Look at who arrived while I was taking the photo!  Mason bee make us some apples!

Determination

I'm trying to do barnchores while the kids ride their bikes, but it isn't so easy.

Griffin: Me going to climb that tree.
Me: Griffin, why don't you ride your bike instead, Mommy can't catch you if you start to fall right now.
Griffin: No, me going to climb that tree.
(tries to climb tree, but can't reach bottom branch)
Griffin: Help me Mommy.
Me: Sorry Griffin, if the tree is too tall, then it is too tall for you to climb.
Griffin: Me going to climb that tree.
(moves his bike to the bottom of the tree and uses it to climb up, Hanna flies up the tree and joins him)

Me: You be careful there Griffin.
Griffin: Ha ha, me climb that tree.

Apple thinning

For those following the apple trees, I should mention that I spent a couple of hours last week thinning the apples. At first it seems counterintuitive, but when you lose a whole limb of a mature apple tree because there were too many apples for the branch to hold, it starts to make sense. Also, thinning helps to improve fruit size and increases the number of blossoms for next year, and to prevent tree breakage. Where the apple blooms once were there are now 4 or more apples. They are tightly pressed against each other and there is no more room for them to get bigger.

I get picky about which fruit I leave on the branch, aiming for them to be spaced about 4 inches apart.

Some apples don't develop well or have scabs and I get rid of these.


At this time, I also find branches that have been damaged by the sprayer or with brown leaves. I cut these off.

I put the thinned apples into buckets, with the hope of feeding a few of them to the animals every day. Too many at once would give the goats bloat, and diarrhea to the chickens. But later that day, Damon and his friend found the buckets of thinned apples and decided that it would be more fun to whip them at each other.



Damon may have been holding the bucket, but Damon's sisters were both supplying his friend with apples to throw.
Fun times. Now the apples are composting on the lawn.

Apple pruning

Our apple trees are mostly pruned now. There are still a few things I need to snip away at. This is our fourth year of pruning, and we are still learning. There are rules to pruning, and I am still learning to properly apply the rules, but I thought that now might be a good time to share what I have learned. My trees are open center, for many years they have been trained to form like a vase, with no central leader.

Before I even start, there is the great "when-to-prune" debate amongst the neighbours. One neighbour starts and finishes pruning well before blossoms appear. The other one purposefully waits and chides the first one while he works, and then finally springs into action when his trees are loaded with blossoms. From what I've seen they both end up with loads of apples, but I'm starting to realize that the second neighbour has a better chance of pruning in nice weather. Something to consider.

First, remove all suckers! There are usually many of them on the big old trees. They are easy to spot, they point straight up, which would never work. Get rid of them first so that they don't distract you. Done.

Second, take a look at the tree for any branches that have been broken or are damaged.

Third, anything that points down is bad news, weighs down the branch and doesn't get enough sunlight. Snip.

Fourth, prune any branches that cross or rub on each other. Then just use your discretion to choose one or the other, choose the one that is healthier, or balances out the branch better.

Fifth, prune anything that points up. These branches would be prone to breaking when they are loaded with apples, so they need to go.

Sixth, any branches that point back toward the center of the tree.

Seventh, see here is where it gets harder for me. I have to look for narrow crotches and prune them. I do what I can, but I'm not perfect.

Next I look at the height of the tree, if it is too tall and requires a ladder for pruning, thinning and picking, it needs to be cut back. If a tree is too tall, the sprayer isn't going to reach it either.

Finally, for some of our older trees we've had to look at the length of some of the branches. In the first 2 years we lost some limbs, and even an old tree due to weakened limbs that had not been pruned propely for many years. When they get too leggy, they weaken. So I get Matt to cut them back drastically and we try to encourage some interior growth.

From the orchard

A nest is tightly wedged among the ripe apples

Based on the cherry pits inside, I am guessing that it belonged to one of the robins.

Oatmeal Apple Crisp

I am here at the cottage. When we come up here, we usually bring lots of early apples from our trees. We give some away to people we know, the kids eat a bunch of them on the drive down, but inevitably we end up with extra apples that start to go bad by the second week here. I use a few different recipes for Apple Crisp, and tonight I used the following version and it was scrumptious. Good comfort food on a foggy day.

I don't have a copy of it at home, so I thought I would post it here so I don't ever lose it again. I can always search for it.

Oatmeal Apple Crisp
Serves 8 (I make a double recipe as we have usually have 10 or more to feed)

Topping
1 cup Oatmeal
1/3 cup flour
3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup melted butter or margarine

Apple Mixture
5 peeled and sliced large cooking apples
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).
Topping: In bowl, combine oatmeal, flour, brown sugar, and salt. Stir in melted butter until crumbly. Set aside.

Apple Mixture: Place apples, in greased 9 inch (2L) square pan (When I double it, I use a 9X13 casserole). Sprinkle lemon juice and brown sugar.

Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over apples.

Bake 30-40 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is golden brown.

Tonight I made this before we started cooking dinner. I turned off the oven and left the dish in the oven while we made and ate dinner. We served each piece with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Yummy.