North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Don Yellman <dyellman@earthlink.net>]

Larry:

1.  In para. 3 of my recent msg., I transposed North and South.  It 
should have read "don't plant NORTH  of a line of tall trees".  South is 
obviously ok, since that's where the spring sun comes from.  It was late 
when I composed the msg..

2.  While I am here, I can't help asking this question:  What led you to 
choose Winesap, and a monoculture of  Winesap at that?  Of the 40 or so 
varieties I grow, Winesap would probably not make the top 30, much less 
the top 10, although I think it is fine for blending in the cider with 
other apples.  Are you planning to make a varietal cider from pure 
Winesap?  I probably would have tried to steer you to Rollin Wolley's 
Orchard Lane operation at Gloucester, VA, with his list of over 400 
varieties, ancient and modern.  Or Ed Fackler's Rocky Meadow in Indiana, 
specializing in highly-flavored apples, old and new, some disease 
resistant.  Or Big Horse Creek farm, right there in NC.  There are many 
others.  Stark will probably provide you with living trees, but they 
contract much of their growing, and there's not all that much quality 
control.  They are just coming out of bankruptcy, having been taken over 
by a larger firm.  I am quite sure that if you requested variety advice 
on this board, you would be bombarded with suggestions of everyone's 
favorite apple.  And you can grow just about anything in NC, save for a 
few of the good northern varieties like Honeycrisp and Sweet Sixteen.

3.  One of the principal satisfactions I get from my orchard is the mix 
of flavors, shapes and colors of the many different types I grow.  A few 
are just for sauce and cooking; several for fresh eating, and the 
balance goes in the cider.  Most amateur cidermakers would agree that a 
blended cider is best, whether for sweet or hard cidermaking.  When 
those 50 trees really start producing, you are probably looking at 
cidermaking, since nothing else will use up that volume of apples, 
unless you have found a niche market for Winesaps.

4.  Ginda is correct that the offensive Eastern Red Cedar is really a 
Juniperis.  Unfortunately, that is the one that grows wild throughout 
the Mid-Atlantic, and is even planted by a sad and misguided few.  It 
makes good firewood; almost as good as hickory, and that is its best use.

Rgds, Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

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