks ago
Mike Biltonen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > However, in your case, and based solely on the pictures, this is > not collar rot or any other disease I am familiar with. It looks like vole damage. Mike, it is not vole eating because the bark and cambium were still there when I scratched the soil. Simply that these tissues were rotten and disintegratedby Claude Jolicoeur - Just Talk
Re: Does (tree) size matter? - 2 months ago
Nathaniel Bouman Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > What a dream to live without fear of fireblight. Keeping fingers crossed... > When I visited Normandy and talked to farmers that > produce calvados they all preferred their older, > bigger trees to the young ones. Yes. Plus if they make the DOP cider, the specification requires they growby Claude Jolicoeur - Cider Maker's Handbook
Re: Does (tree) size matter? - 2 months ago
Nathaniel Bouman Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Wilding trees that are full grown and healthy probably have natural > resistance to fire blight (the ones that didn't died). Any thoughts here? I tend to agree with this - as long as this wilding tree has grown in a place where fire blight is endemic. For example, here fire blight is not a problem,by Claude Jolicoeur - Cider Maker's Handbook
Re: Root rot on young apple tree - 2 months ago
Steve Dagger Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Claude - Check out this reference to see if it > helps identify what you are dealing with: > > > Phytophthora fungi are widespread and common and > can also be confused with a few other factors. > I've had problems in the past where I have > sprinkler irrigated younger trees. Tby Claude Jolicoeur - Just Talk
Root rot on young apple tree - 2 months ago
This is some kind of collar rot that I found on a young apple tree yesterday. All the top of the tree looks healthy and the tree has been very vigorous last summer. However, at ground level, the bark simply disintegrated upon touching it. Only the solid wood in the middle remains. Out of about 80 trees I have grafted and planted in the last 5-6 years, this is the third time I see this. Inteby Claude Jolicoeur - Just Talk
Which borer is this? - 2 months ago
I met a borer I had never seen before... While inspecting a young apple tree yesterday, the trunk simply broke off at ground level upon touching it... There was simply no more wood, just a thin layer of external bark holding. This guy was about 3/4 inch long and definitely yellow. All the borers I have seen yet were much smaller (like usually about 1/4 inch long) and white, so I am wonderingby Claude Jolicoeur - Bug by Bug
Re: 2022 Thinning trials - 2 months ago
Interesting... I don't think I'd be happy living in Washington State - for sure I wouldn't be able to do the things I now do. And by the way, what does the police do for an ordinary quidam who has a decorative crab tree in front of his house? They will force him to spray?by Claude Jolicoeur - Organic Thinning
Re: 2022 Thinning trials - 2 months ago
James Smith Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Last year a 'field man' for one of the > packing sheds reported to the Pest Sheriff that I > had CM stings on my fruit. The Sheriff came by to > check and said I had a few stings, nothing major, > and said I should remove the fruit. Do you mean to say here that there is a "police&quby Claude Jolicoeur - Organic Thinning
Cider Planet - 2 months ago
I just learned today (as I had a meeting with the marketing people at Chelsea Green) that Cider Planet is now at the pre-order stage! It should be available on September 23. At this moment, I am doing the revision of the proofs, then page layout will be finalized and out to the printer... In the US, it is already on the websites of Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org And in Canada, Amaby Claude Jolicoeur - Cider Maker's Handbook
Re: Does (tree) size matter? - 2 months ago
Todd Parlo Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > This is a wonderful entry into discussing the > differences, often radical between the modern high > density dessert (and now cider) method and the > solidly traditional practice of making apples from > big trees. Actually, Todd, I wrote a 30 page discussion in my new book on traditional vs modernby Claude Jolicoeur - Cider Maker's Handbook
Re: Reference book on Grape growing? - 2 months ago
a bit old, but seems to still be on sale.by Claude Jolicoeur - Grapes
Re: Orchard ladders - 2 months ago
Josh Willis Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Claude, do you have any other techniques you use > for spraying, harvesting, or generally taking care > of your 40' seedlings? We have some old M106's > that are about that height (!), which can be a bit > challenging (ha!). Josh, Have you heard of this wonderful technique called "by Claude Jolicoeur - Sensible Equipment
Re: This & That - 3 months ago
Mason Colby Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Or is it like when two > people have children and each child is different > and unique. Yes, this is what it is. Each seedling tree is unique. However, some varieties/species do have seedlings that are quite similar (although still unique) and retain the characters of the species - like Antonovka seedlinby Claude Jolicoeur - Just Talk
Re: Orchard ladders - 4 months ago
Charlie Treichler Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi Claude, > > Do you have a recommendation for the brand of > orchard ladders? We're going to buy our first ones > to help with pruning this year. Sorry, but no... I bought mine about 25 years ago in Canada (I remember paying about 100$ CAD or a little less for it), and I have no ideby Claude Jolicoeur - Sensible Equipment
Re: Press yields - 4 months ago
Just thinking about this... I built my current press after having written the New Cider Maker's Handbook. It is based on the design shown in the book, but I had to build one after publishing the book... So, even if you have the book, it doesn't show my current setup. So photos are here: Note the 3 last photos of the album, as this is the most recent iteration of the design - I addby Claude Jolicoeur - Cider Maker's Handbook
Re: Post-Grafting & Pre-Planting - 4 months ago
No real reason to worry... For my part, when I order rootstock they come in a box, packed in a plastic bag filled with some wet material. Once I am finished grafting, I simply put them back in the same package (and spray a bit of water to make sure the roots stay wet), and leave the box in the cidery (where the temperature is pretty stable around 8 degrees C). I never had any problem.by Claude Jolicoeur - Grafting
Re: Press yields - 4 months ago
Todd Parlo Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Another option (that > may induce scorn here) is to add water to spent > pomace, let sit and repress. This I have done. The > water will loosen the mush and solubilize the > constituents (the sugars and polyphenols are water > soluble as are many other flavor components). The > result is whatby Claude Jolicoeur - Cider Maker's Handbook
Re: Cider Unveiled - 4 months ago
Matthew Mullet Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You can find > inspiration from Andy Brennan's Uncultivated, Matt > Kaminsky of Gnarly Pippins, and Claude gave the > profiles of his feral apple discoveries in NCMH. Yes, and since the NCMH was published, I have been introduced to a beautiful wild apple forest in Baie-St-Paul, about 15 minuteby Claude Jolicoeur - Cider Maker's Handbook
Re: Press yields - 4 months ago
Brittany Kordick Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > That is neat to hear about your pomace > re-pressing, Claude! I played around with this > some this past fall, and now wish I had tried your > method of re-grinding before re-pressing. Yes it works quite well, and I was surprised when I tried this the first time. So next fall, you may try it -by Claude Jolicoeur - Cider Maker's Handbook
Press yields - 4 months ago
In another thread, Todd and Craig started to discuss press yields, and this probably is worth a new thread. First thing I'd like to say - please - don't use gallons per bushel for yield measure! These are extremely ackward units as a bushel may contain anything between 15 and 20 kg of apples, and a gallon - what is that again? You still use these in the US? So, if we express yieldby Claude Jolicoeur - Cider Maker's Handbook
Dwarfing rootstocks planted high density for cider purpose - 4 months ago
Michael: you might consider moving this topic to the newly-created cider-centric forum... So, for high density cider orchard, it is probably in my book that you read these might yield apples that aren't as good quality for cider making. For the following reasons: - Dilution of the sugars and flavors, as high density apple growing normally requires fertilizer inputs and irrigation, the apby Claude Jolicoeur - Orchard Systems
Re: Vigorous rootstocks planted high density - 4 months ago
My new orchard plantings are medium density-standard trees. I did this for a number of reasons, first being because I wanted to test a number of varieties with a tree per variety in a limited surface area. So with this approach I could plant twice as many trees... What I did is to define a first grid at 7x7 meters (which makes 50 square meters per tree, or 200 trees per hectare, or 23x23 ft mby Claude Jolicoeur - Orchard Systems
Re: Cider Unveiled - 4 months ago
Well, that is a great idea to start such a new forum section... and I am honored that it is named after my book! We should have some interesting discussions here. And I'll take the opportunity to announce in exclusivity here that my new book will be out by this coming September - title is Cider Planet, publisher is Chelsea Green. As subtitle: Exploring the Producers, Practices, and Uniqby Claude Jolicoeur - Cider Maker's Handbook
Re: Sanitizing methods for pruners / saws? - 4 months ago
This is a question I have often asked myself... I used to use a diluted bleach solution, but also noticed that made the tools rust a lot. Nowadays I use a simple kitchen cleaner/germ killer in spray that claims to kill 99.9% of germs, virus and bacteria. There are many similar brands, I usually use Lysol, eg: Now, to be frank, I don't have any certitude this is really efficient for saby Claude Jolicoeur - Sensible Equipment
Re: Orchard ladders - 5 months ago
Peter, I have a 9' tripod ladder (not Hasewaga though) and find it high enough for my standard trees which can get higher than 12'. Only in some of my wild seedling trees (which may reach 40 feet in height) it is then not high enough - but a 12' ladder wouldn't help much more...by Claude Jolicoeur - Sensible Equipment
Re: Miniature Chainsaws - 6 months ago
James Smith Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Also, I have more than a few 3" limbs to cut in a > day these days. I am removing several hundred > trees. Anything smaller than 3" goes into the > chipper, anything larger is used for heating and > cooking. Well, that is another story - you are not talking "pruning" anymore!by Claude Jolicoeur - Sensible Equipment
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