Apples Trees and Thinking of Spring

Just two weeks ago we had a false sense that spring was approaching as our temperatures were in the 50s and our snow melted. But.....winter is still here as we now are in the midst of accumulating 7 more inches of snow. One of things I love about winter is dreaming about spring budding forth, summer crops growing and the bounty that follows.

Yesterday I made progress with the apple orchard in a practical way. This summer will be our 8th summer on our 15 acre homestead. Until this past year we really didn't realize the full potential of having a homestead -- primarily because I had 3 more children and there is only so much time. Now with the youngest 3 1/2 it's time to ramp things up. Our apple and pear orchard in the back yard has definitely seen better days. I evaluated that three apple trees must be cut down, another one still has a nice enough base to graft onto, and the rest we'll wait and see another year.

So I ordered 18 sticks of scion wood, 30 rootstocks, and one tree ready for planting. I ordered from Maple Valley Orchard because they specialize in heirloom varieties that are no longer widely grown and also because they are located in a colder zone than I am (hopefully the trees will survive our frigid winters). Tony, the owner, was Sooooo helpful helping me pick varieties and also giving me an education over the phone on successful grafting. I plan to demonstrate grafting with our local homeschool group in April, so hopefully I'll get enough practice on water sprouts and new lilac shoots to get good at it.

The plan will be to get many new trees planted and established. I would also like to set an area aside just for future apple tree propagation . Many of the varieties I selected are for storage (to help with food through the winter) and the rest are for fresh eating, baking, and cooking through out the entire season (June/July through November). I can't wait to get started!

I will list the different varieties I am starting in another post. But for now I'm going to enjoy watching the snow by the fireplace.