Sub-Total: $0.00
The apples in the greenhouse are blooming beautifully and they are almost ready for their next home – hopefully yours!
Last spring, Gene grated the apples we are selling this year so they are all one year old – and they are proven to be hardy and happy. We do not ship apples up from the lower 48 nor do we sell newly grafted trees. We prefer to grow them out and make sure they are proven and healthy.
Because many of the apple varieties that will do well in Alaska are lesser-known, we thought it might help to have a description of each of the apples we carry ahead of time to help you with your decision making.
As always, we are opening Mother’s Day Weekend and the apple trees will be available!
Wanna be entered to win a doorprize? RSVP here for free: https://www.tixtree.com/e/plant-pickup-open-house-vendor-event-ea5ff8aa881f
We choose the apple varieties based on what will actually thrive in Alaska. One example is a Honeycrisp. It’s true – Honeycrisp will often survive our winters, so often you will find them for sale at different locations up here. Unfortunately, although the tree has a good chance of survival, it is rare that a Honeycrisp will ripen. They just need more summer than our climate typically gives in most areas.
So we choose apple varieties that are often lesser-known but that have proven to do exceptionally well in our valley zones 2-4.
VARIETIES:
Here are some of the apples we will have for sale during our Spring into Gardening Market at the Orchard.
Parkland – a sweet-tart, juicy apple that’s excellent for fresh eating and preserving and is known for having excellent flavor. Parkland is an early ripening apple and is a small-medium apple. Not a good keeping apple but it’s sure good when it’s fresh and it preserves well.
Norland – the primary workhorse apple in most Alaskan orchards – it’s a favorite for fresh eating. The apples are small in size but they sure do make good applesauce and cider! They are usually the first to ripen in the orchard. They are also really good sliced into rings and dehydrated for apple chips.
Westland – a large, sweet-tart, processing apple – we use these for pie filling and saucing mostly. Westland is an early apple that has has oodles of flavor.
Red Sparkle – these apples are so good – and here’s the fun thing about red sparkle. If you wipe the natural wax from the apple with a towel, the skin looks like it’s been covered in glitter! These are Abbi’s favorite. Red sparkle ripens mid-season, it’s sweet, crisp, and juicy, and it keeps well in the fridge for quite awhile.
Dexter Jackson – crisp, sweet, and a heavy producer. Stores well in the fridge and is a mid-season ripening apple with really good flavor for fresh eating.
Goodland – a late ripening apple that keeps really well in the fridge and is excellent for fresh eating. They are also great for pies because they are on the larger size and are easy to process.
Breaky – small-medium size apple that ripens mid-season. Breaky is super flavorful and sweet and it’s a really good all-around apple.
Mantet – an early apple with tons of flavor – it’s a fresh-eating favorite. Mantet is a heavy producer and the apples are medium-large in size that are great for all purposes except it won’t keep well in the fridge for more than a couple of weeks.
Plums – Don’t forget, we also have three varieties of plums, to choose from, too! These plums were also grafted here on the farm last year and have proven to produce well in most areas of Southcentral Alaska.
POLLINATION:
When buying an apple tree, remember you will need a pollinator. There are a few things to remember about pollinators:
- Specific to apples, your apple trees don’t have to be too close for pollination. Sometimes even your neighbor’s tree can pollinate yours!
- In order for your apple to pollinate, it has to have another tree near it that is blooming at the same time. Because our season is so short, most apples that do well here will pollinate each other but if you have one super early apple and one late apple only, you could run into pollination issues.
- You have to have two different varieties for pollination.
Don’t forget to preregister here to be entered to win a doorprize: https://www.tixtree.com/e/plant-pickup-open-house-vendor-event-ea5ff8aa881f
EVENT INFORMATION:
Our hours during the Mother’s Day Event are:
Friday, May 9 from 10 am – 5 pm
Saturday, May 10 from 10 am – 5 pm
Sunday, May 11 from 1-4 pm
We will have much more avaialble than just apple & plum trees! We will also have:
- Orchard plants like honeyberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, and more!
- Veggie & herb plants to get your garden jump-started
- Whole grain sourdough baked goods
- Gorgeous hanging baskets at a really good price
- Vendors with special gifts just for mom (or you – you can always buy for yourself, too!)
- And even a PIZZA FOOD TRUCK featuring fresh milled Alaska barley and pepperoni made from AK grown pork (Friday only)!
What an incredible weekend! Add this to your calendar and bring a friend. You’ll be glad you did!
PS – if you preordered plants, this is when you should plan to come grab those, too!