Have you ever taken a bite out of a good tasting apple and thought, "this would even be better if I had grown this apple myself?"
I find that nothing tastes better than fresh, home-grown fruit and produce. We aren't able to grow all the fruits, but apples is one fruit that grows well in our Prince George climate. It used to be that the only varieties of apples that grew in the Prince George area were crab apples, or apples that were better suited for canning and pies.
This all changed some years back when the Morden Research Station in Manitoba began developing new, hardy-tree varieties.
There are some excellent hardy varieties of apples that are ideal for eating fresh or can be used in pies, juice and applesauce.
Two favourite varieties among our staff for fresh eating are September ruby and honeycrisp. September ruby is a medium-sized apple, intense red in colour, with a light-green colour. It has a nice crunch when you bite in to it and has been compared to the pink lady variety that is available in the grocery stores.
It makes excellent juice, is good for cooking, and can be stored until January. The tree itself is extremely hardy.
Honeycrisp apples are exceptionally crisp, juicy and sweet with a fine texture making them ideal for fresh eating. The apples are grown commercially and can be found in some fruit stands.
The large red apples ripen in September and store well.
Honeycrisp is a University of Minnesota introduction. There are other good-tasting varieties such as hardi-Mac, a hardier version of the Macintosh apples available in the grocery stores. These have bright-red fruit and crisp, juicy white flesh known for its distinct flavour. It is also good for baking and stores well.
Fall red produces large, dull-red apples with a crisp, white flesh, good for eating fresh or cooking.
The fruit ripens in mid to late September and stores well. Harcourt is a bright red, slightly-striped apple with a juicy, mild, crisp flesh, making it good for eating fresh or pie making.
It is one of the earlier apples to ripen but is not a good storage apple.
Norkent has been compared to the golden delicious apple.
The medium-sized fruit is green streaked with red. It is a sweet, aromatic apple with an apple/pear flavour good for eating fresh and cooking. The apples can be stored for up to 12 weeks.
Battleford apples are yellow/green with a red blush. It has a tart taste to it and can be eaten fresh, but is good in cooking and making juice. Then you have the land varieties such as norland, parkland, and goodland, all developed by Morden Research. All are good for eating fresh as well as cooking.
Norland and parkland produce fruit earlier then goodland which is ripe in mid September and is the better storage apple.
These hardy apply varieties grow very well in Prince George. When planting apple trees, choose a sunny location where there is good air circulation. Trees prefer a well drained soil that is not too wet.
Remember when planting any tree, that the tree will grow, and after a few years and an apple tree could reach heights of five metres tall and spread four metres, so give it enough space.
After the tree has been planted give it sufficient moisture until the roots have become established over the first season. Apples need to be pollinated in order to produce fruit. It is best to have two different varieties of apples that bloom around the same time.
Crab apples or ornamental flowering apples will work as a pollinator.
Apple trees do not require a lot of maintenance but will need to be pruned in the spring to increase fruit production. To help keep trees healthy an application of lime sulphur and dormant oil in the spring before the leaves break out is helpful.
When the fruit has set and is the size of a marble it should be thinned out so that the apples are four to six inches apart from each other. This will make good sized apples, and not create heavy branches that the tree may not be able to support.
There really is nothing better then a fresh-picked apple from your own tree. Apple trees themselves are a nice addition to any landscape. In the spring they produce lots of pretty flowers that later become fruit.
