North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Terence Bradshaw <madshaw@innevi.com>]

Hello all:
My wife and I are in the process of finally buying our first home located 
in Calais, VT, eight miles north of our capital, Montpelier.  We will have 
ten acres to play with, mostly wooded but with a clearing below the house 
of about one acre.  I will be clearing more of the area as time goes 
by.  Finally, after caring for other's trees for so many years, I can plant 
my own (home) orchard.  I have extensive experience with orchard management 
both commercial (fifty and ten acre farms) and for research, as I manage 
ten acres of plantings for the University of Vermont Apple 
Program.  Finally I can get out of the McIntosh and other eating apple game 
and put in some cider varieties, my true love.  I have been making cider as 
long as I have been involved with apples, so know what I'm looking 
for.  What I need now is some advice regarding how some varieties will do 
in this zone 4 climate.
The site: sloping land, southeast exposure, well-protected by softwood 
forest. Planting will be at about 1300 feet.  No doubt acidic soils which I 
will be liming this summer/fall.
The orchard: I am looking at planting the following varieties:
Ashmead's Kernel, Bedan, Binet Rouge, Black Oxford, Blue Pearmain, Brown 
Snout, Brown's Apple, Calville Blanc, Chenango, Chisel Jersey, Dabinette, 
Duchess, Egremont Russett, Ellis Bitter, Erwin Bauer, Spitzenburg, 
Foxwhelp, Golden Russett, Kingston Black, Lady, Michelin, Non-Pariel, 
Reinette Simerenko, Reinette Zabergau, Roxbury Russett, St. Edmunds 
Russett, Stembridge Cluster, Sweet 16, Tremlett's Bitter, Wickson, and 
Yarlington Mill.
All trees will be on semi-dwarfing rootstock, M7 or CG30.  Obviously I have 
included some eating fruit in here, but ones that I do not have at the 
research orchard.  I will most likely weed out a few of these, and am 
looking for advice on which to avoid in a zone 4 location.

Any advice?

Thanks,

TerryB
=================================================================
Terence Bradshaw
Pomona Tree Fruit Service
93 Stowe St     
Waterbury, VT 05676                     
(802)244-0953
madshaw@innevi.com

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