Hunting Wild Turkeys

The day started with a 3:30 am alarm after a nearly sleepless night. My knee hurt enough to keep me More »

April Full (almost) Moon

Tonight, on the way home from smelting, the moon rose, bright orange and beautiful. I changed cameras, put all three More »

Doe, a deer, and a fawn…

We went scouting for turkeys. That was almost a flop with only one hen spotted. We did find deer. Steve More »

When to Plant Peas in Zone

Don't worry if there's snow in the forecast. It don't usually last long if the soil is already 45*. Multiple More »

American Bald Eagle in Magurrewock Marsh

I drove through Magurrewock Marsh in Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge on my way home from archery practice this week, hoping More »

Understanding The USDA Hardiness Zones

Share the post "Understanding The USDA Hardiness Zones"FacebookTwitterDiggStumbleUponE-mailUnderstanding The USDA Hardiness Zones by Robin Follette Reprints by permission. The USDA More »

The Second Generation of Women Hunters

Taylor loaded her single shot .20 gauge and went after the bird. It flew before she spotted it again, and More »

Seven College Kids & A Weekend of Shooting

Steve paced out distances while Taylor, Kelci, Sierra, Sarah, Chaz, Tyler and Alfred set out targets. I shot first, trying More »

 

Immature Apples

June 11, 2012   Growing Fruit, Maine Outdoors, Wild Harvesting

Share the post "Immature Apples"

Does anyone know the proper name for a baby apple? Seems like there must be one.  This apple is growing on an over grown, in dire need of pruning, wild apple tree at the edge of the woods near the pond. I think it’s a crab apple tree. We’ll remove the brush and trees crowding it and give it some room to grow. We’ll most likely leave the apples for the wildlife.

All of the apple trees on our property are wild. They readily seed themselves and are almost always crab apples. The 100+ year old crab apple that produced apples the size of a 50 cent piece split into three pieces under the weight of ice in April, 2011. Steve cut the remaining piece down and cut and split the good wood to burn in the outdoor fireplaces. The trunk has several shoots coming up. The log we saved to cut boards from has sprouts. The tree wants to survive. I’ll cut some of the new shoots and if they root, plant them in a new place.

We have three Macoun apple trees that I love. The apples are delicious and store well. They cook up nicely to a thick sauce. They drawn in deer, partridge and unfortunately, wild turkeys.

The wild trees are welcome here and usually left where we find them. There are three young trees at the edge of the pond, at the end of the path rabbits and deer take from the woods to the pond. The blossoms in the spring are beautiful and the apples provide opportunities to observe the wildlife. We used a lot of the apples for horses, cattle, goats and pigs when we had them.

The apples below have scab. We don’t treat them. They wildlife doesn’t care. Cleaning up around the tree and turning the chickens loose in the fall to clean up scraps will help clear it up.

Immature apples, most likely crab apples.

To the official site of Related Posts via Taxonomies.

, , ,