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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Recently I got to see one of our pear grafts from 2017. The original pears–or “rootstock”–were ornamental or Bradford pears. The member wanted something fruitful and we grafted an Asian pear onto it at about 6 feet. We have learned that once pears unionize,Continue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Well, I’d say judging by my woodpile, winter is at least 2/3 or more over. As soon as April hits, I’ll be cutting to refill the lost stock. Back in spring, I commented on using discarded green carpeting someone threw over the road andContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Spring is fast approaching. Now is the time to gather cuttings or “scionwood” from your favorite tasting apple or pear tree if you’d like to use them for grafting in April or May. We have scionwood from both named varieties as well as olderContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? If you want to add some variety to your established apple trees, you can by “top-working” or grafting other varieties on to them. However, now is the time–during the growing season–that “scionwood” is gathered for future spring grafting. Scionwood are last summer’s growth thatContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? We’re full-swing into the APPLE TREE GRAFTING season here @ CFA. Kind of excited about this one tree near Margaretville; Put 4 different varieties upon it, making 5 if you count the original tree. Now, I’m just hoping for good growth and that theContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? The Apple Tree Grafting season has now begun. Although the first day out brought snow in Ulster & Sullivan Counties, the weather quickly warmed up. The best time to graft is when the bark begins to slip or becomes pliable. Hopefully, this April willContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? The Apple Tree Grafting season is fast approaching its end. We might get an extra 2 weeks into May with the extended winter back in April. Had the chance to prune one apple tree earlier this winter & then return to it last week &Continue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? I was lucky enough to visit a member’s bradford pear tree a few days ago that was grafted with an ‘Asian Pear’ scionwood or cutting. These pears seem to grow faster than anything else so far. We had to put in a stake toContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Just beginning to collect scionwood (apple cuttings) for CFA’s upcoming Apple Tree Grafting Program. Been down @ Schoonmaker’s Farm in Accord, Ulster County; these are some hard-working people generous enough to let me take some cuttings; they have a great farm stand too (SaunderskillContinue Reading