THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 14, 1995 TAG: 9505160484
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ROBERT STIFFLER
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
ONE OF THE PLEASURES of gardening is growing your own fruit, but it's a pleasure fraught with difficulty. In this area, most fruit requires spraying at least seven times a year.
Some gardeners want to grow their own so they'll know what it was sprayed with, many preferring organic mixes.
Starting with the spring-ripening strawberries and ending with persimmons, most fruit is easy to grow. The difficult part is keeping fruit free from disease and insects.
It was not uncommon for 18th century homesteaders to plant orchards before beginning home construction. Until 1860, horticulture to most Americans meant fruit growing. Up to 90 percent of plants sold by commercial nurseries before that year were fruit trees. Most garden literature of the time dealt with apples, peaches and grapes - remarkable considering how few people grow their own fruit today.
The apple was a standard, everyday fruit for Thomas Jefferson, writes Peter J. Hatch, director of gardens and grounds for Monticello, in the annual newsletter, ``Twinleaf.''
Cider was an integral part of the Jefferson dining tradition. He drank it with the main course of his meals and relished apple and mince pies for dessert.
Jefferson recorded in his diary in 1767 that his ``quest for the `precious refreshment' of fancy fruit continued to engage his natural inclination.''
Jefferson concentrated on four varieties. Two were unrivaled for cider-making - Hewes' Crab and Taliaferro. The dessert apples Jefferson preferred were Newton (or Albemarle) Pippin and Esopus Spitzenburg. His favorite apples represent some of the finest American varieties of all time.
Jefferson wrote from Paris that, ``They have no apples here that compare with our Newtown Pippin.'' His favorite Spitzenburg is easily identified by its vivid, orangish-red skin. The yellow flesh is crisp, firm, spicy and juicy with an aromatic flavor.
No fruit has so many variations as the apple. There are 17,000 apple varieties listed in American publications. The apple is to America as the potato is to Ireland. Virginia pomologist James Fitz proclaimed in 1872 that the apple ``is our democratic fruit.''
Apple trees of many varieties are available now, growing in containers in garden centers. Most popular are dwarf varieties, which usually bear fruit by the third year. A variety I've had excellent success with is Criterion, a yellow-blushed apple from Miller Nurseries.
All fruit trees need full sun and a loamy soil. Fertilize the second season in late winter and annually thereafter with a tree fertilizer. For spraying, use any all-purpose fruit spray.
If you prefer organic methods, you can release beneficial insects and handpick pests, but diseases are harder to control.
``Let's Get Growing,'' an organic gardening book from Rodale Press, says the most important step in halting disease and insect damage is to eliminate the sources by removing infected fruits, twigs and leaves from under trees.
For organic sprays, Rodale's recommends sulfur or a bordeaux mix for disease and Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and dormant oil for pests.
You don't need a lot of space for fruit trees. Their springtime blooms are a bonus that brighten the yard.
If you want to grow Jeffersons' favorites, the Albemarle Pippin, Esopus Spitzenburg and Hewe's Crab are all self-fruitful (requiring no pollinating tree), but planting more than one will enhance production. They cost $18.95 each, plus $4.95 shipping, from The Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants, P.O. Box 318, Charlottesville, Va. 22902. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
RICHARD DUNSTAN/Staff
Granny Smith apples are one of at least 17,000 apple varieties.
Thomas Jefferson concentrated on four outstanding varieties at
Monticello.
Graphic
MORE INFO ON APPLES
For a free copy of the Miller Nursery catalog, write to 5060
West Lake Road, Canandaigua, N.Y. 14424 or call (800) 836-9630.
To obtain a copy of the Monticello newsletter ``Twinleaf,''
containing the history of Jefferson's apples written by Peter J.
Hatch, Monticello's director of gardens and grounds, send $1 with
your request to: The Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants,
P.O. Box 318, Charlottesville, Va. 22902.
For a copy of Virginia Tech's spray schedule for growing fruit
in Southeastern Virginia, send a large stamped addressed envelope to
Gardening Reminders, 150 W. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk, Va. 23510.
Please mark your envelope ``Fruit Spray Schedule.''
by CNB