Friday 10 October 2014

The Pick Of The Crop

I've had my two little apple trees for a couple of years now. They didn't produce a crop last year but there was blossom this year and I've been waiting patiently for harvest time.

I have a green variety, Golden Delicious, and though there were quite a few apples on the tree, they didn't really grow. They're still only the size of crab apples. There's nothing there to get your teeth stuck into.


The other tree, Gloster, produces red apples. Again, there was quite a bit of fruit on the tree, but some dropped off and some rotted. Reading up about this rotten fruit, it looks as though it could be Brown Rot.


Some red apples made it through to harvest time, though there was only one decent sized one and a few small ones.


We all had a taste and we're in agreement that this variety is delicious. It's got a crisp, white flesh which is tinged with pink, and it's slightly tart.


Both trees are growing in containers at the moment but I think I'm going to dig a border out of the grass along the fence and get them planted in the ground, I hope they'll do better then. We'll have to wait and see what next year brings.

38 comments:

  1. My trees are in pots, my apples are of the cooking variety only. I'm debating whether to buy a couple of the cordon eating apple trees for the garden. It's a shame your harvest wasn't what you wanted it to be. I have mine planted in half whisky barrels filled with John Innes No 3, I'm planning to scrape out some of the soil in spring & replace it.

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    1. I've only had the trees a couple of years so I'm not too disappointed. I hope that once I get them in the ground, they'll perform a little better.

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  2. It's a shame that they weren't too good. I think that they'd do better in the ground as you suggest. Flighty xx

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    1. I was pleased to be able to taste the Gloster but I hope they'll do better once I get them in the ground.

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  3. My apple dropped a lot of fruit too. Apparently it's quite normal and known as the summer drop. It's just the tree deciding how many fruit it can look after and any others it will let go. I think your trees will probably do much better in the ground though. The Gloster variety looks gorgeous, love those red fruits.

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    1. My trees are only small so I don't suppose they can support a huge crop. It was nice to be able to taste the Gloster though and now I know how delicious they are I shall look forward to a better crop next year.

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  4. Golden delicious isn't too easy to grow here, so you haven't done too badly and those red ones look lovely. The slight unevenness is usually because the apples have been pollinated by rain or wind as bee pollination ensures an even set.

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    1. I think the Gloster apples are really attractive, but they taste delicious too. I shall have to lure more bees in to the garden next year.

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  5. Yeeeay - you must be so excited to have fruit thus this year Jo! The fruit of the 'Gloster' apple looks so attractive. It's encouraging to read that it tastes as good as it looks as that's not always the case. I'm looking for another variety of apple tree - could be tempted :)

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    1. I've only had a small sample of Gloster this year, but what I've tasted was very good. I'm looking forward to a bit bigger crop next year.

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  6. We had about 8 apples on our apple tree, 1 was eaten and 1 was bad. The rest I'm munching my way through.
    xx

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    1. I'm hoping for a bit bigger crop next year. We all eat apples here so it would be nice to have a couple each.

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  7. That's funny - I'm considering growing an apple tree in a container, because mine has not done well in the open soil. Probably down to the actual site though, rather than the general principle.

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    1. I hope your tree does better in a container than mine has. I suppose I could give them another year and see how they do then but I think they'd be better in the ground really.

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    2. Such a shame Jo, I hope that planting them out helps next year. xx

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    3. They're still only young trees so I was happy to get a few apples from the Gloster tree to try but a bigger crop next year would be very welcome.

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  8. Hope you get more next year, I still have plans to get a couple of trees one day.

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    1. I think fruit trees are the natural progression once you start growing your own. I started off with my cherry tree and have now added two apples and a plum.

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  9. We have one apple tree in a pot in the garden but this was it's first year and we didn't expect any fruit. Next year will be the test.

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    1. Your just a year behind me with yours. I hope it does better than my two have done this year.

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  10. I have an apple tree growing in a container and I'm tempted to put it into the ground too. It seems they would grow better that way. I only had 3 apples this year, so probably not much to lose!

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    1. I'm sure they'd do better in the ground, I think I'm going to chance it anyway, as you say, there's not much to lose.

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  11. A couple of my apple trees in the ground only produced small fruits - hardly worth picking - I think I'll leave them for the blackbirds to finish off. I do think fruit trees do better being planted in the ground but they do look pretty in pots.

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    1. I like the fact that they can be moved around when they're grown in pots, but I'm sure they'd do better in the ground. I've left the small fruit on my Golden Delicious for the birds to find.

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  12. Oh please... your apples look so fresh, so yummy! My garden is to hot for apple's tree. It must be so much pleasure to pick your own fruits.

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    1. The red apples were very tasty, I'm looking forward to having a bigger crop of those. I think it's a pleasure to pick anything you've grown yourself.

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  13. I am sure they will do better for you once they are planted in borders. We only have cooking apples in our garden and I think my lot are fed up of apple flavoured puddings now.

    X x

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    1. I'd quite like a cooking apple tree, perhaps something to consider for the future. My next door neighbour is very generous though and lets me have some of theirs.

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  14. Some of our trees in the ground didn't produce any apples this year. It's supposed to have been a very good year for apples but that doesn't apple to us. No surprise there!

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    1. It's so annoying when it's been a good year for something but it hasn't been in your own case. Perhaps your trees were having a rest this year and you'll be rewarded with a bumper harvest next year.

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  15. The orchard where we go and pick our apples had a very poor crop this year, almost non existent. Perhaps some parts of the country did not do too well this year? The Gloster is a beautiful looking apple?

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    1. I don't suppose trees can do well every year. I hope the orchard was just having a bit of a rest and that it will be back to full production again next year. I'm very pleased with the Gloster tree, they're lovely apples.

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  16. Those red apples are a lovely colour. Here's hoping you get a bumper harvest next year!!

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    1. I'm really pleased that I chose Gloster, they taste delicious and they're attractive too.

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  17. My apples were a bit odd this year too. Lots of brown rot, many that stopped growing, and a few whoppers. I'm going to buy a couple of new trees for the allotment soon, I have high hopes for them! I'm interested to hear about the red apples, I shall certainly consider them.

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    1. At least you got some whoppers amongst the disappointments. I was offered a plot with a huge apple tree on it, I was quite tempted but all things considered, I think I chose the better of the two in the end, even though there's no trees on it.

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  18. I haven't heard of brown rot before! Both species of apples look delicious, I think they will do much better in the ground, and of course next year they will be another year older so fingers crossed for a bountiful harvest.xxx

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    1. I hope that being that little bit older, the trees will produce a larger crop next year. I was pleased to get some of the Gloster apples to try though, even if it wasn't a very big harvest.

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