I have a new hobby. Last winter, I ate a lot of apples (I like apples.), saving the seeds on a whim. This spring, when I was planting the seeds for my third-floor balcony garden, I threw the apple seeds into some of the peat pellets (don't flame, they're the only things that work for me) to see what would happen. I got eight tiny little apple trees for my lack of actual work! I'm keeping one, planting it in a garbage can of dirt on the balcony, and am having no trouble finding homes for the rest. What I can't adopt out will be guerrilla gardened in all of the abandoned fields around town. For no actual effort and very little money, this was immensely rewarding. Now I'm munching on all the fruit I can nom: apples, pears, cherries, peaches, etc., and saving the seeds. We have a poverty issue in my town, lots of hungry families, and planting fruit trees here and there every year will help that slowly, but surely. I'm recycling my table scraps, as well as the many milk cartons that I have to move the trees into between the peat pellets and the Earth. Also, TREES! Free oxygen! Lower the carbon footprint! May I suggest this hobby to others? The only cost is the fruit, which is a healthy food anyways, and whatever seed starting methods you use in the spring, and nothing but gain to be had from it all.
Apple wood is great for on a smoker,gives an awesome flavor.I know the feeling tho,we're in a poor area as well.this is our second year with a garden,& we've been buying our beef & pork wholesale from locals as much as possible..It's waayyy cheaper & you know what you're getting.Been trying to fish as much as possible too,& hopefully will have me a good place to hunt before long.The wife & I have talked about growing our own fruit,but we're hoping to get a small farm towards the ozarks within the next 2 years,so planting where we live wouldn't be practical at the moment.
Apples grown from seeds will not necessarily resemble the apple they are taken from. 99% of the time they will be shitty apples that are only good for making cider. Now, you could wait till your apple tree gets bigger and graft on a branch from a sweet apple tree, that would work. But I doubt you will end up with sweet apples any other way.
It is a very nice concept, but without yearly pruning the trees will not yield much in the way of good fruits. You are providing good food to many animals though and thats good. And seeing them all bloom every year will also enrich the area, so good job!
Even if you can't eat them, that's awesome! If you're trying to do some good for the environment it wouldn't hurt to do some research and be careful with what you're planting, though. Invasive species are no joke.
I don't remember what the original tree was,but my neighbor grafted something like apricots,plums,peaches and something else onto a fruit tree in our yard. It looked like a christmas tree in the summer. Could be wrong about the exact type of fruit ,but it was pretty amazing.
Old post but I wanted to hop in and just say one thing. Many apple trees need to be planted with another tree to produce fruit. If you are still doing this you might want to plant them in pairs
I'm doing basically the same thing as you OP, except I'm just buying a mass quantity of different seeds and traveling with them We need all the help we can get!
I grew up in a town where there used to be 4x as many pear orchards (and some apple) as there are today. Many of the unsuccessful orchards went bankrupt in the depression. Although most of the trees were cut down after their abandonment, some were not and remained there for many years. Some saplings were grown out from the stumps of the cut trees and you can still see the rows of which they were all planted. Sadly, most of the fruit from these trees never grows to full size. Lack of water and the summers are very very hot. Plus without constant pruning of these trees, the twigs grow like crazy and it potentially minimizes fruit growth.
What I'm doing to avoid the fate of food trees being cut down is I'm growing edible weeds. All the work done for me, all I have to do is place a seed on top of the ground and walk away First I'm working on Dandelion(the larger variety that gives a huge harvest), Purslane(the hardier variety, not the one typically grown for food) and Mulberries
that sounds awesome, i wish i had the know-how to do something like that. this thread has reminded me that i have an acorn from the tree in my sig pic..i need to plant that shit
Well, the next Spring is here. I've been munching and snacking all year, and now I have seeds for cherries, more apples, pears, and grapes. I already have somevines sprouting where I chucked a couple of grapeseeds into a pot a couple of weeks ago: all viable so far. We'll be moving in a few months, so I'm keeping my garden to fast veggies and trees for myself and others this year.
