Suggestions on a small backyard orchard

[Matthew F.]

I've room for four trees on my small property in suburban Pennsylvania (Zone 6).

My initial thoughts:

Golden Russet

Harrison

Campfield

Hewes Virginia Crab

I'm looking to keep things simple, and my thinking is that I can use the Golden Russett and Hewes as single variety and blend the Harrison and Campfield. 

Would appreciate any feedback before reserving my trees for the Spring. Alternative tree suggestions welcome.

Many thanks,

Matthew

[dick kirk]

If you want to maximize your space & trees, graft on a branch or two of Wickson (a small, therefore a crab, apple, that is fine to eat out of hand, plus has plenty of sugar and complexity to serve well as part of cider. You might find other apples that YOU love, and can graft them on.. Here, N. Calif, we members of Calif Rare Fruit Growers Assn, often plant three trees in the same hole; they partly dwarf each other, but maximize space and provide diversity.  Good luck!

Dick

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[Nick MacLean]

If you are looking for a more tannic variety I would suggest trying Kronebusch, which is a chance american seedling. For me in oregon the tree is disease free, and produces a very astringent bittersweet/sharp fruit. It seems to be slightly biennial, but overall is very productive- plus the bugs don't seem interested in it. As a disclaimer, I'm in a much more arid region than PA.

As Dick said, Wickson is another wonderful apple. 

Nick

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[Bill Carwile]

Matthew,

I have a little back yard orchard with all four of your choices and a few others here in central Virginia.   The Hewes crab has produced a small crop in each of the last two years and I got a couple of apples on the Harrison this year.  The others have not produced yet but the trees are growing nicely and still very young. Most are on MM-111 and a couple on M-7.

Albemarle Cider Works and Vintage Virginia Apples (two companies same folks) are located about an hour north of me and they grow each of these and many, many other older varieties.   They produce a very good single variety cider from both Hewes Crab and Harrison. The ciders are well received.

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the four you have selected in your area.  Harrison and Campfield were both historically grown in New Jersey for cider and often blended together so they should do well as a blend.  The folks at Albemarle are friendly and will often take the time to talk to newbies.   

In Claude's book, Golden Russet is noted as an excellent choice for cider when grown in almost all areas of the US and he recommends it as among the first choices for a cider orchard in most areas of the US.

I would be inclined to try to find room for a 6th tree if possible and make it a Wickson crab. If space does not allow for this then you can graft Wickson or another crab useful for cider on a few branches of the primary trees to get a little extra pollination help and for use to add some acidity and complexity to the mix.  

Bill C.      

[PomoLogical]

I live in Southeast PA (Zone 7, hot and humid summers, frost from Halloween to Mother's Day) and I plan to plant my first two cider trees this spring, Grimes Golden and Bramtot on dwarfing rootstocks. I ordered them from Cummins Nursery  https://www.cumminsnursery.com/ There is a wealth of information on their website and I used their tree search filters to narrow down tree candidates for my growing zone, then looked at things like cross pollination, ripening dates and disease resistance, particularly to fireblight, which is a problem in my area. You have to think about things like, even if the trees I plant will cross pollinate, will their apples ripen at different time? And if you plan to blend apples from trees that ripen at different times, do the early apples store well or will they be mush by the time your other trees have apples ready to press and blend? 3 to 5 years is long time for "proof of concept", but I plan to plant more of the same trees going forward if the varieties thrive in my region and I like the fermented result of the apples blended. I hope this helps. Our state is the 4th largest producer of apples in the US and cideries in Adams County are actively trying to become "The Napa Valley Region of Apples in the US"  Apple growers turn to cider making in Pennsylvania’s South Mountain region - The Washington Post