Subject: [NAFEX] RE: Sweet Cherries in Coastal Maine
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2004 19:03:49 -0500
Rodney, Ginda, et al. :
Thanks so much for the feedback and
suggestions. I was surprised to see on the foodandfarm.com site the
reference to the number of cherries trees (287) recorded here in Maine. I
was even more surprised to read the blanket statement that '[all] sweet
cherries aren't winter-hardy'. Seems like a rather nebulous
statement. Winter-hardy for whom? All 3 1/2 zones here in
Maine? Time will tell.
Rodney, I appreciate you mentioning Balaton as
well. I've seen this tart cherry mentioned on the Adams County Nursery
site, as well as by Hilltop and Cummins Nursery. But I had no
idea it's developing such a cult following. The Cummins Nursery site
describes at as follows: "Dark-juiced introduction
from Hungary. Very high sugar, low acid. Great for eating out of
hand. Unique in that there is no bleeding when the stem is pulled
off. Balaton is like a new kind of fruit crop. Ideal for farm
market." I guess I've been conditioned into thinking that 'tart
cherries' are all tart! I don't actually know of anyone
growing it in Maine---let alone on this island---but decided to go ahead
and get a few Balaton trees as well. I couldn't find it anywhere on Gisele
5, but was able to grab a dozen trees of it on Mahaleb. I just need to
make sure I find a home for these trees that's very well-drained. If
you should run across anyone growing Balaton on Gisela 5, would you let me
know? It would be nice to have a couple of these on the
island.
Ginda, thanks for the comment about growing
the trees on a north-facing slope. The sweet cherry trees I'm buying are
for the home garden, which is a pretty flat piece of land. Balaton
however will go on the farm, where the conditions are better for the Mahaleb
rootstock. Fortunately for these particular trees, the farm
is all on a slightly North-facing slope. I'll let you know how
they grow. I've got about 10 cherry pie recipes I'd like to try . . .
> Message: 5 > Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2004
07:16:48 -0700 > From: "Rodney Eveland" <reveland@collinscom.net> > Subject: [NAFEX] Sweet Cherries in Coastal
Maine > To: <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org> > Message-ID: <000301c3f305$5586ceb0$8d7ba8c0@IBMWTKEQZ8JB5T> > Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1" > > Someone always has to be the pioneer. If
you have a county extension > agent where you live or even in a nearby
county, I'd bet that you can > get free brochures that says sweet Cherries
won't grow in your area > and there's a real good chance that pretty much
everyone you meet in > your area will agree or a least say that Sweet
cherries have never > been grown there. We had a fellow get a great crop
of peaches here and > then all his trees died the following winter.
Peaches usually die or > don't produce here. I have a 14 year old Reliance
peach which has > never produced a crop. Consider yourself a pioneer. I'd
pick a nice > spot with fairly decent soil that isn't in a frost pocket
and go for > it. The two self pollinaters will probably produce best if
you > typically have cool-insectless springs during the blooming period
as > they will wind pollinate. Consider putting Emperor Francis
downwind > from the other two if you have a prevailing wind. Or perhaps
right > between them if the wind blows from one direction part of the day
and > the opposite direction during another part of the day. >
> I found a site that says there are some sweet cherries grown in
Maine. > See the Question and Answer. > http://www.foodandfarms.com/learn/faq_indiv.asp?Page=1&ID=64 > > Also does anyone grow Balaton Tarts on your
island? I found two > websites that state Balaton is not as hardy as
Montmorency and should > be grown on sweet cherry sites, so if someone is
growing Balaton > perhaps you've "found" your sweet cherry sites. >
> http://www.maes.msu.edu/nwmihort/balatongrow.html > > Note that in the below abstact they don't
mention the rootstocks their > trees were on and if reports on
Gisela®5 are correct, it imparts more > winter hardiness than
commonly used rootstocks. You are our "pioneer > in Maine" so be sure to
tell us when you get a crop, or lose your > trees. > >
Balaton is more susceptible to winter injury than Montmorency, and in >
fact, it behaves more like some sweet cherry varieties in this regard. >
Therefore, it is critical to select sites that would be good for sweet >
cherries or peaches. Take care to develop scaffolds limbs with wide >
crotch angles which acclimate more quickly in the fall as opposed to >
narrow crotch angles. Plan to paint trunks and lower scaffolds with >
white latex paint. > > In addition, although Balaton tends to bloom
a day or so later than > Montmorency, the buds begin development earlier
than Montmorency and > therefore are more susceptible to cold temperatures
in certain > situations. For example, due to the very warm temperatures in
late > February and early March this past season, Balaton flowers
were > phenologically more advanced than Montmorency flowers when
the > freezing events occurred. As a result, Balaton and Montmorency had
56% > versus 32% pistil/flower death, respectively, based on data from
MSU's > Clarksville Horticultural Experiment Station (CHES). >
> http://www.glexpo.com/abstracts/2003abstracts/cherry.pdf > > > Message: 7 > Date: Sat, 14
Feb 2004 10:32:47 -0500 > From: list@ginda.us > Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Sweet Cherries in Coastal
Maine > To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>, Three > Hills Farm <organic@threehillsfarm.com> > Message-ID: <0A8551C3-5F03-11D8-8FA5-00039312C3A0@ginda.us">0A8551C3-5F03-11D8-8FA5-00039312C3A0@ginda.us> > Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1" > > There's an orchard near me that grows
peaches in zone 5 (I think). > They plant the peach trees on the
north slope of a hill, to delay > spring green-up and bud
development. They say it makes the trees (or > flowers) more
resistant to late frosts. You might want to consider > something
like that. (They grow apples on the other slopes.) > >
Ginda >
[NAFEX] RE: Sweet Cherries in Coastal Maine,
Three Hills Farm, 02/14/2004