Hi all,
I'm Mark, and live in close-in NE Portland. I've been bitten by the gardening bug for a few years and have mostly converted my entire 50'x100' plot (the part without the house, of course) to raised beds, chickens, and beekeeping. I have an area that was an attempt at growing wine grapes, but the current thinking is that I might take them out and put in apples (good for the bees, and great for making cider). I've also been brewing beer for over 15 years, so that is nothing new. Of course, cider is a different beast, but I'm at least familiar with the concept.
So, I'm looking into apple trees that would provide some unique flavors and that can be blended with commercially available apples for cider (e.g., sweeter apples from the farmer's market or out in Hood River area, etc). Some that look appealing are all bittersweets or bittersharps, since those are probably not readily available to buy, and the ones I am most curious about are the Tremlett's Bitter, Yarlington Mill, and Foxwhelp. Maybe some russets, too (like Golden or Pumpkin).
Does anyone have experience with these in the Willamette Valley region and how they fare/taste? The spot I will plant in has a bit of packed clay but seems to drain well. The grapes have done exceptionally well there (they get way out of hand even with multiple pruning sessions), so I think it'd be manageable for apples. I can always amend it, of course. It also gets full sun.
Oh, and there are a few places I've looked at for mail order, such as: [url:2bg9esor]http://www.treesofantiquity.com[/url:2bg9esor] and [url:2bg9esor]http://www.bighorsecreekfarm.com[/url:2bg9esor]. Are there any other places worth checking?
Thanks for any input!
-mark-
Bertoid,
The best bittersweet to grow here is Dabinett, Yarlington Mill, Muscat de Berney and Nehoe are also good. The best russets are Roxbury, Golden, Brown and Ashmead's and Ribston Pippins and most Cox's Orange Pippin crosses have a very simular flavor profile/acid balance, especially Karmijn and Freyburg.
Foxwhelps make good cider but they mostly fall off too early, I don't know how well Tremlett's does here and I've never pressed any (although that won't be true much longer as I have about 20# waiting in my garage).
I don't believe this business exists any longer, but I'm pretty sure the orchard still does. See White Oak Cider's cobweb site for Alan Foster's list of the cider apples that went into his various hard ciders. The list is not broken down by flavor types.
The best place to get the right mix of apples is at the Home ORchard Society scion exchange, usually in early March. Pick up the scions you want, and then graft them into your tree. You don't need an entire tree of bitter/sharp apples. 10-15% should be enough. The rest of your tree/s can be for fresh eating, the sweet and sour cider apples, storage, cooking, etc.
John S
PDX OR
See http://www.geocities.com/wcfsf.....etter.html
It is an article I downloaded a while back from a website by an orchard group in Washinton. I did not check if the link is still active. The title of the article is: Evaluation of Apple Cultivars for Hard Cider Production by G. A. Moulton, J. King and D. Zimmerman.
The work was done in conjunction with the Northwest Washington Research and Extension Center in Mt. Vernon.
Based on the number of varietals considered in this research, you will definitely need more space.
[quote="LeeN":xiasgijp]See http://www.geocities.com/wcfsfruit/newsletter.html
It is an article I downloaded a while back from a website by an orchard group in Washinton. I did not check if the link is still active. The title of the article is: Evaluation of Apple Cultivars for Hard Cider Production by G. A. Moulton, J. King and D. Zimmerman.
The work was done in conjunction with the Northwest Washington Research and Extension Center in Mt. Vernon.
Based on the number of varietals considered in this research, you will definitely need more space.[/quote:xiasgijp]
Yes, the link is still there, and it's a great source of information! Thanks!
And I definitely need more space. Unfortunately, that's not in the cards at the moment...
Cheers!
http://www.lizcrain.com/foodloversguide ... ard-cider/
I followed a link regarding the All About Fruit Show and found the above.
The Evaluation can be found on WSU's website at http://maritimefruit.wsu.edu/C.....der07.html. While you are there, poke around a bit. They also sell scions for a low price.
Idyllwild
simplepress
jafar
Marsha H
Viron