The most important and rewarding area of a permaculture garden is probably the orchard. Although an orchard takes time to grow before you see any fruits, once established it will produce larger and larger yields, whilst demanding a minimum of care compared to a vegetable garden.
I hope this list will help you choose varieties to get for your own permaculture projects!
When planting our orchard, we consciously chose only later blossoming varieties. The last day of frost is on the 25th of May here, so we try to get fruit trees blossoming around the end of April, into May. There are always casualties among the blossoms. Remove the buds that have gong black near the base, it will improve the apples that remain. This also means that we pick our apples during September and October. We also went for apple trees that don’t reach taller heights.
Red prince
These beautiful red apples are about medium sized to small so far and they have developed a nice red color despite the warm weather we have been having. The fruits are very sweet and have a crisp texture. Perfect for eating as they come off the tree. The trees are hardy and we have not experienced any trouble.
Red love 119
A purplish-red apple, this one smaller than Red Prince, with pinkish flesh. This year, the apples have a strange spongey texture. This is not a very aromatic fruit either. I’m not sure if this would improve when the weather would be more normal, but I don’t like this one so far. The apple has a mild taste, I’m sure this will do great in apple sauce.
Florina Quirina
An older variety from France. A red and green apple with a mild, pleasant flavor. Fruits are small to medium and are aromatic. Trees have good disease resistance and grow well.
Royal Gala
This variety has been around for a while. Small to medium, red fruits with a mild flavor and crisp texture. The trees do need looking after as they can get attacked by canker and fungal diseases.
Ritmo
Gorgeous looking big, red apples! Rub them shiny with a kitchen towel and keep a bunch of them in a prominent place in the house! If you can before they all get eaten (I saved just enough to get pictures…). Buttery soft texture and a sweet taste.
If you are wondering what to do with these baskets full of apples in the fall, check out the recipe section. I just added this great cake recipe and more will follow!
The Lowland Homestead 