Question for Native & any other serious fruit tree growers

[coolbrze0]

I've got a small orchard here in the mountains of VA & am looking at hitting capacity pretty soon (all the cleared / fenced land I have). I've got room for maybe another 20 or so trees. What are your favorite apples, peaches, pears, plums, nectarines, &/or cherries? I'm mainly interested in some sort of consumption whether it's eating fresh, canning, baking desserts, etc. Not so much worried about for deer/bear since I have plenty of those already Unless there's a very late ripening pear or apple (I've got some Arkansas Blacks & Goldrush apples) that's good for consumption... I saw BlueHills chart Native posted a link to, just not sure about some of those for consumption compared to the better known apples & pears since I've never heard of them. Thanks!

 

[BoneCrusher20]

Of the bluehill better tasting ones in my opinion are Freedom, Liberty. Ayers pear is a good one and Marble Hill reminds me a lot of Bartletts from the store and very tasty. I have bunch of recommendations based on my zone, but i'm pretty far north, so lot of my cultivars i use are much more hardy, so guessing others can chime in with other varieties seen further south, as some fruit species need some frost/cold weather to activate some of the sugars.

 

[Native Hunter]

I have several of the Blue Hill Trees planted, but it's going to be a few years before fruiting.

Right now, for human consumption I recommend the following list as some of the better ones. I grow these without spraying, and most years have very good crops. They should also do good in VA.

Priscilla Apple
Liberty Apple
Myers Royal Limbertwig Apple
Black Limbertwig Apple
Grimes Golden Apple
Summer Champion Apple
Bevan's Favorite Apple
Yates Apple

Ayers Pear
Kieffer Pear
Senator Clark Pear
Moonglow Pear (not that great for fresh eating but good otherwise)

With that said, I recommend contacting David at Century Farm Orchards in VA. He should really be up to speed on apples in your area and probably can sell you what you need. You mentioned mountains, and elevation does make a big difference with fruit choices. He can help with that too.

 

[coolbrze0]

Thanks guys, appreciate it!

 

[coolbrze0]

With that said, I recommend contacting David at Century Farm Orchards in VA. He should really be up to speed on apples in your area and probably can sell you what you need. You mentioned mountains, and elevation does make a big difference with fruit choices. He can help with that too.

Yep - got a couple dozen from David a few years back, he's a wealth of knowledge! Have been recommending him to friends since