Greetings again my dear apple fam !
Turning another page on the calendar, we are now looking toward the Winter’s work; the exploits of dormant life, if you will. For me, and for many of those reading this, that means pruning fruit trees, planning for next year, and, come the thaw, GRAFTING!
I’m happy to announce on this post that this year’s scionwood order form is now live on the website! Here is some valuable information about the 2019 Gnarly Pippins Scionwood Catalogue and order form.
GNARLY PIPPINS SCIONWOOD ORDER INFO
Bundles or individual sticks of scion wood are available for order, in limited quantity from the varieties of pome fruit listed below. On the next page, each wild apple or pear is listed with a brief description and its American state of origin. Wild apple scion wood is ungraded. It comes from wild apple and pear trees that have not been regularly managed under anthropogenic tree care practices. Therefore, the scion wood you receive in those varieties may have a range of caliper, anywhere from ⅛” to ⅜”.
Wild varieties will have a more variable caliper, and cultivated varieties will be more consistent. Variability in scion caliper does not negatively affect the viability of the scion wood or likelihood that your grafts will be successful. Working with scions from wild, uncultivated trees will only contribute to your skill as a grafter.
Below is a full, annotated list of each apple or pear variety that’s available. Enjoy exploring the different varieties, and I hope that you find something you’re excited about!
Pricing: Scion wood is sold by the foot or by the bundle. (1 ft. of scion wood = 12 inches of viable scion wood. A bundle is 6 feet of scion.) From one single foot of scion wood, you can make 3 to 5 grafts.
- Wild apples – $5/ft.
- Wild pears – $6/ ft.
Ordering: Visit the Gnarly Pippins web shop (Menu –> Shop) to find wild apple scion wood by the foot. If you’re interested in ordering multiple varieties, you will have to add the desired quantity of each apple variety to your shopping cart individually.
Alternatively, you can send an email to matt.s.kaminsky@gmail.com with your order.
Shipping: Scion wood orders will ship by the end of March. $10.00 flat rate, rush shipping to anywhere in the lower 48 USA. No international shipping available. Local pickup in Western MA is free.
Questions / Comments: Please direct any additional questions, comments or concerns to matt.s.kaminsky@gmail.com.
Wild Pome Scion Wood List (annotated):
- Deerhide Russet ** – Yowling flavor, high acid keeper apple. Baking, Cider, Storage. October. (VT)
- Hat and Shoes Crab** – Green culinary crab w/ some russeting. Prolific annual bearing crab good for storage cooking (esp. whole roasting.) Shakes well. Late Sept – Oct. (MA)
- Old Fertile** – High quality bittersweet cider apple. yellow w/ broken russeting. Spur growth habit, bears annually. October. (VT)
- * – Subacid, all-purpose apple. Hearty crimson skin, long stems. October (VT)
- Footrace** – Sharp when picked, bittersharp after sweating. Cider, baking, dessert. Sept. (ME)
- Juicy Juicy Pineapple – All-purpose yellow fruit with huge tropical flavor, cleaving flesh. Dessert, culinary, anything else. Sept-Oct. (VT)
- Walter’s Favorite – Yellow, mellow bittersharp fruit, full size. September. (VT)
- Nailbiter** – Aggressively bitter variety. Orange w/ russeting. Full size. October (VT)
- Cave Hill Pearmain – Sweet, fine distinctly rosey flavor. Hard, pear-like flesh. Best quality eating, stores well. October. (MA)
- Blushing George – Sharp all-purpose apple. Yellow waxy skin with red blush. For fans of Idared/Calville Blanc. September (MA)
- Bittersweet Beauty of the Quabbin – Bittersweet, subacid red-striped cider apple. September, high brix. (MA)
- Pinkie Pie – Natural bittersweet cider apple. Soft pink stripes over creamy white colored skin. 2” fruit, juicy. Mid-October (VT)
- Ed’s Winter – Ice cider variety for traditional method ice cider. Apples hang onto the tree after harvest until March. Very good quality eating and hard cider. Sweet-sharp apple with soft bitterness. Best quality ice cider. Dec. (NH)
- Winhall Fire – Russet apple excellent for all purposes. Best quality eating, excellent quality cider. Balanced sweet-sharp with subtle mild bitterness. Superior storage, scab resistant. Late October. (VT)
- Thornton Pearls** – Dazzling porcelain-white crabs. Fine floral flavor for sauce, eating, decorative. September. (NH)
- Thornton Brass Cyder – Bitter cider apple. Balanced flavor, moderate acidity. Brings blaring trumpet solos to mind. Sept-Oct. (NH)
- Queen Crab** – Yellow/red crab, dolgo-shaped. Sprightly and electric flavor. Juicy, shakes well. Cider and anything else. September. (ME)
- Trousers Pear – Excellent quality bittersharp perry pear. Green with red sun spot. Early-to-bear for a pear. Sweats to a butter pear-like eating quality, coarse flesh granules make this pear press well without rice hulls or other pressing aid. Late September. (MA)
SCIONS !
MORE SCIONS !
BUNDLES AND BUNDLES OF SCIONS !
New apple varieties added!
I am very excited that there are three new apple varieties included in the scionwood catalog this year. Winhall Fire, Pinkie Pie, and Ed’s Winter have all been added this year, after three seasons of close observation. They have all graduated through the hardiness/resilience criteria I look for in wild apples to justify propagating and cultivating them for further. Each of them has very unique character. Read about them above in the annotations of wild apple varieties! Due to short supply, Wilmington Hideout has not been included in this year’s catalog. I hope to propagate many more of those this year to replenish stock of that variety so that it may be available in 2020. Anyway, here is an additional little ode to each new addition, as they have not had yet been blessed by my long-winded descriptions yet, like the other Gnarly Pippins apples have been either in Instagram posts or in The Wild Apple Forager’s Guide.
Winhall Fire, for fans of Golden Russet and Orleans Reinette, is an amazing all purpose russet with superb storage. Pinkie Pie, for fans of Binet Rouge and Reine des Pommes, is a Green Mountains-native bittersweet; its flavor is your classic New England via- Normandy high sugar, rich tannin, low acid jewel. Named by Yoder Farm after the my little pony character. Ed’s Winter, for fans of Northern Spy and White Winter Pearmain, is an ice cider specialty varietal that really suits the needs of any workhorse apple. The fruit’s stem tissue is tougher than normal yankee apple stock, and the crop hangs onto the tree until March at the earliest. A yuletide harvest of frozen Ed’s Winter apples will give you a trophy ice cider. High brix, finely tuned acid/tannin balance. Such joy to unleash these latest 3 wild apples into the catalog.
NEW PRUNING SAW DESIGNS IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS!
Now available in the webshop also are new pruning handsaws. In addition to the ones that are presently available (1-handed pruning saws intended for all-purpose type of cutting), I also have a new design of saw that is intended for more aggressive cutting applications. Larger diameter branches on big, older trees can be cleanly cut with the humble handsaw! These saws are intended to be held with 1 or 2 hands, and have a longer handle that follows a lilting curve. The blades used for these have much larger teeth, capable of removing material much quicker and over a longer pull stroke than the smaller handsaws. I use one of the larger handsaws every single day in my arborist work, my craft work, and believe that they are the most ergonomic handsaws that you can find. These three pictured above are handled with black walnut, more are in production in both black cherry, and rowan. Stay tuned on Instagram for updates on the pruning saws currently in the works.
Rowan wood freshly harvested from a standing dead tree. A revered green woodworking species, this wood has a very very dark wood heartwood with shades of purple, green, and brown contrasting its milky white sapwood layer. A stunning handsaw with the strength of a very dense-grained wood.
Browse the webshop for a handsaw that’s currently in stock, or let me know if there’s something specific that you’re looking for. I delight to fulfill any interested individual with a custom-made saw to order. Contact me through the website for custom order inquiries. I am certain that I can make you a pruning saw that will please your trees, your hands, and your eyes.
Thank you for taking the time to read through this post! May either the promise of new grafting projects or pruning tools aid you in your expedition forward into Winter, the quiet times ahead, and the visions of the next bloom that buzz about your mind over the next few months. Happy Holidays from Gnarly Pippins !
Cheers !
Matt // Gnarly Pips
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