Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

nafex - Re: [nafex] Re: Pest resistant apples

nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Ginda Fisher <ginda@concentric.net>
  • To: nafex@yahoogroups.com
  • Subject: Re: [nafex] Re: Pest resistant apples
  • Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2001 21:44:53 -0400

Hmmm, Mint, wildflowers, overrun with deer and other mammals. . .sounds
a lot like my yard. But I notice that my crabs have CAR, half the
apples on one are badly russetted this year, and I lost more than a
third of the leaves on my baby Jonathan to caterpillars.

I'd guess it's the isolation from other apples, not the paradise that
keeps the pests down. We have wild crabs springing up anyplace no one
bothers to remove/mow them - which means pretty much between every pair
of properties. (On the other hand, I have no pollination worries.)

I can confirm that for at least some pests, "pest selection" is
important. The deer don't touch the crabs in my yard. But they've
nibbled every domestic eating cultivar I've grafted (plus the Jonathan)
that's in reach. My guess is that it's not just the fruit that tastes
better. I suppose if the deer got hungry enough, they'd eat the crabs,
too, but it hasn't happened yet. My neighbor's evergreen shrubs seem to
be much tastier.

Ginda Fisher
Eastern Mass.
Not heaven, but pretty pleasant


fuwafuwausagi@muchomail.com wrote:
>
> Joe wrote:
>
> A common thread in these mythical "old trees which bore clean fruit
> every year" stories is that the tree is old and is growing in an
> abandoned farmstead with very few other insect reservoirs. We have
> always jumped to the conclusion that the reason for these trees being
> clean is due to them being some magical cultivar. I have to believe
> that the environmental conditions of the trees is more important than
> the cultivar.
>
> My reply:
snip
> One sunny day I sat near a stream admiring the deer laying under the
> trees, fondly noting that the branches were up high, a sure sign of
> deer pruning, I was over joyed at my talent for noticing the obvious
> when it dawned on me. I hopped on over to the tree and watched the
> deer flee, and then I smelled it...mint...wild mint everywhere...to be
> precise freshly crushed wild mint...growing underneath in the shade of
> the tree...and surrounding the tree, wild flowers of all varieties,
> thousands upon thousands of them...
>
> So there we have it, beautiful apples growing in an untilled meadow,
> surrounded by wild flowers, and undeneath swarths of mint, freshly
> crushed by the prancing and pawing of little deer, who must delight in
> crunching on the fallen apples along with the squirrels, rabbits,
> skunks, racoons, all supplying fertilizer at regular intervals...I
> don't know about you , but that is not much like my yard...no wonder
> the apples were nice, they were living in paradise...
>
> the fluffy one

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
FREE COLLEGE MONEY
CLICK HERE to search
600,000 scholarships!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/ujOgTC/4m7CAA/ySSFAA/VAOolB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->





------------------LIST GUIDELINES----------------------

1) Please sign your posting. Include climate and location information if
relevent.
2) Attached files will be stripped from your messages. Post attachments on
the www.YahooGroups.com website.
3) To unsubscribe send a BLANK message to
nafex-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
4) Include only pertinent comments/questions when replying to a posting and
NOT the entire message (especially if the initial posting was large).

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/






Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page