A Discovery

Bliss and I went looking for left over pheasants yesterday.  No pheasants were found but I did discover some old apple trees.

I'll return in the spring to determine their bloom time and then again in the fall to see if they bear any apples.  These trees are in the same area as the Weeping Vampire apple, a tree I discovered several years ago. Named for it's weeping form and the road which runs by this covert I was pleasantly surprised to find it still holding some apples this late in the season.  I have a nice one year old tree grafted from scion from this tree growing in the Back40 orchard.

After the Storm

A coating of snow was followed by a coating of ice and windy conditions proved to be too much for this old volunteer apple tree located above the house. A seedling of the old orchard that I can remember as a kid this tree produced "deer apples" small russeted apples that dropped in early fall. I suspect it will live on for a few years as it still has roots in the ground and these old apple trees are survivors. I'll probably take a piece of scion and graft a new tree and plant it nearby for the deer to continue to enjoy.

End of the Woodcock Season

The last two weeks of woodcock season were disappointing quiet for me.  Although the dogs searched hard the birds were not to be found.  It has been the worst season I've ever experienced. My journal shows we hunted 3 times a week for 6 weeks in 10 different coverts in 4 different counties and only managed to find a handful of birds. I must have definitely offended Diana the Hunting Goddess and this was her punishment. ☹️☹️  The only bright spot of the last week of the season was Bliss managed to point a hen pheasant that I dropped with my left barrel. The following are some pictures of the coverts I hunted that should have held a few birds but didn't.

An 8 day late grouse season may give me a chance to get out into the woods if the weather does not turn too nasty.

Mid-Season

Woodcock have been scarce again this year in my coverts.  This bird was taken on a windy, foggy day along the Allegheny Front.  Bliss gave me two nice points that day with the other bird escaping unscathed.

Thicket found several birds in the Muth covert with me connecting on one of them.

Some of the coverts that failed to hold any birds at least on the days that we visited them.  With two weeks left in the season the dogs and I will keep trying and hoping to find a flight of birds to make us smile.

My Season so Far

Went to Piney Creek with Thicket on the first day of the woodcock season. Hot and dry weather and Piney Creek only had water in the deeper holes. Thicket found and pointed one bird, but it lifted before I could reach her.

My next hunt was at the Church Hill covert with Bliss.  

Hunting through the hawthorns in the fog.

Hunting through the alders along the beaver pond produced one wild flush.

Hunting through the mature pines back to the truck produced no birds.

Back at the truck we shared a sandwich.

After lunch we tried one more place. A small stand of aspen as our last hope and it paid off.

Bliss went on point and I got one shot off in the tight cover before the bird disappeared.  I started to follow it's flight path and as Bliss came in from in front of me she suddenly went on point a few feet to my left and behind me.  I had walked passed the bird lying there with it's perfect camouflage. What a great way to end our first hunt of the season together. Bliss's first point of the year, my first shot of the year, and her great find on the fallen bird.

Fruits of my Labor

It's been 5 years since I started planting apple trees and this fall I'm beginning to harvest some apples. No big crops but just enough to get a taste of some rare varieties.

Chestnut crab. Small but really packed with a perfect blend of sweet and tart flavor. One of my favorite apples.

King of the Pippins.  An old variety thought to have originated in France. An excellent apple to eat out of hand with that delicious blend of sweetness and tartness.

Newt Grindle. A large cooking apple that made a wonderful Apple Crisp.

Little Benny. A southern apple with a tart flavor. I made apple sauce from these.

Just the start of my apple tasting experience. More to come.

A Long Summer

It's taken awhile but I finally feel like I'm making good progress with my new knee.  I'm walking every day from the house to the top of the Back40 Orchard, a trip of about an hour depending on how often I stop to look at my trees. Lots of uneven ground with some up and down hills to navigate and the knee seems to be doing well.  Plan on getting out with Bliss later this week to look for some woodcock. It's taken longer than I had hoped but I can see "the light at the end of the tunnel" and am looking forward to making some pleasant memories this fall with the dogs.

Every Apple Has a Story

During the 1800's and into the early 1900's the apple was an extremely important crop in the U.S.  Books were written with detailed descriptions and graphics of many of the estimated 7000 + varieties of apples that were grown in the U.S.  The USDA's National Agricultural Library in Beltsville MD contains 3,820 hand painted illustrations of apple varieties that were sent there in the late 1800's and early 1900's.  Before there were movie stars and sport stars the apple was the star. After refrigeration and railroads became common large orchards sprang up in Washington state producing tons of apples for supermarkets, but the apples that they planted were selected for their large size, storage ability, ability to withstand the  rigors of shipping, and their appearance. Taste became secondary as the American consumer began to buy with their eyes instead of their taste buds. Small family farm orchards were quickly cut down to make way for other crops or left to grow wild and unkempt. Luckily apple trees can live 100 years or more and in the early 70's a hand full of people began to look for and graft the old forgotten varieties that still clung on to life in pasture fields and old peoples back yards.  In the south Lee Calhoun and in Maine John Bunker began actively searching out old decrepit apple trees and talking to old-timers who still remembered the forgotten varieties and sometimes even knew where an old tree or two still survived. In the west Nick Botner began grafting rare apple varieties amassing a collection of over 4000 different kinds of apples.  Over the years with the help of the internet more and more people have become interested in these "heirloom" apples myself included.

  One apple that "jumped out at me" in my search for rare apples was the Keim apple. According to historical records it was a seedling tree found growing on an abandoned Indian village in the late 1700's in Berks County Pa. Grown commercial in the mid-west in the mid 1800's it is described as a small to medium apple with light waxen yellow skin sprinkled with light russet dots. Flesh white, tender, crisp, with a delicate aromatic subacid taste. Very good quality, keeps well, late season variety. Tree is moderately vigorous, a biennial bearer. Below is a print of the Keim from the USDA's library.

I found scion wood for this apple at Hocking Hills Orchard in Ohio.  Owned by Derek Mills who is an heirloom apple addict and has over 2000 rare varieties of apples from which he offers scion wood.  I grafted 4 pieces of scion this spring and was lucky enough to have all 4 grafts "take".  Hopefully in 3 to 5 years I'll be biting into a Keim apple and give you my thoughts on its taste.

The Miracles of Modern Medicine

 

An xray of my "new" knee compared to my "old" knee.  The bone touching bone on the outside part of my old knee shows that it too is wearing out and will need replaced.

Today marks 7 weeks since my surgery.  I will not lie, it has been a hard painful recovery but I've "turned the corner" and can see improvement almost daily.  The 5 weeks of therapy while painful was necessary to regain the full movement of my knee. 

Now my only hope is that my old knee will last until after this fall's hunting season.

Blossom Time

The apple trees are starting to blossom.

 

The Crabapples are the first to bloom

 

 

The full sized apples are not far behind.

 

Now if the pollinators do their part my next pictures will be of small apples.



Bench Grafting Apple Trees

Received my apple rootstock yesterday and began grafting last evening.  Grafting dormant scion to dormant rootstock is known as Bench Grafting. After grafting I place the tree in a bucket of damp sawdust and store in a cool area of the basement for 3-6 week for the graft to callus or heal. If I have matched the cambium on the scion to the cambium on the rootstock the graft will grow together and I will have a successful graft.

 

My rootstock. This year I am using MM106 rootstock.  It will grow into a 15 to 20 foot tree at maturity.

 

 

 

Everything necessary for a successful graft. The rootstock, scion, grafting knife, and parafilm grafting tape. The double boiler contains bees wax to coat the end of the scion to keep if from drying out.

 

 

 

First graft of the year was a Smokehouse apple. This variety originated in the 1830's as a wild seedling that grew near the smokehouse of a Mr. William Gibbons of Lancaster Pa.