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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Apples for Saskatchewan

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  • From: Bernie Nikolai <BNikolai@shaw.ca>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Apples for Saskatchewan
  • Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 18:36:33 -0800

Thanks Jim,
I didn't mean to imply that I need to restart my "sub arctic" :)
orchard. It is indeed very much alive, and with truly outstanding
varieties, 3rd generation apples, much better in taste than the vast
majority of the 1st and 2nd generation apples on the list below. Some of
the apples on the below list are mislabled. Red Gravenstein and Vista Bella
are both a lot less hardy than Honeycrisp as an example, and died out long
ago at my orchard. Usually the apple is something else. The grower
"thought it was Gravenstein because that's what Joe said it was and he sent
me the scionwood" :) So he puts down on a list that Gravenstein grows for
him in zone 3. But it turns out to be another, hardy-for-zone 3 apple, at a
later date.
For anyone interested in learning a bit more, my personal hobby
orchard website can be found at :
http://members.shaw.ca/BNikolai/
Warning! I haven't updated it for 3 or 4 years (golf and more specifically
constantly improving in golf has become another maddening passion of mine,
as has ornithology and I'm trying to increase the population of a very
interesting bird, the purple martin, in central Alberta). But the site will
show numerous photos and descriptions of some of the best apples at the
time, and a discussion on hardy rootstocks. However, now, only 18-10-32 is
truly outstanding from the list on my hobby webpage. The others I mention
there pale into mediocrity with the newer ones I've grafted in the last 2-4
years. The other apples I am testing all have numbers, and are unreleased
test selections from the University of Saskatchewn as well as local Canadian
amateur prairie breeders. Many of my 250 trees are just starting to produce
at my hobby orchard, depending on when I grafted them. All are fully hardy
at my site, and most are excellent in taste and storage. If you like
Parkland, "you ain't seen nothin yet". Basically when a tree like Zestar or
Honeycrisp died, I either regrafted the roostock in the ground with a very
hardy test apple or yanked out the entire tree and replanted a new test
variety. So my test orchard has been in constant motion over the last 15
years or so...
There is no reason commercial apple orchards can't do well in cold zone
3 and zone 2 climates, and folks who have sampled the fruit agree. The only
problem is the vast majority of varieties I have are being grown under a
testing and non-release agreement, but should start being released starting
this spring.
Bernie

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Fruth" <jfruth@uslink.net>
To: <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2006 5:04 AM
Subject: [NAFEX] Apples for Saskatchewan


Bernie,
I've got an old Bear Creek catalog that has quite a long list of apples
that are recommended for your climate. In the description of each, many
either specifically that it is known to have survived in Saskatchewan and
or survived -46° F in Fairbanks Alaska:
Breakey
Chinese Golden Early
Dolgo Crab
Early Harvest
Fireside
Haralson
Heyer 12
Heyer 20
Lord's Seedling
Lowland Raspberry
Noran
Noret
Norland
Norson
Nova Easygro
Oriole
Parkland
Red Gravenstein
Vista Bella
Wolf River
Yellow Transparent
Of the above, I've got Parkland (one of my favorites - Bought it from
Bear Creek) and I've got Yellow Transparent (Bought from St. Lawrence
Nursery - no fruit yet at 6 yrs. old).
If you are up to the task of restarting an orchard, I could forward some
scionwood to you. No doubt other NAFEXers mighthave some of the other
varieties.
--

Jim Fruth
Brambleberry Farm
Pequot Lakes, MN
www.bberryfarm.com
Jams, Jellies and Syrups



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