Hello Raccoon Creek Partnership members, supporters, and friends!  I hope you have all had a wonderful summer, it’s hard to believe that it’s already September and fall is just around the corner.  

 

As you may remember, our spring apple grafting workshop with Derek Mills of Hocking Hills Orchard was cancelled.  Since we already had the supplies, we went ahead and grafted the trees.  Now we have about 50 grafted heirloom variety apple trees thriving and ready for new homes!  These are semi-dwarf trees and the rootstocks are selected to survive in our not-so-great southeast Ohio soil.  Fall is a great time to plant trees so reserve yours today!  

 

Suggested donation of $10 per tree but feel free to give whatever you prefer, we are just trying to recoup the cost of our supplies and want to see these trees go to good homes!  Picture attached of what the trees look like this week.   There are also a limited number of dessert and cider apple tree varieties available.  

 

To reserve your trees, please email me at mackey@ohio.edu the quantity and variety that you want and we will do our best.  There are limited numbers of each so maybe give some alternatives in case your first picks are already gone!  We will arrange an outdoor pick up location to deliver the trees to you.

 

Thanks so much for continuing to support watershed restoration and education in Raccoon Creek.  We have missed you all this summer since our events have been cancelled or made virtual, but we have high hopes for an amazing 2020!  

 

Available varieties of trees are below, plus a limited number of desert and cider varieties are available that are not on this list.

 

Alaska – California, 1930’s. Albert Etter variety. Light yellow, almost white skinned large apple that is juicy and crisp.

 

Golden Pearmain – North Carolina, 1755. AKA Clarke’s Pearmain. Round medium size fruit. At first, it is a dull-green, but colors to red on a greenish-gold background with orange flushes and red stripes. Russet dots cover the surface. Creamy yellow flesh is very firm, crisp and juicy. This dessert apple makes exceptionally fine cider and ripens in September

 

Golden Russet – New Jersey, mid 1700’s. Seedling of English Russet. Late, medium, golden bronze with a coppery orange cheek, heavily splotched with light brown russet. Crisp, highly flavored, fine textured, very sugary yellow flesh. Use for cider, dried apples, fresh eating and cooking. Called the champagne of old time cider apples. Revolutionary War soldiers were sometimes paid in cider made from Golden Russet apples. Spur bearing.

 

Gravenstein – Denmark, 1500’s. Skin, smooth, clear pale yellow with red blush. Crisp white flesh is juicy with a rich, vinous aromatic flavor. Partial tip bearer.

 

Melrose – Ohio, 1937. Jonathan x Delicious cross. Large flattened fruit. Yellowish green skin, flushed and streaked dark red with russet spots. Firm, coarse, juicy creamy white flesh. Slightly acid flavor. Ripens from mid to late Oct. Spur bearing. State apple of Ohio.

 

Rhode Island Greening – Rhode Island, 1650. Late, large fruit is smooth and unctuous to the touch, dark green at first, becoming pale as it ripens, sometimes with a faint blush. Yellowish flesh is tender, crisp, juicy with a rich, brisk, and aromatic flavor.

 

Royal Limbertwig – As described from growth trials at the University of Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station in 1896, Royal Limbertwig is a high quality fruit recommended for the home orchardist. It is noted for making excellent apple butter. Fruit is large, roundish to conical with greenish-yellow skin mostly covered with a dull red blush and dark red stripes. The yellow flesh is fine-grained, tender and juicy. Ripens October to November.