Perennial plantings

On Saturday, May 9th, we planted the

Trees in the orchard:

Apples
Blenheim Orange
A very famous old apple in Britain originating in Woodstock, near Blenheim in Oxfordshire, England, 1740, near the residence of the Duke of Marlboro, and was well known through Europe and America by 1820-1840. An all purpose large variety yellowish with red and light russet covering. Ripens in October.

Duchess (of Oldenburg)
One of the pioneer Russian apples to America via England. It was known in Russia in the 1600’s or early 1700’s, reportedly introduced to England by the Royal Horticultural Society in 1824, and into America by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in 1835. Valued for its extreme winter hardiness. The fruit is medium to sometimes large, greenish yellow with red splashing and striping. A cooking apple that makes some of the best early season pies as it ripens in late August or early September.

Ribston Pippin
An old English variety, often used in English cider and good for baking, also good eaten fresh if not overripe. Discovered at Ribston Hall near Knaresborough, Yorkshire, England, early 1700’s, likely from French seeds, and a parent of many fine English varieties including Cox Orange. The original tree was blown over in 1810, but was rescued, propped up and staked and survived until 1928. The color is greenish yellow flushed and striped brownish orange to red, the red becoming more pronounced as it ripens, very high vitamin C. The fruit ripens in late August or early September.

Richelieu
One of the hardiest disease resistant apples, having survived the severe Quebec winter of 1980-81. From the Ag Canada breeding program at Ottawa, selected at Smithfield and named at Saint-Jean Quebec 1990. Parents include Melba, Mac, Jonathan, Rome. Medium red over light green, flesh white, juicy, crisp, very good flavour with high sugar and aroma. Ripens mid September.

Scott Winter
A winter hardy heritage cooking apple for the north, ripens late and stores very well. The fruit is small to medium sized, slightly conical, yellow skin striped, washed and splashed with red; yellow flesh that is fine grained, crisp, juicy, pleasant sprightly acid flavor. Okay for eating out of storage, great for baking. From the Scott farm, Newport , Vermont and introduced by Dr. Hoskins of Newport 1864. Ripens in October.

MacIntosh
A direct descendant of the original tree found growing on the farm of John McIntosh, Dundela, Dundas County, Ontario. Ripens mid September.

History of the MacIntosh apple tree: John McIntosh came to Canada with the United Empire Loyalists. After spending some time along the frontier, he settled on his homestead in the county of Dundas in 1790 at a place later called McIntosh’s Corners, although that place has now become extinct, and Dundela has taken its place. In the year 1796 while clearing some land, he came upon a clump of young apple trees, about twenty in number. As apples were at that time a luxury, the apple trees were left unharmed, and a few days after were replanted in a clearing nearer his house. Most of the trees thrived for a few years but finally died. In 1830, only one tree out of the twenty remained. As this apple was unnamed, Mr. McIntosh combined his own name with the color of the apple and christened it “McIntosh Red”. From the time it was transplanted, it grew rapidly and in a few years bore an abundance of fruit the color and flavor of which attracted the attention of the earlier settlers. It was situated about fifteen feet from the house, and when in 1893 the house was burned, the tree also received its share of the fire and one side was badly burned. Nevertheless, the other side continued to bear until 1908; an impressive 112 years! The wide circulation of the McIntosh apple is due to John McIntosh’s son, Allen McIntosh, who, fully appreciating the fruit, wished others to enjoy it also and started propagating by grafting and budding from the original tree. (From LH Bailey’s “Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture,” 1927)

Cherries
Northstar
A very hardy, naturally semi-dwarf tree which grows just 10 feet tall. From Minnesota, 1952, a cross of English Morello and Serbian Pie Cherry. Produces a mouth-watering crop of plump, juicy fruit that ripens in mid- to late July. Dependably hardy, with huge harvests for pies and preserves. Self pollinating.

Cerise de l’Ile
This Morello-type cherry is a Quebec heirloom. Produces large, juicy, sweet-tart cherries that are great for fresh eating, pies, preserves, and juice.

Plums
Arctic Red
A wild Canadian plum. Hardy tree that grows to 4 meters tall. Fruit is medium large, red skin and red flesh. Ripens in late August. Good for fresh eating, canning and preserves.

Black Beauty
A cross between the Red Arctic wild Canadian plum and the Japanese plum. A tough tree that produces a sweet, juicy plum.

And two Rowan (Mountain Ash) trees.

The apple trees come from Siloam Orchards in Uxbridge, Ontario, which grows over 70 varieties of heritage apple trees.

The cherries, plums, and rowans (as well as some blueberry, cranberry, and blackcurrant bushes, see below) come from Green Barn Nursery, an offshoot of Windmill Point Farm, which is run by Ken Taylor, an expert in tree breeding and cold-climate permaculture. There is an interesting interview with Ken Taylor here.

 

And then on Sunday, Monday, and today, I planted

Berry bushes and other edible perennials:

Blueberries “Wild Blue” – 4 bushes
I planted these near the three big red pines in front of the house where the soil is acid and thin. The should thrive and eventually provide a bumper crop of the kind of blueberries I remember picking in on the hills in the Eastern Townships and Laurentians as a kid.

Cranberries “Big Bog” – 4 bushes
“Wild” or low-bush (aka lingonberries, aka partridgeberries), as opposed to high-bush cranberries. I hope to get high-bush cranberry seedlings from the conservation authority next spring. I planted these east of the driveway, south of the asparagus.

Blackcurrants “Ben Sarek” – 2 bushes
Once the bushes mature, they should keep us in jelly and wine!

Rhubarb – 1 crown
I picked this up at Cramer’s Nursery in Ile Perrot, along with some herbs, so I have no idea what variety it is – the pot wasn’t marked. I have a vague plan of getting a rhubarb crown from my mother’s plant, as well.

Asparagus “Mary Washington” – 20 crowns
Bought this at the Cornwall Home Depot, because it was there. Yes, this is a lot of asparagus. I love the stuff, and it costs up to $4/lb, so this is a good investment as far as I’m concerned. I planted this in 5 trenches of 4 plants each, to the east of the driveway where it slopes down from the road. Since asparagus needs really good drainage, I figured the slope would be the best place for it.

And the lovely little Siberian Elm tree that Rob and Kristie gave us, also to the east of the driveway, north of both the cranberries and the asparagus, but not too close to the road.

I still have to plant:

Grapes
St. Croix – 3 plants
Red wine grapes from Ken Taylor’s cold-climate permaculture experiments. I bought 3 scions (or twigs) at Eco Farm Day and successfully rooted them. When I picked up my other trees last week, Ken was surprised and pleased to hear that all three had successfully rooted!

Concord – 2 plants
These were a gift from my uncle Alec, my mother’s eldest brother. Owning a bit of land and raising some livestock, doing a bit of homesteading and making one’s own wine runs in the family. All my mother’s brothers have at one point or other owned land and raised chickens, pigs, even pheasants. Alec also used to make mead.