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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.
Re: The Merits of Drops ? - 8 years ago
This is somewhat similar to the subject of crushed apple seeds in cider - they contain a stuff that degrades into cyanide. However, the quantities of cyanide are extremely small. From my understanding, a cider drinker would be dead from the alcohol way before the amount of cyanide could have any adverse effect on his health... For my part, I pressed my drops last weekend - I use them in my firstby Claude Jolicoeur - Healthy Harvest
Re: cider apple price - 8 years ago
In England, the price of cider apples is ridicously small - the apples are sold by the ton, at a price around 10 cents a pound. But then, cider (even good craft cider) is also very inexpensive in England. In USA, the only data I have is the price Steve Wood used to sell his surplus cider apples (he grows more than he can use for his cider operation). In Cider Digest #1334, august 2006, Steve wasby Claude Jolicoeur - Good Fruit Marketing
Re: Vinegar as valued-added Income - 8 years ago
For my part, I like to do the vinegar from summer or early season apples - the reasoning is that those apples usually have too much acidity to make a good cider, but this acidity is perfectly OK in vinegar. Also, these apples contain less sugar than late high flavor apples: a summer apple cider may reach 5% ABV which will transform in 5% acetic acid, which is fine for vinegar. On the other hand,by Claude Jolicoeur - Good Fruit Marketing
Re: Rootstocks for Zones 3&4 - 9 years ago
QuoteDavid wrote: But Claude Jolicoeur might be able to provide more authoritative commentary. David, I doubt I can make authoritative comments on the subject of dwarfing rootstock - I haven't tested enough of them for this to be of any of any scientific value - samples are simply too few to be significative! This being said, I do have a few trees on different rootstocks. Here is a shorby Claude Jolicoeur - Orchard Systems
Re: Round Headed Apple Tree Borer - 9 years ago
Very nice picture David! I think I have seen some of those hanging around, but never thought these were the mothers of the beasts in question! Next time I see one, I know what I'll do with it... Claudeby Claude Jolicoeur - Bug by Bug
Re: EAS and varietal susceptibility - 9 years ago
I have seen ONE applet with evidence of EAS yet.... And this is not because I have no apples coming up. Had very good bloom and many many applets growing. So I guess this year is not an EAS year. For whatever reason. Some years there are no apples, other years there are no EAS! Claudeby Claude Jolicoeur - Bug by Bug
Re: Healthy soil, healthy gut - 9 years ago
Hello Andy, Didn't know you were here! QuoteYou wrote And though I haven't read the book, I'm sure Claude says something about the different fermentations of "farmed" vs "wild" apples. It is visibly different and the ultimate taste is WILDY different. I'm afraid I didn't go as far as discussing the influence of fungus in the soil... I do talk abouby Claude Jolicoeur - Cider Apples
Re: Pruning to Thin the Crop - 9 years ago
QuoteThen a few weeks later, we get a second flush of flowers along the full length of one year old shoots (i.e. shoots that grew in the previous growing season), that are generally 30 to 50 cm long - shoots totally white with blossom from top to bottom. I've never seen anything like this. Quoteweak one year old shoots that are up to 15 or 20 cm long will often form a fruit bud and seby Claude Jolicoeur - Organic Thinning
Re: Pruning to Thin the Crop - 9 years ago
How interesting! I also went to read page 129... and it does describe my reality. I first read about that in a French book on arboriculture about 25 years ago, and have talked about it here and there since. Now, why would it be different in Australia? Could it be that because your growing season is much longer, you can have fruit buds on the following year on a growth shoot? Or maybe becauseby Claude Jolicoeur - Organic Thinning
Re: Pruning to Thin the Crop - 9 years ago
This is interesting, because I do the opposite... We also raised this during the last Berkshire meeting if some remember. I agree that short term, a heavy winter pruning would reduce the number of flowers, and hence provide some thinning. But I look at this with a longer term view, with the objective of reducing biennalism... Often, trees will have more growth on the "on" yearby Claude Jolicoeur - Organic Thinning
Re: an allopathic touch - 9 years ago
Lots of rain, yes, Michael, but so cold.... Last night, 3-4 inches of snow fell just a couple of miles away from my orchard (at higher elevation). Is there any ascospore release at such low temperature? Here, first flower bloom on the earliest blooming varieties this weekend (Dolgo). Most apples still at pink! Claudeby Claude Jolicoeur - Fungal Pathogens
Re: disease protection from above - 9 years ago
Todd Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Bramley's, a scab resistant > heirloom, is apparently being attacked by scab in > some areas, presumably a new scab race. Not necessarily a new race. I have often seen varieties that are not bothered by scab in my orchard, being badly affected at another location. And vice-versa. My opinion on this is thaby Claude Jolicoeur - Fungal Pathogens
Re: Grafting - 9 years ago
I have done quite a bit of intergenus grafts about 20 years ago. I did harvest pears in an apple tree. I also grafted pears on hawthorn. All eventually died... The longest to live lasted about 10 years. Claudeby Claude Jolicoeur - Grafting
Re: average, not absolute, minimums - 9 years ago
Todd, what you say is only partially true, as this minimum temperature might be killing or not depending on other conditions... Imagine the 2 following scenarios: - A good cold winter, with a good amount of snow - cold sets in by mid-December and it remains cold all the way through the end of January, and then there is a week of glacial temperatures - thermometer goes down to -30 F. And, guess wby Claude Jolicoeur - Hardiness Considerations
Re: average, not absolute, minimums - 9 years ago
Interesting, Ed... If I take again those 18 years of minimum recorded temperatures, the average gives -27C (-17F) ... and this would mean I am actually in the equivalent of USDA zone 5? I can hardly believe it! And if I take the lowest min I have recorded, -32C is -26F, the same lowest you have measured. Something doesn't work there, because I know I can't grow varieties that are foby Claude Jolicoeur - Hardiness Considerations
Re: Canadian zone nuance - 9 years ago
I've always considered my CDN zone 4a rating to be fairly equivalent to the USDA zone 4. And in effect -29 to -34C is pretty much the coldest we endure. But the thing is that is only statistics... I have recorded the min temperature since 1995 at my orchard, so that is 18 years. The coldest seen is -32, then another year -31, and 3 years I saw -30, so that is 5 years out of 18 that I haveby Claude Jolicoeur - Hardiness Considerations
Re: Tool sanitizing/sterilizing - 9 years ago
Yes, this is a very useful topic, and I would also like to know what others are doing on that respect. Through the years, I have used bleach - but this will make the tools rust badly, alcohol, and Lysol which supposedly eliminates 99.9% of bacteria. The problem is that we have no mean to know for sure how efficient the sanitizer we use really is efficient - that is until we actually have a probleby Claude Jolicoeur - Pruning
Re: pruning concepts - 9 years ago
I think we have talked about this one before, Michael... On a large, standard tree, my first criteria for pruning is: "Make yourself comfortable". This means easy access to the tree, branches spreaded in such a way as to make climbing the tree easy, and organizing a comfortable seat near the top of the tree. The idea being that a tree pruned this way will be safer, easier to work on,by Claude Jolicoeur - Pruning
Re: Rootstocks for Zones 3&4 - 9 years ago
I have a few trees doing well on Ottawa 3, but other than these, I never had really good trees on smaller stock. Some M106 and 111 are doing just OK but no more, and are not very productive nor vigorous. I had one on M26 that broke at the graft union after having been well vigorous and productive for about 10 years. It broke because of the weight of the apples in a nice September afternoon, not eby Claude Jolicoeur - Orchard Systems
Re: Bittersweets - 9 years ago
OK then, Michael. Here are my views on these. Some of the comments I will make below come from a survey I did with some leading cider makers across the continent - survey that I did for the cider book. Dabinett. This one hasen't proven its point yet in my orchard. I only have one graft, which isn't very vigorous, so I can't draw a conclusion on its hardiness and adaptability inby Claude Jolicoeur - Cider Apples
Re: Douce de Charlevoix - 9 years ago
I had put the picture with the post the other day, but somehow it disappeared. I don't know why. It is Siloam Orchard in Ontario that has started to sell trees of it, and soon another nursery in Quebec should also offer it. They got some wood 2 years ago to propagate it. In the US, John Bunker is currently testing it, and FEDCO should offer it soon hopefully. Quite a few others are testingby Claude Jolicoeur - Cider Apples
Douce de Charlevoix - 9 years ago
I discovered the Douce de Charlevoix apple in the village of Baie-Saint-Paul, county of Charlevoix, Quebec. It appears to be from a seedling rootstock that overgrew the grafted variety. In fact, I thought I was taking grafting wood from the grafted variety, but I didn’t have much experience at the time (it was in 1984) and I took by mistake the wood from the rootstock sucker. This error was finalby Claude Jolicoeur - Cider Apples
Re: Bittersweets - 9 years ago
Michael, I think we should open one topic for each of these apples instead of having them all grouped in the same topic... Do you think it would be possible to edit your post? Claudeby Claude Jolicoeur - Cider Apples
Re: The Foxwhelp Mix-Up - 9 years ago
Yes, I am another victim of the Foxwhelp mix-up. Actually, we usually call this apple the Fauxwhelp in the Cider Digest discussion forum. Here is a picture of mine: This one comes from scion wood I obtained from Richard Fahey, a NAFEX member, in 1996. I think it originally comes from the Geneva collection, and that the mix-up happened when they imported many English cider apples during theby Claude Jolicoeur - Cider Apples
chipping orchard prunings - 9 years ago
This is question that arose recently while discussing with a friend... He argues that the pruning clippings from his orchard should be brought and disposed outside of the orchard, as there is some dead wood there, possibly some branches with canker, and other microbes and fungus that we don't want to see around the trees. However, when doing my ramial wood chips on my chipper, I use allby Claude Jolicoeur - Understory Management
The different Pearmains - 9 years ago
This is an old thread that was at the Grou.ps site and that I had kept on my HD as backup. I am putting it back here. Claude C.J. Walke wrote, probably in 2009: Can someone describe some of the different Pearmains (Blue, Grey, Worcester, etc.)? Where do the color names come from? I just ate a Grey Pearmain. Thanks. I replied: Hello CJ. I know it's already 3 months you wrote your quby Claude Jolicoeur - Apples
Re: Racoons - 9 years ago
Pleased to read that, David, and even more so after seeing the little trees in question... But I am a bit surprised that your peaches ripen so late - when we were in the Annapolis valley last month the peaches were already ripe there. Are your varieties that late?by Claude Jolicoeur - Mammalian Tales
Re: bumbles in late summer - 9 years ago
And in addition to the goldenrod and wild aster, the various rudbeckia and their relative the echinacea also are very popular with the wild pollinators here. As of the Japanese knotweed, they are probably the most difficult plant to get rid of unless you use nasty things like chemical herbicides... The planting of these is by the way forbidden in many countries/states.by Claude Jolicoeur - Pollination
Surround and Apple Maggot Fly (AMF) - 10 years ago
Yesterday I sprayed Surround on my Liberty tree, which is one of the few trees that are fully loaded this year. Hence these will be the apples for keeping. The maggot flies have started to come out now, as I have seen a few. I wonder by how much Surround may decrease the maggot damage? I also have some Liberty apples in another tree, unsprayed, so this could give me an indication as to the efficiby Claude Jolicoeur - Bug by Bug