In my backyard grows an apple tree called Hudson’s Golden Gem. “Golden Gem” truly describes the fruit, both visually and taste-wise. The “Hudson” part of the name has nothing to do with our Hudson Valley though. The variety was originally called Golden Gem, for its origination in Hudson’s Nurseries, Tangent Oregon, about 100 years ago.
Hudson’s Golden Gem is one of my favorite apples for flavor. The tree shares a row with some of my other favorite apple varieties: Liberty, Macoun, Ashmead’s Kernel, Pitmaston Pineapple, Rubinette, and Egremont Russet.
No, I do not live on a fruit farm. None of my apple trees demand much space because they’re grafted on dwarfing rootstocks. Although dwarf trees bear full-size fruits, they never grow more than five to 15 feet high. (Full-size apple trees are around 25 feet high.) Dwarf trees are easier to care for and bear their first fruits quickly, often within three years of planting.
In the list of apples that I grow, notice that there was no mention of Red Delicious, Honeycrisp, Empire, or other varieties commonly seen on supermarket shelves and at farmers’ markets. These varieties have the combination of productivity, ability to ship and store well, and eye-appeal demanded by commercial markets. But a backyard apple variety can be chosen with only one consideration in mind — flavor! With over 5000 varieties of apples to choose from why not grow the best?
Apples require cross-pollination to set fruit, so at least two different varieties are needed unless neighbors’ trees are close enough to supply pollen.
A good site is important for success. At least six hours of direct sunlight each day is a must, as is reasonably well-drained soil. The ideal (which my site lacks) would be an open field on sloping ground so that heavier, cooler, damper air can just slide past downhill.
Fall is actually a very good time for planting apples and most other plants. Care in planting gets a tree off to a good start. Dig planting holes only deep enough so that your trees will be at the same depth as they were in the nursery or in their container, and two to three times the spread of the roots. If the tree is bare root, soak the roots in water for about 12 hours before planting. Splay out roots of bare root trees, loosen those on the outside of the root ball of container-grown trees, and back fill soil into the planting holes. Tamp the soil with your fingers or a stick as you back fill so that no air pockets remain.
Following planting, mulch with an inch of compost topped with an inch of wood chips, straw, or other organic mulch, keeping mulch no closer than within a couple of inches of the trunk. Then give the tree a good soaking. Additional watering will not be necessary until the growing season following fall planting.
Some dwarf trees require staking their whole life, in which case pound a sturdy metal or rot-resistant wooden pole next to the tree. Tie soft rope tightly around the stake, then loosely around the tree, adding more ties as the tree grows.
Furry animals will be the main threats to your trees when they are young. A two-foot-high by six-inch-diameter cylinder of ¼-inch mesh fencing around the base of the trunk will keep mice and rabbits from chewing on the bark. Push the cylinder into the soil to keep animals from burrowing beneath it. If deer are a threat, thwart them with fencing or repel them with sprays. These are available commercially. Alternatively, the web is rife with recipes for effective home-made sprays, most based on eggs and/or hot pepper.
The spring day when your trees first burst into blooms, promising delectable treats to follow, will be an exciting one. Unfortunately, some insect and disease pests might also ogle those fruits.
Here in the Hudson Valley, some pest control is generally needed for harvestable fruits. The most laissez-faire approach to growing apples organically would be to do nothing except prune annually and hope for the best.
A bit more proactive would be to control the apple maggot, a common pest that tunnels throughout the fruit, leaving it inedible. Excellent control of this pest can be achieved by trapping beginning in mid-June. Purchase some firm Red Delicious apples, push a stiff wire through each fruit so it can be hung, and then coat each one with sticky Tangletrap, an enduringly sticky material available from garden centers or the web. Hang one or two traps in each tree about should height and where they are readily visible. The traps are good until harvest; just don’t reach for one of the traps as you pick!
Even more proactive? Another major insect pest, the plum curculio, attacks fruit very early in the season, and is active until about the middle of June. A plum curculio lays eggs just beneath an apples skin, leaving a tell-tale, crescent-shaped scar. The damage is only cosmetic on ripe fruit. Problem is that many young fruits fall from Ms. Curculio’s doings.
Pest severity varies from season to season and site to site. Here in the Hudson Valley, spraying is usually necessary. An organic approach is to use a material called Surround, which is nothing more than specially processed kaolin clay. Spraying begins early, just before the trees bloom, with three sprays, each allowed to dry, to lay down the powdery coating that repels curculios. From then on, sprays need to be repeated ever week or two, to cover new growth, or after a quarter of an inch or more of rainfall.
Sprayed trees will have a whitish cast that gives them a very Mediterranean look. Visitors often ask me what kinds of trees they are. I tell them that they are olive trees. (Ha, ha)
A still more proactive approach would address one of the most prevalent diseases of apple trees, apple scab. Adding finely powdered sulfur, a naturally mined mineral that has been used for plant diseases for thousands of years, helps control apple scab. It is widely available at garden centers.
The culmination of the backyard orchard experience comes with eating the fruits. Do the fruits justice by harvesting at the right time. As harvest time approaches, watch for the background color of the fruit to lighten or redden. When ready for harvest, the fruit will part easily from the tree when lifted up with a slight twist. Close your eyes, take a bite, and savor your wealth.
New Paltz writer Lee Reich, PhD is a garden and orchard consultant, and also hosts workshops at his New Paltz farmden and, currently, via Zoom. For more information, go to www.leereich.com.
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