Tuesday, June 22, 2010

I probably shouldn't have done it

I bought a dwarf Golden Delicious apple tree today.  We stopped by Orscheln's yet again, and I went looking for marked-down flowering annuals.  There were none.  
However, there were four dwarf Golden Delicious trees, originally $30, now half-price.  They looked like they had been sufficiently watered; the leaves were green and healthy-looking.  The problem is that this is a horrible time of year to plant any kind of tree.  
We're having temperatures in the mid-nineties, and it looks like we may be in for a dry spell.  
I've worked in a couple of apple orchards at harvest time, enough to know that you can't get a good Golden Delicious apple unless you find one that was accidentally allowed to ripen on the tree.  In a commercial orchard, Golden Delicious apples are picked green.  Now, orchard owners tell you that Goldens are the only kind of apple that will ripen after they're picked; I don't call that "ripened".  They're supposed to be golden, for heaven's sake, not green, as they usually are when they sell in the stores.
I remember when I was a child, the Golden Delicious apples my mother bought were sugar-sweet.  I haven't tasted apples that good in years.  
So after standing there reminiscing about my childhood until my mouth was watering, I decided fifteen bucks wasn't such a big risk.  Lots of people spend more than that on soda in a week.  


And now, there the poor little tree stands with several strikes against it.  I have certainly planted a lot of trees since we moved out behind the barn.  I chose to put the apple tree in the back yard, which I push-mow by myself.  Cliff resents trees being in his way where he mows, so this is how I keep peace.  
I read in an article online that "A good dwarf tree should live about fifteen to twenty years and will produce about one to two bushels of apples within two to three years."
So, here I am with another experiment going.  If I can just get an apple like the ones I tasted as a little girl, it will be worth my efforts, which include digging a hole in the ground on a ninety-five-degree day.  
There's one other problem to consider:  I'm supposed to have another apple tree nearby to pollinate this one.   Oh well.

6 comments:

  1. I remember those golden delicious apples. So many things have changed over the years. You are right the ones we get now are green. I hope your little tree grows for you. You'll no doubt be watering it a lot. We are supposed to see 95 here in northern Ohio tomorrow. A virtual heat wave for sure. We hardly ever get that hot.

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  2. I remember having these apples when I was a kid, they were even called golden in Russian.They kept through winter, yellow, little shriveled and very sweet.all the apples are tasteless anymore and I love apples and eat tons of them all the time.

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  3. I do hope it does well for you. Maybe you should invest another $15 and get it a friend? I am trying to do a bit of catch up with my favorite blogs, so I will be back soon to catch up some more.

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  4. Lindie9:07 AM

    Just what I was going to say. Get another one to cross polinate!

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  5. Vicki9:08 AM

    That's a beauty, it does look lonely though. Go get the friend, quick, before it gets depressed. Vicki

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  6. Actually, from what I've read online, the Golden Delicious is somewhat self-pollinating; with another tree, it will bear more fruit. Also, crazy neighbor has an apple tree or two. While his are not as close to me as recommended, I believe the bees can make the trip. If I were to see a dwarf Fuji marked down, I would probably buy it.

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