A quick run through my cider orchard

This was done quickly as my memory chip was not loaded so I could only film today on the camera's internal memory, and today was my last chance to film anything in the orchard for a week due to pressures from the daytime job, bad timing etc. This rapid video is mainly for the benefit of cider workshop friends who are thinking about which varieties to order to plant this coming winter. I will put more up about individual varieties later.

basically, of the cider (that's hard cider to our American friends) apples I grow, Dabinett and Harry Master's Jersey are bittersweets which crop almost every year, Tremlett's Bitter is a hard bittersweet which crops 1 year in 2, Yarlington MIll is a bittersweet which crops maybe 7 years in 10. Le Bret (often confused with Sweet Alford which is almost identical) is a very sweet cider apple which crops heavily every year, but needs some fungicide as it is very prone to scab, and Kingston Black is a bittersharp cider apple which can produce the best cider you could ever hope for in a good year, but which is a lousy, unreliable cropper so (Like Cox's Orange Pippin) is probably best avoided unless you REALLY know what you're doing. And Crimson King cider apple, I grafted over to more reliable orchard performers as it was so prone to brown rot. That has proved a very good decision.

That's my experience, if anyone has had a different experience, tell your tale!

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[ivankinsman]

Wassailing is a West Country tradition when, on Twelth Night of old (17 January), country folk toast and drink the health of the largest and most prolific apple tree in the orchard for a healthy, fruitful crop of the coming season.

Are you going to wassail that biggest tree in January?!

[stephenhayesuk]

we give thanks to the Great Maker and share hot spiced cider with friends on the second Saturday in January.

[Stime64]

If I may ask how many trees do you have in your orchard?

Thanks

[stephenhayesuk]

about 700 in all, in three sections. I must count them this winter. There were once about 1,000 but we have thinned them out a bit where they proved too close together.

The orchard is in 3 main sections which were planted in 1992, 1997 and 1999 with several changes made since.

This cider section within the overall orchard contains 64 trees, 8 rows of 8, on MM111 rootstock 20 feet apart.

sorry for the poor quality of this video, taken on internal memory, will post better later.

[altoids18ROX]

@stephenhayesuk how many years from planting a sapling does it take to start getting apples from it? how many bushels of apples (approximate) do you get from your 700 trees? and how many gallons of cider are u getting

[stephenhayesuk]

@altoids18ROX Greetings

I have addressed those questions in some of my other videos. Briefly, I woudl expect to start getting some fruit in the third year, and maximum cropping in 5-8 years depending on soil, weather, pest and disease control etc.

Our crop is light, 5 tons per acre or more is achievable but we get more like 3 tons an acre of saleable fruit, about 10 tons in all. I made 50 gallons of cider last year, could have been much more, a friend made another 200 gallons from our fruit

[ivankinsman]

Very nice looking trees. I am just reading The RIver Cottage Handbook No. 2 - Preserves by Pam Corbin. She states that principal crops in Kent are eating/cooking apples, plums, pears and cobnuts. South-west is known for its cider apples, but also has eating apples, 'Dittisham Black' plum (Devon) and 'Kea' plum (Cornwall). So, is your soil/climatic conditions suitable for cider apples?

[MadBadVoodo]

Five Stars!!

[gocrazy4u]

Thanks for sharing!