Craft Hard Cider: Recipes, Tips, and Ideas for Making & Enjoying Hard Cider
America’s history is really a history of the apple and for most of that history, it was not just the apple but cider. Not cider as most American’s would define it today but, cider as its defined in Europe and many other countries around the world. What many Americans now call hard cider, which simply … Continue reading American Cider Apples
For those of us in the northern hemisphere, it is spring! That means it’s time to head to the orchard and plant some of my grafted trees. While I don’t own an orchard, I am lucky enough that a couple of the owners allow me to plant trees in their orchards. This gives me a … Continue reading A Day at the Orchard: Spring Planting
Have you ever considered growing an apple tree from seed? The first thing to remember is that most apple trees do not reproduce true to type. In other words, if you grow seeds from a Granny Smith apple, you won’t grow a tree that produces Granny Smith apples. It will be a combination of Granny … Continue reading Growing Apples from Seed
When apple season is winding down and the leaves are starting to change, it becomes time to think about next year. Specifically, it’s time to start thinking about apple tree propagation and I am not talking about making your scion list. I’m talking about bud grafting. Bud grafting has been the most effective grafting method … Continue reading Bud Grafting Apple Trees
How do you know the apples you are using for hard cider are ripe? Maybe, you would ask me to define ripe. Is ripe defined by the ideal time to harvest an apple, to eat an apple, or to press an apple. We could even consider the question of ripeness for cooking apples. In my … Continue reading When are apples ripe?
This is my second year learning to graft apple trees. Last year I learned the important lessons of making sure your rootstock is growing before you graft scion wood. I also learned not to unwrap your scion graft too soon or at least not without first having some staking in place. This year, I did … Continue reading Grafting: Bud Versus Scion
Apple Tree Propagation: Scion and Bud Grafting Apple trees do not grow true from seeds. Just like people, they take genes from both parents and create a new apple. It may have characteristics of one or both or may end up being something completely different, like your blonde haired sibling in the family. To reproduce … Continue reading Apple Tree Propagation: Scion and Bud Grafting
The impact of ploidy on apple tree pollination. Apple trees are generally not self fertile and even those advertised as such will often be more productive if there is a second variety nearby(1). That doesn’t mean a second tree of the same variety. That means a second variety of apple: GoldRush, Arkansas Black, Dabinett, Yarlington … Continue reading Apple Tree: The Pollination Impact of Ploidy
I am a big advocate that hard cider should reflect your local area. If you are lucky enough to live in England, France, Spain, or even some places in the US that have cider apples, maybe local hard cider would means a traditional cider. That could be dry, tannin-rich and farmhouse, keeved and sparkling, or … Continue reading Hard Cider: The Local Way
I brought reinforcements and a better plan for my second visit to apple paradise. Our COVID friend met us at the experimental orchard, my apple paradise, to help us find and pick apples. We introduced him to varieties that he’d never heard. We were also able to spend a fair amount of time talking with … Continue reading A Day at the Orchard: Apple Paradise Revisited
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