• Home
  • Cider Apples
  • Growing Apples
  • Inspiration
  • About
  • Blog
  • Contact

Harvesting

9/11/2020

0 Comments

 
Labor is typically in short supply around here so we have to be as efficient as we can. Years ago, on a trip to visit the cider/calvados region of France I saw a tractor mounted apricot harvester being used on apple trees. It was attached to the front-end loader. The driver drove up, hydraulically unfurled an inverted umbrella and then used hydraulic clamp to shake the trunk and drop into the funnel. I scoured the internet to find something similar that would work on a smaller scale. I found this thing (an olive harvester) for sale in Australia. 8 months later, it arrived. No hydraulics and we still use an old fashioned "panking pole" to shake the limbs but this thing sure does speed things up.
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Interactive Map

6/20/2017

0 Comments

 
Hey, I just added a new feature to the website. On the home page to the website (www.wildingorchards.com) you'll find a link to a google map of the orchard. I'm adding photos with each year as a separate layer. I've only got a handful of photos (and one short video) up so far but I think this will be kind of a fun way to track how things are going. If you've got photos, email them to me--especially you Weeding Party folk!!
Here's a link to the map.
0 Comments

Spring unfolds!

5/4/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
This should be a big season for the orchard. We're hoping for lots of growth so that the trees start to fill in their space. The Hewes Crab (pictured in full bloom) are raring to go but we're suppressing the crop for another year so that the trees put their energy into growing branch structure. Soon we'll be adding more mulch and training the branches. Drop by and say hi.
0 Comments

Reconnoitering the orchard

1/23/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Gus and I headed out to get a preliminary view of what pruning is going to be like in the orchard this season. This will be the second season of dormant pruning. Timing is a bit tricky as pruning during a warm spell (and we've had a few) runs the risk of awakening a tree out of dormancy.
0 Comments

Fall frosts

11/2/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
A couple of our varieties may not ripen until late October, so I'm keeping an eye on the orchard to see when heavy frost makes it up into the lowest branches. This frost didn't make it above the clover.
0 Comments

Get some good cider shipped to you.

2/11/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
So, unless you live in a major city, you may have a hard time getting your hands on some good, orchard-to-bottle, American cider. I recently discovered that one of my favorite cideries, Eve's Cider, is shipping throughout New York State. Their cider is excellent. I particularly like Autumn's Gold. They also ship to other states besides New York but you have to call to find out if they ship to your state.
Check them out at:
http://evescidery.com/
0 Comments

Enjoying a January thaw

2/2/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
0 Comments

How long until the first apples?...Zero years.

6/2/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
These are fruitlets that were developing on the Hewes Virginia Crab--moments before I removed them. Sometimes apple trees will develop fruit in their first season in the orchard, though I was surprised to see the HVC produce so much. Still, when this happens it's generally a good idea to remove it so that the tree will put more energy into growing. When will the first real crop develop? Hard to say. We planted on Bud. 118 rootstock, which is supposed to come into bearing sooner than many other rootstocks that produce a larger tree--often 4-5 years if you're growing standard dessert fruit. The scion wood that we have grafted onto the rootstock is harder to predict simply because these trees have not been grown in the U.S. in quite some time, if ever. We're hoping for 4-6 years for our first decent crop.
0 Comments

Photos from planting days. Thanks everyone!

5/21/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
This is the orchard site about a week before the trees went in.
Picture
Planting. The weird filter on the image kind of captures the exaustion
Picture
Katherine pulling the tree wagon. The snow plow is still on because we needed it just a two weeks earlier.
Picture
Pete is hauling pea-stone gravel which was used as a mulch around the new trees. The lads here play football for Binghamton. Good thing too. Each bucket they lifted was over 80 pounds and they lifted 520 buckets.
Picture
Katherine doesn't drive stick shift, unless it's a tractor. Katherine learned how to drive this old Deere in 20 minutes! She's hauling the water wagon, which is how we gave each tree five gallons of water.   
Picture
Still time to enjoy spring.
Picture
Lunchtime! Kate, Molly and Sharon served up some great lunches. Hardwearing Howie Pack is sitting in front of Patty's amazing homemade cookies--apples adorned with honey bees.
Picture
The foreladies. I like how Harper is wearing gloves while holding the orchard layout map.
Picture
Note to the Modern Farmer, she is wearing Maui Jim sunglasses.
If you send me pictures of the planting I'll post them up here.
1 Comment

We did it!

5/20/2015

1 Comment

 
We did it! The trees are in the ground, well watered, growing and blooming! I can’t believe it. Sorry it took me so long to deliver this message but things are just starting to slow down…thank goodness.

It was a really tough 4 days of planting, but we actually got it done a day ahead of schedule. No one lost a digit but Dante did lose his wedding ring. There may be a new tree root growing through it as we speak.

We’ll throw a party in the orchard later this summer, but until then a huge, huge thank you to all those who helped: George; Molly; Patty and Howie; John and Sharon; Liam and Matt; Susan and Steve; Anne, Patty and Danny Casella; Sue and Bill; Denny; Bob and Tom; Dante and Christina; the Binghamton High Football Team; and, most importantly, Kate, Pete and my partner in crime, Katherine. I can't thank you all enough.

Pictures to come!

1 Comment
<<Previous
Picture

Wilding Orchards
1232 Mahoney Rd.
Brackney, PA 18812
​nathaniel@wildingorchards.com