North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Kathleen Meigs" <kmeigs@tcsn.net>]

Kevin--

Last year (our first with this orchard) we left the Grannys on until early
November when they were quite ripe. Our climate is very hot (90s and 100s)
in August and September with 40 at night and then a lot cooler in November.
Many or most (not all) of them became somewhat or entirely red. I mailed
some to my daughter in Florida and she didn't believe they were Grannys. But
they were; not any special rosy variety. I think it must have been the
combination of hot and tree ripe and then cold. They were very tasty and
made nice sauce too. We'll see if it happens again.

BTW the balckbirds and jays that were so impossible last year are much
reduced as a pest to the apples this year, though I am still netting as much
as possible. The biggest problem this year was the sustained temperatures
over 100, which caused a lot of sunburn, especailly on the lighter early
fruit (Goldens).

Four rounds of hand thinning was time consuming, too. Galas especially will
require that. The sunburn made decisions of what to cull easier. In this
case it seems better not to prune for more light but for more shade!

Lots of tasty fruit coming. Lots of red pears. A mild spring gave us lots of
apricots, nectarines and almonds, which is unusual here.

Katy Meigs
Jolon at Last Farm
Central California
USDA Zone 8/9



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