When you look at an aerial photo of Doug and Linda Steele's Cullman, Ala., acreage, the first thing you see is chicken houses. The Steeles have a job—raising chickens—but they also have a passion.
"I've always liked to plant things—to see things grow," says Linda. And as she points at the aerial photo again, you see the trees. Hundreds of them. Anywhere there's room.
"We put them out in 1985," she says. "We love apples."
That aerial photo hangs in the store at Steele Orchard, where you can find some combination of 23 varieties of apples at any given time from May to October, or "until we get the last apple off the tree," Linda says.
Getting started. Those 20-plus-year-old trees hold an abundance of fruit now, but getting them started was a chore. Steele learned the hard way to make sure she was ready to plant before putting out the trees.
"The pH in the soil needs to be a certain level. We didn't think about that until we had them in the ground. That made it a little harder." Steele also recommends planning out the spacing for your orchard before planting to ensure there will still be space to care for the trees even after they've reached maturity.
PLANT FOR POLLEN. None of the varieties shown in our chart (see "A great start for your orchard," on page 2) are self-pollinators. To ensure your apples are pollinated, you will need to plant pollinizers such as crabapple trees or bring in a hive of bees—or both.
Most nurseries recommend planting a pollinizer every 50 feet, staggered in adjacent rows. Be sure to ask which pollinizer varieties will work best for your climate and the apples you'd like to grow. To find beekeepers in your area, visit www.beesource.com or www.pollinator.org.
TRAIN WHEN THEY'RE YOUNG. Nancy Olson, owner of Country Apple Orchard in Harrisburg, S.D., agrees with Steele. "It's a lot of work, but it's very rewarding," she says. "They're all pretty easy to grow. You just don't realize what's involved until you get started."
Young trees need training to hold the fruit. "When the trees are young, the limbs want to grow straight up," says Doug Steele. "Use a clothespin to bend the limb when it's young so that it'll grow at 90 degrees from the tree."
The training doesn't end when the trees get older. "We prune the branches every winter so the sun can get down through the branches to turn the apples red," says Olson.
The pruning also lets you enjoy the benefits of apples year-round. "When we trim the trees, we mulch the branches and make wood chips for people to use in their smokers," she says.
Apples prefer cooler climates, and they need to be kept cool once harvested. "There's a knack to picking apples; you can't just throw them in the bins," says Olson. "Keep apples cool; they can't sit out in the sun." The Steeles have a cooler where they store picked apples.
A FAVORITE APPLE. You'll find that depending on the variety, the fruit may have a slightly different taste or aroma at different times throughout the harvest season.
The most popular variety will depend on who you ask, but both the Steeles and Olson grow Honeycrisp. "If we had six times as many Honeycrisp trees as we do, everyone would be happy," says Olson. "They're good eating apples."
One last tip: If you're planting a small orchard, trellising might be your best option to save space. The trellis can be constructed of posts and wires, with the first wire about 2 feet off the ground and six or more spaced 18 to 24 inches apart going up. Dwarf varieties grow best on a trellis since their limbs need the support to hold the weight of the fruit.
See next page for details on some of our favorite varieties.
[PAGEBREAK]
A Great Start for Your Orchard
Although there are thousands of apple varieties grown all over the world, we've narrowed it down to six popular, crowd-pleasing varieties that work well for backyard orchards. We've listed general availability and peak harvest times, but depending on your location, your crop may vary slightly.
| |
VARIETY |
BEST FOR |
ZONES |
SEASON |
GROWING TIPS |
 |
FUJI—A cross of Ralls Janet and Delicious, this variety was created in Japan in 1962. It produces tall, medium-sized fruit. It offers crisp, juicy white flesh and keeps well. |
Eating and salads; sauce made from Fuji apples needs little or no sugar |
6 to 8 |
Harvest late October; season runs October to January. Apples may require 200 days to reach maturity. |
Vigorous, productive tree that can be somewhat bushy and requires annual detailed pruning. |
 |
GALA—Also known as the Royal Gala, this apple has a mild, sweet flavor and juicy, crisp flesh. Because of its medium size, mellow flavor and thin skin, it's an excellent choice for children. |
Eating, salads |
4 to 8 |
Harvest October; season runs October to January. |
Compact growth habit, very prolific; requires heavy thinning to maintain fruit size and prevent biennial bearing. |
 |
GRANNY SMITH—Named for an Australian grandmother named Mary Smith, these green, extremely tart apples have been cultivated for at least 140 years. They are crisp and juicy, and keep well. |
Eating, salads, cooking, sauce, freezing |
6 to 8 |
Late October harvest; season runs October to December. |
Requires well-drained soil and full sun. |
| |
VARIETY |
BEST FOR |
ZONES |
SEASON |
GROWING TIPS |
 |
HONEYCRISP—A new favorite for its sweet-tart flavor and explosively crisp texture. It is only propagated by licensed parties; to apply, contact Jeff Carpenter, University of Minnesota, carpe012@
umn.edu, 612-624-6426. |
Eating, salads, cooking |
3 to 6 |
Harvest mid-September; season runs September to November. |
Well-suited to cold temperatures, and tends to spread. Thinning of heavy crops is recommended. |
 |
MCINTOSH—A sweet apple with a tart tang and juicy, tender flesh. A best-seller in the Northeast, it is a beautiful, deep red apple, but can turn mealy if stored too long. It cooks down quickly; use a thickener if using in a pie. |
Eating, sauce, cider; good for salads and pies |
4 to 6 |
Harvest September; season runs September to December. |
An early producer; it requires well-drained soil and full sun. |
 |
MUTSU—The Mutsu, otherwise known as a Crispin, is a yellowish-green apple with an orange blush and firm, juicy flesh with a moderate, sweet flavor. The apple keeps well. |
Eating, sauce, baking |
5 to 9 |
Harvest early October; season runs October to January. |
Vigorous, fairly early harvest apple that is happy in all soil types and requires full sun. |
Apple Photos: New York Apple Association