Selfsufficientish.com

Have planted a Bramley cooker tree (yesterday), i'm guessing its about 5-yrs old, judging by the girth of its base stem. So hopefully it may fruit next Autumn. Any hints,tips, etc gratefully recieved!!

(that is a apple tree & not a electric oven!)

Lots of high phosphorus feed to get the roots going then a good dose of high potassium feed in the spring for flowers and fruit, i'd put in some support to start too, especially if you're in an exposed site

Hi Pumpy

If you burn wood on the fire the ashes are beneficial to fruit trees, we always sprinkle ours around the apple and plum trees. Just be careful when its windy though like this morning when I got covered

Sue

You do have two other apple trees nearby that blossom at the same time don't you or you might not get any fruit.
Are you going to be training the tree or leaving it in a less formal shape?

Thanks all,..... Phil, i assume that i can pollinate the blossom by hand. ( using a small brush). I don't intend to train/prune it for the first 12 months to let it get well established. We are well sheltered here & the soil is limey, so wood-ash would seem to be a good idea.

Just be careful when its windy though like this morning when I got covered

My 11 year old son went out with the wood ash this morning to put on the fruit trees, he came in looking like a grey snowman.....

You probably can pollenate the tree by hand but you will still need a couple of others nearby to pollenate from. I wonder why would you need to unless you were trying to breed new varieties from the tree.

pumpy wrote:Thanks all,..... Phil, i assume that i can pollinate the blossom by hand. ( using a small brush). I don't intend to train/prune it for the first 12 months to let it get well established. We are well sheltered here & the soil is limey, so wood-ash would seem to be a good idea.

I'm afraid that won't work you will need 2 more apple trees which are a compatible pollinator to get fruit It's a bit beyond me to explain why so I've included some links for you to look at

http://www.orangepippinshop.com/article ... pple-trees
http://www.orangepippinshop.com/pollina ... spx?v=1009

thanks for that, i'll look into it.

pumpy wrote:thanks for that, i'll look into it.

no problem I hope you do get apples next year

eeeek two trees never thought of that .. sorry to hijack your thread a little

I just ordered two Laura crab apple trees to plant in an area where I forage and walk .. got permission for forage and planting I is a good girl never scrump will they be ok? there are other fruiting apple in the same area as well as other fruit and they seem to do ok ...

Fried Apples
Apples
real butter
brown sugar
cinnamon
dash salt
Core the apples and slice in 1 inch wedges. Only remove skins if
extraordinarily tough or yucky. Fry in butter over medium heat until
quite golden and beginning to become limp. Add cinnamon and sugar to
taste, and a dash of salt, and mix well. Reduce heat to medium low,
cover and let glaze for about five minutes. That's it!
This is the locally favored way of making apple butter. I don't list
quantities because they are strictly to personal taste. Taste as you
go, and make adjustments.
Apple Butter
Cored, peeled apples
Red hot candies
sugar
Apple cider
Gently simmer the apples in a crock pot with enough cider to keep them
from sticking until thoroughly soft - about a workday. Add red hots and
sugar to taste, then mash with a potato masher. Puree the butter in a
blender/processor in batches until perfectly smooth. Return to crock
pot, set on low and remove lid. Stir occasionally and cook until
desired thickness. Pour into sterilized jars; cap; boil ten minutes and
poof!