The Blairmont Apple Project

 Greetings and hoping you are all warm and safe. Here we got 4-5" of snow and now have a series of very cold days for us. Of course the kids have enjoyed there first 2 snow days. The goats and dogs would be glad to see it go. The apple trees seem ok and even sold a pair of extra trees. Also ordered a small Scion order. Bringing Georgia's Kimrome and Shockley Grizzle to the collection. As well as 4 interesting UK apples. Langleigh Delight, Lord Burghley, Mank's Codlin and Willingham Cropper. Perhaps I will get one more small order done this year. But far less then last year.

 I've noticed Park's Pippin has a habit of setting lots of small spurring branches.  Hope that bodes well for future crops. This is on M111 so no telling what year it sets fruit.

 Greeting on Christmas Eve! Hope everyone has a fine and enjoyable holiday with safe travels for all. With other issues reducing scion purchases the coming year; I will shift most focus onto rootstocks and a greatly reduced scion buying budget. Hopefully 30-40 new types. However talking around I've learned how I did rootstocks last year was not optimum. I had heard it was ok to keep rootstocks for a short while in the moist sawdust. However I feel this may had lead to reduced root development which contributed to last years fireblight attacks.  From here on out I will till an area just prior to rootstock arrival and heel it in the ground immediately.  Then a wise fellow with the Geneva program said to consider summer chip budding as a way to escape a large chunk of our wet weather fireblight pressure. And this makes a lot of sense given our leaf fall often happens in December. Allowing the new chip grafts to heal over and take.  Setting them out un-topped and dormant...

 Aside from maintaining a mother tree of each type; I will have the following in stool beds: 3 Geneva G.214 7 Polish P.2 17 Malling M111 1 Polish P1 5 unlabelled trees.{I have some evidence 3 are G.214} 12 of my M111 count is by rooting stems cut from grafts

 Been having issues with a leg wound healing up and have not gotten to tend the garden very much. In addition the cute little baby goats got out of their pen and decided apple leaves taste good. Spent a couple of days baby goat proofing the fence. And they seem to have been stopped now. Oddly despite already having some chill hour time; many apple trees are putting leaves back on.  Did manage to get most of the P.2 planted for stooling. Just 2 trees remain. Still need to get M111 and G.214{what few are left} in the ground. Talking to a very nice Geneva Professor and he would like me to try G.257 rootstock in our Fire Blight prone hot climate. so maybe in January/February I will get it to try here.  Already have P.14, J-TE-H, Muz Alma, Malus Brevipes, Malus Micromalus and Jadernicka coming to try in rootstock use or breeding. Who knows. G.257 might make that un-needed. Glad to see Treco finally has some P.18 to sell. I hope to add some small caliper of that and P.22 to my ...

 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...