Those look beautiful. Jonagold was one of my favorite store bought apples last year, bet it can taste pretty nice off the tree.

If you are feeding your trees too much, you may not crop well.
Dont feed them for a whole year, and see if crops get better.

Mega, thanks, I haven't fed them at all.

PersianMD, they are delicious. Very crisp, sweet, and tart, and very juicy. They are great to eat as is or to bake with. My Jonagolds make the best baked apples. This year they will make a great applesauce for Thanksgiving. Mrs. G

Mrs. G, you are on the verge of getting good production now on your trees (I hope). In reading your posts you are in a similar situation as I. This year some of my trees reached the 5 or 6 year point and it is the first year for many of my tree to even have an apple. So the fact that I only got a small amount off each tree is still great, I get to walk out and pick an apple off the tree and eat it! Now I wait for my young trees to produce so I can try them. (I keep stuffing in new trees wherever I can, so i will always be waiting:).Consider yourself rich, those are some nice apples.

KG Actually this year was not as bad as I thought. Some orchardists had such a miserable, cold, spring that their entire backyard (small orchard) crops were wiped out. I really shouldn't complain. Just love fruit! As of this spring I will have 30 trees and maybe I am done! LOL Mrs. G

I ate one of my Enterprise out of storage today, and it was a really fine apple, better than they've ever been. I've got about 100 of them, first year this tree has borne a full crop.

Itilton, how great! Mine won't be ready for a bit. My Jonagold's are ready though, will try one tomorrow. Thanks, Mrs. G

Mrs G,

I also have 30 trees but I have some disease that causes me to keep digging holes and putting in more. I want to be able to take a walk in the orchard and have 50 different varieties to choose from. In the spring after I plant new trees I say "That's it" but during the winter you start looking at nurseries and.......

KG_in_CT,

I have the same disease. Is there a name for it, and if so, what is the treatment? (of course no one here would know a cure otherwise they wouldn't be here)

The cure comes when you have to throw away fruit because you have no more room to store it or when it's gone bad because you have more than you can eat.

There are wise words in Itilton's post. I am finding that the older I get the less work and up-keep I truly want. 30 trees is a lot for a 60 something woman to deal with! I have been a fervent follower of every on-line catalogue that exists. I just know that after my last five trees going in this spring, Arboreum will have just one more tree I cannot live without. Oh, well, there goes another lawn! I hear ya! Mrs. G

Girl,
I'm sorry to hear you got it too. I don't have a name but we are sick, really sick. This has to stop (I'm not sure how....). Have your mail screened, stay away from nurseries, throw away your shovels, sell your land that doesn't have an apple tree on it, I don't know.

I think ltilton is right. I know that if I actually had some harvests I wouldn't keep wanting to buy any more fruit producers. My desires have yet to be fulfilled, and this last spring was a huge disappointment.

Milehigh, I really think you got the shortest end of the stick this year. Your descriptions were wrenching. I know how I felt when I lost a six year old apricot. We're all looking forward to next spring and hopefully some fruit! Mrs. G (No frost in May!)

Hopefully the cure is without medication.I was planning on 15 new trees this year. My son and his friends from work (with children)came down to clean up the apples and pears and press cider. while picking and pressing 40 gal they said "can you get me this tree ect and it made the order come to 55 trees.After doing the math hitting the 100 tree price brake was only 95.00 more. Now where do I have to clear for 45 extra trees? Wife said" you are nuts, but get me 5 more cortlands."

MileHighGirl and ltilton may be on to something. I've been planting about 10 apple trees per year for the last 3 years and finally got a decent harvest (last year was ~20 apples, this year >200, spread across 15+ trees).

I've reduced the number of new apple trees for next year (a good thing- there is very little space to be found), down to two (Grimes Golden and Old Nonpareil).

Even with the larger harvest, it wasn't nearly enough for me, as I've been buying quite a bit at the farmer's market (including some very good Golden Russets last weekend) and will probably make one or two orchard runs.

I am planning to graft a bunch of new types on. That way I can keep the size about the same and increase the variety. I can also try some types which aren't even stocked by nurseries.

Of course, I'm also planning to plant 8 potted trees which I've gotten in past years (most as roostocks), but they are mini-dwarf (M27 and G65), so that doesn't count, right? :) I suppose that if they do count, I'm right back at 10...

Grafts don't count, those are just symptoms. Mrs. G

If you have more than you can eat, there is always bartering.

I give 100s away to the food pantry. I can fruit and make applesauce and preserves and dehydrate. Refrigerator in the basement is totally full and I have more stuff that won't fit inside.

Just recently have discovered that the wildlife shelter needs excess fruit - took them a load of Kieffer pears gone unpicked for too long, which would have otherwise been thrown out.

I am cured!

Mrs G, how do you like the two apples compared to each other?

Jonagold is my favorite apple and I grafted Enterprise onto my Honeycrisp tree this past spring, so wondering what those will be like..

and BTW ya'all, the reason I grafted the Enterprise onto the HC is the HC is a wimpy tree, susceptible to everything and pest love to eat the leaves. Enterprise on the other hand is a strong tree. so my thought is get some strong foliage on that tree to improve it's outlook. This year showed the theory works through step one. the grafted branches grew well and were lush, while the rest of the tree had lots of leaf damage. I also spent time with twine and posts training the branches so it now has an awesome shape and I am looking forward to what it might be in 2-3 years

cckw I like both trees and their apples very much. I am a baker so I love cooking apples and Jonagold is perfect for cooking. The tree itself is excellent. Very disease free and doesn't seem prone to fungus. (also I have an excellent spray schedule for all of my trees).

My Enterprise are still small and I only have seven this year. The tree itself is healthy, strong, and prone to little to no diseases. It is an excellent tree and apple. It is an apple that if you want to cook with it, peel it. The skin is tough and thick. Mrs. G