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A quick buzz...
Greetings from Bonnie and the whole Beier's Greenhouse team! We hope you had a great Valentine's Day.
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Part III: Special Tips for Apple Trees
Pruning
Okay, here we go: Pruning apple trees! This topic is somewhat mysterious, so we hope to break it down for you. If you've still got questions after reading this, let us know.
If you missed Part I or Part II of the apple tree series, let us know and we'll send it to you right away.
New versus Old Trees
When you bring your trees home fresh from the greenhouse, plant them
properly and begin pruning. Stand back and look at it. You don't want
to prune more than one quarter of the branches in any one year, so
choose carefully. Looks pretty spindly, doesn't it? Don't worry, it'll
fill in. Use your imagination and look into the future to see what your
tree should look like.
It's much better to prune moderately every year than heavily every once in a while. If you've got neglected trees, you've got a little work ahead of you to get them into shape, but it's not impossible.
Over the course of three or four years, you can have your tree back in shape without killing it. If you have neglected trees, ask for help. Please don't just chop off the top of the tree to make it shorter--work with it patiently.
Why prune an apple tree?
The goal with pruning is to help the tree grow better and produce more apples. Balance and vigor are the key words here. You want to open the canopy so sunlight can penetrate into the whole tree, so prune with an eye toward making the tree conical--almost like a Christmas tree shape. This shape allows light to get to the interior of the tree, and makes picking the apples easier.
Pruning encourages the tree to send out bud shoots rather than growth shoots, so the end result is more apples and fewer branches to prune off next year.
Pruning delays setting buds and fruit, and results in fewer buds. The
apples that do develop are much better: bigger, more colorful fruit.
Proper pruning also helps control insects and disease.
Which branches should be pruned?
The "old farmer's" rule for pruning is that you should be able to throw a cat through the tree when you're done. (Please don't actually throw a cat, or at least if you do, don't say we told you to!) You can hardly prune too much, if you've been keeping up with it for several years.
Look at each branch where it meets the trunk. Good branches are oriented between 40 and 60 degrees off the vertical. In other words, the branch should be at a right angle or preferably greater. This angle keeps the branch strong and will support the weight of the fruit.
Downward growing branches (pointing toward the ground) suck out nutrients and don't produce fruit, so in general remove them. Branches that rub others should be removed.
When should apples be pruned?
Prune in the very early spring when the weather is consistently above freezing at night. Get your pruning done before the tree sets buds. Sap will bleed out of the cuts, but this is a good thing--this protective measure keeps pests and insects out of the cut.
Summer pruning isn't as damaging as growers once thought, but don't prune during or directly after hot weather. Fall pruning is not recommended, because the tree doesn't have time to recover before cold weather sets in.
How should the cuts be made?
Don't wimp out when making the cuts. You want sharp and clean to lop off the branch in one cut. Not cutting through completely and leaving the branch dangle by a shred of bark invites disease and insects.
All cuts should be vertical (straight up and down). Always, always use a clean, sharp pruning shears and a clean, sharp pruning saw.
Rinse the shears off between trees, if you're pruning more than one, especially if you're going crazy and pruning all the trees in your yard. Use a solution of 10 percent laundry bleach to water to rinse the shears and saw.
What types of cuts should be made?
There are three basic types of cuts: heading, thinning, and bench cuts.
Heading cuts remove the terminal end of the shoot (cut off the end of the branch). On young trees, this cut results in the production of more vigorous and fruitful shoots. On older trees, the heading cut should be much less severe, because it causes old wood to produce vigorous but non-fruitful shoots. (This is not a bad thing; you're striving for balance between fruiting and non-fruiting shoots.)
Thinning cuts remove the shoot at its point of origin (cut the branch right off the tree, or off its major limb). This opens the canopy so light can penetrate into the tree. This cut is preferred over the heading cut, because it doesn't alter the tree's growth severely.
Bench cuts are a specialized kind of heading cut, and remove the terminal portion of the branch at a point just above a side branch (cut off the ends of the branches near top growing side branches). On young trees, this stiffens the branch, but on older trees weakens the branch. Use the bench cut to train young trees, but avoid on a well-trained, older tree.
What about the apples that develop on young trees?
It's very important to control the apples that grow on young trees (three years old and less). The weight of the apples helps the branches spread closer to horizontal, so leave some of them on the tree. However, don't allow the branch to flatten beyond about 60 degrees because this will weaken it and cause the branch to break.
Each bud cluster can produce up to five apples. Thin these down to one per cluster when the baby apples reach the size of marbles. Then, further thin the apples so they're at least six inches apart.
You miss out on a big harvest for the first few years, but the tree ends up more vigorous and sets more fruit.
That's a lot of information, but should get you started. While you're at the greenhouse picking out your new apple trees, ask for advice. Beier's has several handouts to help you be more successful.
Next week: We don't have a topic for next week yet! Drop an email with suggestions, and we'll choose the best for a fully developed article. What are you interested in? What confuses you? Let us know!
If you missed the first or second articles in this little series on trees, which we sent on January 25 and February 8 respectively, email us at beiersgreenhouse@beiersgreenhouse.com and we'll resend them just to you. Thanks so much for reading all our emails!
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We asked Aaron Wenger to supply this week's recipe. You may
know Aaron from his frequent appearances on KAXE Northern Community Radio, or
from Itasca Community College, where he taught
physics and engineering for many years. He's got quite an apple orchard to go
with the chickens, horses, and sheep, so he knows how to cook an apple. When
you see him around town in his battered cowboy hat, tell him you saw the recipe!
In his own words:
Apple Fritters
Make sure you have about 2 inches of HOT oil or even better, lard in a deep
skillet. Don't go health nut on me, the oil/lard is gonna drain away if the
stuff is good and hot. How hot? Hot enough to make bubbles around the fritter
as soon as it's lowered in. If the fritter just lies there, it ain't hot
enough.
OK. Peel about 6 nice solid apples. Crisp and tart apples are the best ones to
use. Cut peeled apples crossways into "circles." Take a narrow knife
and cut the core out of each circle while not breaking the circle up. Now
you've got a bunch of apple slice doughnut things. Put these in a bowl with
about 2-4 tablespoons of sugar. Take a nice lemon, cut in half and squeeze the
juice outta it over the apples. Stir but don't break the slices. Let set for
about 30 minutes, re-stir a couple of times.
Batter: 3/4 cup flour. Actually some of the gluten free flours work best for
this [soy, oat, barley, amaranth, or quinoa]. Separate two eggs, feed yolks to
dogs. Beat whites nice and stiff. Melt 2-3 tablespoons of butter--it won't kill
you. Take another lemon and juice it. Need 1/2 teaspoon salt, a little
cinnamon, and about 1/2 cup water. Mix well the flour, salt, cinnamon, lemon
juice, melted butter, water. Beat it up, want smooth. Add enough water to make
the batter loose but not watery. Needs to be looser than, say, pancake batter.
Let set for maybe 5 minutes to kinda mingle. Check that grease. Finally, fold,
not beat but fold egg whites in. You are GO.
Frying: Put 3-4 apple circles in batter, slosh around, lift into grease. They
should bubble right away. Watch and as soon as brown is showing on the down
side, flip over to other side. Soon as both sides nice and brown lift out, dust
with powdered sugar and more cinnamon mixed together, put on rack to cool.
Repeat.
Eating: If done right the batter will be brown, texture a little harder than a
doughnut, and the apple inside still a little crunchy. Serve with maple syrup.
You will eat too many of these so relax and enjoy it!
Recipe courtesy of Beier's Greenhouse. Thank you to Aaron Wenger for passing this old family favorite on to us! |
February 15, 2009
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(218) 326-5357
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BEIER'S QUICK LINKS
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Thanks for your time! We appreciate our customers so much. We're always available via email, even if the greenhouse is closed for the season.
Sincerely,
Bonnie and the whole Beier's Greenhouse team |
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