Fruit Tree Update ~ Spring 2013

The fruit trees at Hummingbird Farmz are bursting forth in bloom and the bees have been busy pollinating them.  Some fruit has set and some things are still in progress.  It is such an exciting time since many of trees will have fruit for their first time this year and with more than 70 varieties of heirloom fruit this will be our first time to taste many of them.  We go out and inspect their progress almost daily.  Here is what we found most exciting on our last walk…

Buds on an apple tree called Stump, originated in 1875 in Chili, New York and was very popular as a high-quality autumn apple. The skin will be pale yellow with a pink wash overlaid with splashes and stripes of dark red.

 

This little blossom is on a Strawberry Parfait apple tree,  The fruit will be striped red over ivory skin and red splashes like strawberries in vanilla ice cream in the flesh.  It is said to have the flavor of strawberries in the flesh also.  They are not long keepers so they will have to been eaten soon after picking…don’t think that will be a problem though..

The flowers on this Firecracker Crabapple really look like fireworks going off in the orchard.  These little 2” red apples will actually have a surprising red flesh.  Can’t wait to pickle some of those for the holidays.  They are said to make an excellent jelly as well. 

 

Another crabapple that I have in my Belgian Fence because it is a great pollinator for other apples is Wickson Crabapple.  This is a very sweet crab apple with a very strong flavor that makes it wonderful for cider.  The biggest surprise to me was the fragrance of the blossoms and how they varied.  Some were strong and smelled like roses and some smelled just like a tasty apple.

 The peaches and nectarines are bursting forth in bloom too.  This is Maria Gold and she did produce one of the only nectarines we got last year which was very delicious.  It is looking like she will grace us with her presence once again this year.

 

This picture of the Cotton Candy Aprium in bloom shows it being pollinated by one busy bee and he did a great job because we are seeing lots of fruit coming on.  Last year we got a small armload from it and it was wonderful.  Looking forward to eating more of this fruit this year! 

We are seeing lots of fruit in our future and will have to inviting this little guy back to help with the picking and eating of it.  We have lots of other family members who would love to join him I’m sure!  He does enjoy walking through the orchard though and studies all the signs I made for our trees so that we don’t forget what they are.. 

In the vegetable garden things are happening too.  I hope to be posting more on this experiment I am under taking this year using bales of rice straw stacked to make a large raised bed.  I will be growing my watermelon squash and pumpkins in it and have already been adding lots of compost to get it ready for growing.

Looking forward to some tasty sweet times!

Ferne & Michael