Started to wonder/worry recently that I should have researched our apple varieties at Struan Farm a bit more thoroughly to make sure pollinators weren't required. In our two orchard areas at the farm we've got Monty's Surprise, Peasgood Nonsuch, Bramley, Cox's Orange Pippin and Akane. Next year we'll probably add Granny Smith and Braeburn to the mix to cover all the bases.
In scrolling through information online I began to see references to varieties that are meant to be planted with Bramley, for example, and thought: oh. oh.
So I contacted Heather at Mapua Country Trading, my reliable source on all things fruit trees. She assured me that bees travel, and we should be fine without specific cross-pollinating varieties of apple trees. But that if we wanted, crab trees could be used for this same purpose, and are commonly used in commercial orchards.
Since John and I both like crab apple trees generally (and the birds love them), we decided why not plant a few just in case the bees were to get lazy? Varieties favored are Jack Humm, John Downie, or Golden Hornet. We've ended up with Jack Humm, which apparently also have large crab apples if I were ever to get into using them for jelly or whatever.
These will get planted in the next day or so.
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