Marking trees

[farmertrish]

Hubby and I have "marked" 3 trees for grafting. We scout the hill sides for "indigenous" fruit trees. Mostly old apple/pear/plum trees that were on old farmsteads. They have been bought out by the forestry service. These old trees produce some amazing fruits! We plan on taking "graftings" from these trees, and graft them onto viable root stock plants. I am so excited about this! Any one else grow "old" varieties?

 

[taxlady]

No, but it sounds like a great idea.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

This sounds like a great idea. Can you top an apple tree that produces small, soft apples, then graft in branches from a good apple tree, and if so, can the grafts be made lower on the trunk?

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Harry Cobean]

This sounds like a great idea. Can you top an apple tree that produces small, soft apples, then graft in branches from a good apple tree, and if so, can the grafts be made lower on the trunk?

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

this chap has grafted 250 different varieties onto one rootstock chief!!.the norm is two or three different varieties or,as trish proposes(i think),just one variety onto a sturdy/viable rootstock.can be done with pears,plums,peaches & nectarines too.not all on the same rootstock tho'!!
250 varieties of apple on one tree... thanks to a bit of hard grafting over the years | Mail Online
when bolas & i were growing up in north wales we were lucky enough to have an orchard as part of the garden.i remember some of the varieties included lord lambourne,egremont russet,cox's orange pippin,bramley & worcester permain.
happy day's chief!!

 

[farmertrish]

I just realized that the title was a bit ambiguous, and I cracked myself up. I don't urinate on trees, lol. Sorry about that. Chief, if it's a mature tree with large limbs, you're out of luck. The general rule of thumb is grafting a branch about the size of your thumb. They do sell grafted trees with several varieties on one tree. I've heard of "orange pippin"! Maybe it was from the documentary Botany of Desire.

 

[Harry Cobean]

I just realized that the title was a bit ambiguous, and I cracked myself up. I don't urinate on trees, lol. Sorry about that. Chief, if it's a mature tree with large limbs, you're out of luck. The general rule of thumb is grafting a branch about the size of your thumb. They do sell grafted trees with several varieties on one tree. I've heard of "orange pippin"! Maybe it was from the documentary Botany of Desire.

shame that trish,had visions of you on tippy toe,back to your unfortunate victim with your bum in the air spraying your chosen tree.guess it would stop someone else from "nicking" your idea,that's for sure!!
cox's orange pippin is a very old english apple variety & a classic too.you almost get two apples in one.picked straight from the tree it is crisp,sweet & slightly "tart" or sharp at the same time.with storage the flesh softens slightly & the taste mellows to a very deep flavour.keeps fairly well,but not as long as some varieties.good cooker where a soft or collapsed texture is needed.pretty disease resistant too.the trees in our orchard were felled about three years ago.the cox's had stopped producing through age(50-60 years old at felling)but were still healthy.

 

[Hoot]

There used to be literally hundreds of apple trees in the fields all around here. The apples were tart and sweet at the same time. They were great for freezing, drying, canning, applesauce, and plain ol' eating. The peel was mostly green with a blush of red at peak ripeness. The peel also had faint grayish mottling or what we called spots. Alas, most, if not all of the trees have been taken down for the convenience of planting and harvesting, as well as increasing the amount of productive area in the fields. I sure would like to know what variety these apples are. I always keep an eye peeled for these trees but they are scarce as hen's teeth in these parts.

 

[GotGarlic]

Hoot, I have The Apple Lover's Cookbook which includes a guide to apple varieties with pictures and descriptions. It sounds like it might be a Black Twig: http://www.treesofantiquity.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=27

 

[Hoot]

Thanks GG, but they really don't look like the old field apples we used to have around here. They resemble Roxbury Russet apples but the pictures of that variety that I have seen are just too uniform and don't have the speckling that I remember.
The field apples I recall were various sizes, knobbly, kinda ugly apples. Likely derived from Roxbury Russet, but then maybe my memories of those apples has been clouded by time.

 

[GotGarlic]

Thanks GG, but they really don't look like the old field apples we used to have around here. They resemble Roxbury Russet apples but the pictures of that variety that I have seen are just too uniform and don't have the speckling that I remember.
The field apples I recall were various sizes, knobbly, kinda ugly apples. Likely derived from Roxbury Russet, but then maybe my memories of those apples has been clouded by time.

I didn't think that picture looked like your what you said, either, but the description did. If you do a Google Images search, there are other pix that look more like it.

 

[Harry Cobean]

Thanks GG, but they really don't look like the old field apples we used to have around here. They resemble Roxbury Russet apples but the pictures of that variety that I have seen are just too uniform and don't have the speckling that I remember.
The field apples I recall were various sizes, knobbly, kinda ugly apples. Likely derived from Roxbury Russet, but then maybe my memories of those apples has been clouded by time.

sounds like egremont russet to me ol' hoss.they have the speckling/spots that can merge into patches,reddish flush when ripe.the ones in the pic are pretty uniform(of course!),but egremont can be a bit mishapen.eaten straight off the tree they have that sweet/sharp tang that you describe.goes well with wild turkey,or so i'm told i'm told mate!!
Egremont Russet & Jonagold Blackmoor Nurseries
you can see the mottling etc more clearly if you click to enlarge the image.

 

[farmertrish]

Lol, I use a GPS to "mark" the exact LOCATION of the trees I want to graft. I will try to be more clear in the future.

Hoot, that tree may have been a cultivar unique to your area. A lot of these trees are not "wild" but cultivated trees. Selected by local farmers for specific reason and purpose. By the turn of the century, {the one before this past one,} there were an estimated 4,000 types of apple trees. Unfortunately rural history is not written down. It is passed down orally.

I went to a seminar and the "orange pippin" was mentioned. There is a guy who is growing "heirloom" apples in Upstate New York. He wants to make "hard cider" as unique as wines from France.

 

[Harry Cobean]

Lol, I use a GPS to "mark" the exact LOCATION of the trees I want to graft. I will try to be more clear in the future.

Hoot, that tree may have been a cultivar unique to your area. A lot of these trees are not "wild" but cultivated trees. Selected by local farmers for specific reason and purpose. By the turn of the century, {the one before this past one,} there were an estimated 4,000 types of apple trees. Unfortunately rural history is not written down. It is passed down orally.

I went to a seminar and the "orange pippin" was mentioned. There is a guy who is growing "heirloom" apples in Upstate New York. He wants to make "hard cider" as unique as wines from France.

well trish,he'll have a ready made export market to the uk.heard on the bbc news the other day that we drink more cider than any other country(could have been per capita),infact cider sales exceed those of lager.i'll drink to that!!

 

[Roll_Bones]

Hubby and I have "marked" 3 trees for grafting. We scout the hill sides for "indigenous" fruit trees. Mostly old apple/pear/plum trees that were on old farmsteads. They have been bought out by the forestry service. These old trees produce some amazing fruits! We plan on taking "graftings" from these trees, and graft them onto viable root stock plants. I am so excited about this! Any one else grow "old" varieties?

Be careful. If its federal land or designated as park land, you could be breaking the law.
While I am one to not care what you do, they might.
I know here in the national forest, you cannot remove anything. The only thing you are allowed to take home is a picture.

Fines can be very steep.

 

[cave76]

Be careful. If its federal land or designated as park land, you could be breaking the law.
While I am one to not care what you do, they might.
I know here in the national forest, you cannot remove anything. The only thing you are allowed to take home is a picture.

Fines can be very steep.

I agree with that.

 

[CatPat]

I just realized that the title was a bit ambiguous, and I cracked myself up. I don't urinate on trees, lol. Sorry about that. Chief, if it's a mature tree with large limbs, you're out of luck. The general rule of thumb is grafting a branch about the size of your thumb. They do sell grafted trees with several varieties on one tree. I've heard of "orange pippin"! Maybe it was from the documentary Botany of Desire.

I was going to say I know a neighbor's dog who marks trees and it isn't quite that complicated.

Sorry! I miss my Mamma and I'm trying to cheer myself up and get over it.

With love,
~Cat

 

[DaveSoMD]

I think that's how we ended up with our Kieffer Pear. It was the stock that the "other pear (ornamental)" was grafted to but somehow the base stock took over and we ended up with a fruit producing pear tree.

 

[GotGarlic]

Haven't seen trish for quite some time, but she and her husband are long-time farmers with quite a bit of land.