The Blairmont Apple Project

 After relaxing a while and letting the trees grow in the last bits of the growing season. The inevitable happens. Raising Goats as the wife does; the pregnant does sometimes go rogue. And during one day in a series of days of pen breaks; one older doe name Flossy lead an assault on the Apple tree pad. And lo and behold I see Flossy leading the girls from the back pen. Knocking over and rolling the Apple tree pots and bags. Oddly not eating any. But; she still managed to break my fine 6 foot tall first year Shockley Whip on P.2.  Yes folks a metal handled rake went flying in her direction. After regrafting the tree it is struggling to stay green and leafy. But after securing the back pen fences; my Apple trees {and other fruit trees} are safe from Goat led disasters. But having pregnant goats does have some benefits. Meet 3 new family members: All 3 Girls of course!

 After a set back and infection of my chronic leg wound; I've been trying to rationalize what "IS" a Georgia Origin apple. And which apples deserve a spot in the orchard. Truthfully their are some surprises and disappointments. For example "Black Limbertwig" has been claimed as a "Georgia" apple since 1914. However advertising from central Tennessee in  1841 proves it is not "ours".  We will include it though. The same contention lands on "Hackworth" or as it was known in many Georgia Nurseries as "Allsummer". There are some claims this was a Georgia apple absconded away. There is not much evidence Nickademus Hackworth was a pomologist of any sort.  We will include it as "Allsummer" Then we have two Limbertwigs who both do not get much respect. Poor "Old Fashioned" gets so much disrespect. Sorry detractors; OFL is NOT "Red Limbertwig. Red is a medium sized apple that is smaller and keeps longer the...

 Walking around checking who really has come through a rough start. And we definitely have classes of members. The surprise is "First of May"{Piervomaiskoie}. More grafts of it have survived a tough year more then any other variety. I never hear praises sung about it. But it sure has much grit and tenacity. Qualities well desired for an easy care tree. Other standouts are Shockley, Yates, Disharoon and Wickson crab. With at least two grafts of each looking very good. Next we have survivors with a look of being haggard, but still growing. Parks Pippin, Golden Harvey, Old Fashioned Limbertwig{a lazarus come back twice}. Wallace Howard, Pionier, Hudson’s Golden Gem, King Solomon, Chickasaw and one last Blairmont. Then we regretfully have a sizable group of trees that are a testament to the lie of "Permanent Marker" .  About 16 trees that the names faded out on. Embarrassing. But over time I know what we grafted. And I can use their attributes to determine who is who la...

 October 15th is a bit out of off season for starting to bloom. Of course our Dorsett old and Anna Apples never bloomed at all. Though our Centurion Crab did set a small handful of tiny crab apples. This whole year has been out of whack. Of course I think flooding played a role to. Our now 9 month old Brown Turkey Figs just set out round three of fruit. Albeit a small amount.

  Greetings! Been a while. Been tied up with family concerns and then; Helene! A scary event for sure. 86mph winds to this side of Georgia. Just a county up AND over; they got it way worse then we did.  While we certainly had some damage; folks west and north of here got it much worse. And the poor soles in NC.  Hard to believe; not a single Apple tree pot/bag/tree took any damage. Well from the storm. Had a serious bug problem. And I think I over sprayed.  Thought Old Fashioned Limbertwig died. But it too came back. I had wondering if my P.2 trees were going to dormancy. I had read they do that. But today they too are putting out new shoots. Lastly I have a goodly pile of rootstocks to plant for stooling. But I will let them get the latest growth spurt though.

 Doing a bit of tree trimming. Clipping sprouting root stock to maximize scion growth before dormancy arrives. Also scouted out good areas to bed down root stocks for bedding and clipping for stooling.

 I am going to try a few avenues of breeding southern climate root stocks. In the stable there is: Polish: P.1 P.2 P.14 P.22 From Malling: M111 MM109 From Geneva: G.214 G.935 Oddballs: Malus Brevipes Malus Micromalus {strain with tasty snack size fruit} Jadernicka { Versatile Cider notable also used as rootstock