Apple-mania has hit in the Last Frontier

At what point does one progress from growing a few apple trees to owning an orchard?

I have five trees, comprised of four varieties, and I like to think of them as an orchard. They supply me and my extended family with an endless source of apple butter, apple jelly, and applesauce, and the only fresh apples my elder daughter will eat. We make apple pie and pudding, have tried apple chutney and pickled apples and we even dry apples when the crop is abundant. This year we have a bit of fresh cider, the result of carrying a basket of apples to a visit to a true orchard, where the owner graciously allowed us to use his cider press.

This orchard, which is not the only one in the Matanuska Valley, has in excess of 120 trees of 100 different varieties, with a plethora of intriguing names and not so intriguing numbers. (Oddly enough, two of my four varieties are different, again.) There were the standard-type names, ten varieties including “nor” or “north,” all of which sound safe to grow, seven “reds” or “rubies,” and six “golds,” “goldens,” or “yellows.” Then there were the exotics like Geneva Early, Chinese Golden Early, Jersey Mac, Golden Uralia, and several in utterly unpronounceable Russian. There were oddities like Oriole (the singing apple) and Trailman (the hiking apple), and, of course, a dozen or so surnames. It was from this latter group that I chose my own personal favorites, Reverend W. Wilkes (the preaching apple) and Squire Maypole (the hunting apple). Although much of the fruit from these trees had already been harvested, I saw and tasted apples from the size of a golf ball to the size of a small grapefruit, in every shade of pink, red, peach, and yellow. They ranged from honey sweet to lip-puckering tart and from mellow to sharp, and every one that I sampled was superior in taste to anything found on our grocery store shelves.

Believe it or not, it is not difficult to grow one’s own fresh apples. Begin by purchasing a seedling, from a reliable local source, that has been grafted on to a hardy rootstock. This will ensure that the tree will survive our winters. The seedling will probably come in a one- or two-gallon pot. (Do not buy a balled and burlapped plant.) Dig a hole, in good topsoil, a bit larger and deeper than the pot, and break up the soil around the hole for another six inches or so. A bit of compost goes into the hole, then turn out the seedling, slash the root ball about an inch deep, from top to bottom, in three or four places, and place the plant in the hole. Fill in with loose soil or compost, being careful not to cover the seedling above the root flare, which is usually at the soil level in the pot. Water well, and keep watered, even after the leaves have fallen, until the ground freezes. If one starts with a 3-year-old seedling, one can expect a modest harvest within two years, and two apple trees are better than one, as pollination, and therefore, apple production, is increased.

Apple after-care is not complicated, either. The tree, as it grows. should be encouraged to develop three to four branches encircling the trunk at about every 18-inches, with the lowest branches about 2 1/2 feet above the ground.

Yearly maintenance includes pruning away and shoots growing from the tree’s base, upright branches, called water shoots, and multiple leaders.

The rootstock onto which the tree is grafted will probably have a dwarfing effect, but excessive height can also be discouraged by lopping the top, thereby assuring ease of harvest.

Keep the ground bare under the tree, fertilize every second or third year with compost or manure, and fence out the moose, which can be the most difficult problem to overcome.

Well, perhaps there is one problem even more difficult: Conquering the urge to add another tree to the orchard.

Alaskan Apple Butter

3 gallons apples

2 cups vinegar

6-10 cups sugar

Mixed spices; cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, mace, ginger, cardamom, etc.

Apples can be sieved after cooking or cored before cooking. Place apples and vinegar in pot and simmer gently until tender. Sieve apples if not cored, add sugar and spices to taste, and continue simmering to reduce until desired consistency is reached. Seal in hot canning jars and place in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Hally Truelove is a Master Gardener and Plants Woman who lives and gardens in Wasilla Alaska with her two daughters, a handful of cats, a bunch of bunnies, some guinea pigs, a dog and a frog. Contact her at 376-0909.