Apple A-Day!

Sometime soon I will post about the unusual climate of Redding, what I have been calling "Extreme Mediterranean" since moving here last year.  In addition, someday I will write about our soil types.  With 18.3 acres and varying topography, we have three mapped NRCS soil types on the property, and the native vegetation reflects the soil diversity.  One of the edible species that does very well in our climate and in our soil is the "all American" favorite, the apple (actually, most eating apples are native to central Asia).  Last year I purchased two bare-root apples, and they did exceedingly well in unamended native soil and under drip irrigation, sailing through some pretty extreme summer heat.  An existing summer-ripening apple (variety unknown at this point) produced well for us last year.  Plus our younger daughter LOVES apples and was eating both ripe and unripe apples off the tree last year. So we have been thinking about adding a few apple trees to our homestead.

So this morning we headed over to Wyntour Gardens Nursery and picked out two bare-root apple trees grown by Dave Wilson Nursery.  We wanted varieties that ripen late in the season (we have many plum, apricot, and peach trees and needed to extend the home fruit season).

So here's what we purchased:

• Granny Smith.  This familiar variety from Australia is versatile, popular, and loves the hot summers of California's Central Valley.  It is very late - ripening in October or November.  I still remember when this apple first hit the US markets back when I was a kid.  I remember the apples being delicious and much better than any Granny Smith I have purchased from the supermarket in recent years.  I am thinking that the homegrown fruit, ripened to perfection, will bring back the rich sweet-tart flavor that I remember.  This is an heirloom, having been discovered as a chance seedling in 1870 by - you guessed it - Maria Ann "Granny" Smith.

• Spitzenburg (Esopus Spitzenburg)  According to Dave Wilson this heirloom variety is "regarded by some connoisseurs as the very best dessert apple. Red over yellow skin, yellowish flesh. Firm, juicy, moderately sweet, renowned flavor. Good keeper."  Well, I have never eaten this apple but it was also highly recommended by the owner of Wyntour Gardens.  Plus it was supposedly Thomas Jefferson's favorite apple.  Plus it is late (September or so). And since Redding is part of the proposed  State of Jefferson, it seems most appropriate to include it in our orchard.  I am a big fan of Thomas Jefferson and hope to visit Monticello someday.  This apple was discovered during the 18th Century in Esopus, New York and it appears in color in my much beloved copy of the Apples of New York, a fantastic book to blog about on another day!  Perfect - I'll take one.

From Apples of  New York (1905)

I braved the 70F (!) temperature today, picked a spot, dug my hole, and planted the Spitzenburg near the apples planted last year for easy/convenient pollination purposes.  For the Granny Smith, I decided to move a ragged-looking small specimen of pomegranate and replace it with the Granny Smith so that this apple could also be close to its Malus relatives.  I could not figure out what was wrong with this poor pomegranate tree,  it was adjacent to other thriving trees, and adjacent to the veggie garden.  It was well-watered and cared for this summer and last but barely managed to make a flower, let alone any fruit.  So just for fun I tugged on the trunk and out came the entire tree!  Normally I would expect gopher damage to create such a situation but this was not the case.  The tree had been planted on kind of a mound made up of 80% wood chips and 20% imported sandy soil.  The roots had basically treated the amended soil/chips as a large pot, and the roots never penetrated the native soil.  This was a pretty funny discovery.  Good lesson - planted trees need to root into and adapt to the native soil, not potting mix!

I moved the pomegranate next to another pomegranate, variety "Wonderful", growing in extremely rocky soil on a SE-facing slope.  In contrast to the wimpy POM, my $2.00 rescue tree formerly in a 4-inch pot from the Lowes death rack purchased last December was thriving and I expect fruit next year.  So after planting the pomegranate, mixing of the native soil with (some of) the amendment, in went the Granny Smith on the other side of the yard.

All in all, a good day, plus a nice "harvest" of rocks extracted from the planting holes for the succulent gardens.  More on that some other time!

One in the ground, one to go...

Granny Smith

And the poor pomegranate in a new spot!

Hey Ho, Let's Go!

Over the years I have often discovered that the best online information does not come from corporations, but rather from regular people who are passionate, knowledgable, and willing to share.  I have picked up so much valuable information from online forums and blogs over the years.  These people have inspired and helped me.

It is time for me to again begin blogging.

This blog will be a place for me to share information about the things that I love - gardening, native plants, succulents, permaculture, edibles, and more.  It will serve as a personal journal of progress on the home and yard front as we transform our new 18 acres into Hendersons' Habitat!