|
|
Post by chrisgreaves on Jan 30, 2023 15:59:44 GMT -3.5
Nothing magical about it (but see below) I picked up two packs of apples from Donna’s au point shopping cart in the fruit and veggie section at Swyers. This ripe fruit is ideal for jam-making, but today it will make apple sauce, delicious on the pork steaks I cut and freeze from the pork loin centre roast boneless ($10.35) Five pounds of apples of various varieties yields thirteen cores. Apple Cores. Each about one cubic inch. Take thirteen empty corned beef tins, punch two holes in the bottom of each, shovel in soil – any old soil seems to do. I have used the gunk that came from underneath Donny’s kitchen when he decided to enlarge the crawl-space. One core per can; drop the core atop the soil, then press down with the thumb. Optionally spread a bit more soil, but don’t sweat it. Place the cans outside along the wall of the house or shed. They will cool down as fall approaches, freeze as the snow season starts, thaw through March and April, and then in May …  I learned from last year and stacked the tins on a rack to discourage the early worm from sneaking in and eating the core. The photo above was taken at the end of my transplanting time. The earlier corned beef tins held between ten and sixteen seedlings from each apple core.  I gently dislodge the seedlings and plant them one per pot.
(continued in next post to overcome the limit of three attachments per post)
|
|
|
|
Post by chrisgreaves on Jan 30, 2023 16:04:46 GMT -3.5
(continued from previous post)  The seedlings go into larger pots of tubs, one per pot. I think that this is a morning’s batch of maple trees, but the apples look just the same. Then I spend thirty minutes carting them from the work-area in my driveway and pack them closely in rows against the back fence, About small children:The smaller and the younger the better. I would let teenagers watch, but I would work with seven-year olds. From the age of four human minds are sponges. Everything is new, and everything is sucked into the brain via the eyes. Start ‘em Young, is my advice. And yes, the children will go outside for a few days, inspect their tins, and then lose interest, With the first real snowfall, remind them that their apples cores are fast asleep under a blanket of snow. Once the snow is gone they may be disappointed that there are no apple trees. Adults must be patient at this time.
In Bonavista Newfoundland the seedlings appear around the first week of May.
You need to hear the squeals of excitement from a seven-year old, you really do.
About cores, flesh, and skin:
I have no proof of the technique, but logic suggests that in the wild, the apple/orange/peach fruit falls to the ground, rots, and then the seed germinates. Chances are that the seed has sat in the soil surrounded by fragments of the skin, flesh, core and what-have-you. I believe that I am more successful when I plant a core of an apple, than when I extract the seeds and plant them separately. Likewise citrus pips in a matrix of citrus skin and flesh.
I could be wrong, but would to hear from anyone who has studied this. My reasoning is based solely on thought and logic.
Cheers, Chris
Cheers, Chris |
|
|
|
Post by chrisgreaves on Feb 1, 2023 10:08:17 GMT -3.5
Five pounds of apples of various varieties yields thirteen cores. Apple Cores. Each about one cubic inch. Continuing the story:  I always have a 25-litre pail of soil skimmed from the top of my vegetable beds after harvest last fall. This layer was compost at the start of the hear, and must still be rich. I use cut-down detergent bottles as soil scoops.  The seed tray is an off cut of Masonite, about one square foot, with remnants of old skirting board tacked to that base and then girdled with a strand of soft picture-wire. Thirteen cores is tricky to place, but I am going for numbers here, so I do the classical 4x3 array and plop a spare core anywhere away from the edge. A few pips had fallen out, so I scatter them across the soil. Note that the soil is about one inch shy of the top of the frame.  I have scooped in enough soil to cover the cores and tamped it down a bit so as to partially seal the corners of the tray. One of my plant sticks is labeled with “APPLE” (because they are a mix of varieties) and with today’s date. I take them outside, wade through the drifting snow and plop the tray down in a small drift on the west side of the shed.
"I can hardly wait for next May" of Bonavista
|
|
