New trees

We went to a fruit tasting festival at a really cool nursery in Everson, Cloud Mountain Farm, this Sunday. They had 200 varieties of apple, pear, cherry, grapes and other less commonly grown fruit (gooseberries and paw-paw!) for sampling, all grown on-site on their test fields, so guaranteed performers in our climate. Plus they had a buy 2, get one free deal going for their remaining fall stock of fruit trees. I have a list of fruit trees I'd like to add to what we have already, so it was a perfect event to try some of those varieties and maybe pickup a few.

So I didn't get the pick of the litter, but it doesn't really matter since the first few years most of the growth is pruned off each spring anyway, as intial training requires. The tall one on the left is Frost Peach, a semi-dwarf, self-fertile, super hardy (zone 5) variety. It's the only peach that will grow in our climate. It can be finicky its' first few years and must be sprayed for peach leaf curl, but once established does well without much trouble. Next, in the middle, is Conference pear. This is a dessert pear (fresh eating) that also stores well. It can be kept in the fridge once mature for 3 or more months, and brought out to ripen as needed. This one will ripen after the Bartlett we already have, and keep through the winter. Last, on the right, is a Rainier cherry. It's one of our favorite varieties, and will ripen with our later black cherry.

I plan to add a few more trees in the spring or next fall and over the next few years, as we start to learn how much we need to be able to eat some fruit fresh, have extra to can, and some to make cider (and hard cider), without getting so many that they are a pain to take care of. But I think "having too many" is a problem I'll rarely have...