TODAY IN THE ORCHARD

Spent the morning with Todd identifying apples from old trees that he had visited on North Haven Island this past weekend. We were able to ID some of the more common heirlooms: Baldwin, Yellow Bellflower and Ribston Pippin. Several were mysteries. One may be the long-elusive Walbridge which apple colleagues from around the US have been attempting to locate for decades. That would be exciting.

Meanwhile Laura did a fireblight check and branch removal in the SCF orchards. There were some lingering strikes near the arbor and in the Finley Lane Nursery but not an alarming amount. The two of us picked several bushels of a russet growing in Chris Wildrodt’s orchard in Whitefield. The russet has been DNA profiled and, so far, has no match. So many mysteries.