Pruning Apple Trees

This is not a "how to" essay on pruning apple trees. Folks know me as a humble man, claiming no expertise in any area. Indeed, my wife often reminds me that I have much about which to be humble.

When it comes to pruning apple trees, I think I am probably one of the many people who like apple trees and struggle with the question, "How much do I cut off."

First, let me quickly add that I make no attempt to prune my full-sized apple trees. I like to see them get really big, and then I harvest whatever apples they produce. Last summer was a bumper crop, and their limps were so thick with fruit that many of the branches broke. I was eating our apples till the end of February. We were able to pick less than half of the apples, and much of the fruit was left on the trees for the birds or knocked to the ground for the deer.
I was too busy picking apples to take a picture of the trees with fruit on them last fall, but here is a photograph of the three Haralson trees as they look now.

Lowest branches on these trees are about six feet from the ground. The top ten feet on the tree in the foreground is beyond what I can reach, even if I stand in the bucket of the front-end loader on my tractor.

But I like to try to prune my dwarf apple trees, and I've learned that on dwarf trees, you want to cut off vertical branches and encourage branches to grow horizontally.

Last spring Nancy and I stopped for our monthly shopping at Cedar Summit Farm, north of New Prague, where we buy grass-fed beef, eggs from free-range chickens, honey produced locally, and dairy products made on the premises. Check out their website. www.cedarsummit.com
We caught a quick conversation with owner Dave Minar, and since I know he is a man of many talents and much wisdom, I asked him about pruning apple trees.
He said, "Well, you want to cut off enough branches so that you can take the meanest and biggest tomcat on the farm and toss him through the middle of the tree."
THIS IS A HYPOTHETICAL TOSS!
Don't try this at home, Folks. Don't actually toss the cat. We all love kitties. This is just meant as something to imagine.
So if you can imagine what a tree might look like if you could indeed toss a big tomcat through it, you may come up with a tree resembling mine after I took Dave's advice.

I took these pictures today. I didn't have the courage to take a picture of what they looked like immediately after I pruned them this spring when the branches were bare.

If you line the trees up just right, I think you could get the cat through both trees with one good, strong toss.

The trees have lots of fruit and look like they are doing fine even after I butchered them.

If you want expert advice on pruning, I suggest contacting the University of Minnesota Extension. 

Also, I wouldn't mention the tomcat test.

Milkapalooza

On Saturday morning the weather gave us clouds and small sprinkles of rain, but the optimism expressed by the hard-working owners/operators at Cedar Summit Farm north of New Prague, MN, was typical of farm people. "It's clearing up," they all agreed. The great thing was that visitors shared that optimism because the cars kept driving into the parking area as people of all ages filled the yard at Cedar Summit Farm, where Dave and Florence Minar, their sons and daughters, their grandchildren, and other workers hosted their annual fun day they call "Milkapalooza."

We arrive early to set up and Linda Minar takes a moment to explain the layout to me.

Patrick Fisher, New Prague Times reporter and photographer captures a moment as I sign a book for a mother and child in the field where cars are parking. The area fill ups with cars rapidly as visitors come.

Visitors get free samples in foreground and ride on ponies and pet animals in the background.

Any event where kids and parents are having fun together makes me smile, and this day gave me a lot to smile about as I watched kids pet calves and cows; milk a mechanical cow; discuss chickens, honey, maple syrup with a farm families who supply some products sold at Cedar Summit; visit the barns; sit for a caricaturist; sample sheep cheese; ride to the pasture to visit the cattle herd to learn why grass-fed is best; and dance to music provided by two different bands.

Jazmine displaying caricature done by John Busacker.

Jazmine displaying her new book 

The cows attracted fans.

The cow milking contest was a popular event.

So was visiting the herd as shown below.

Tractor and wagon with visitors return from the pasture where they viewed the fine herd of cattle 

as seen in the distance from our tent in the farmyard in the picture below.

Florence Minar giving samples of a new product made at Cedar Summit Farm, drinkable yogurt.

Dave Minar talking with one of the handlers of the two cows available for petting.

Dave and Florence Minar deserve special recognition for their creation of Cedar Summit Farm. Their interest in producing healthy, more natural dairy and meats goes back to before the 1970s. I urge readers to visit Cedar Summit Farm website at www.cedarsummit.com and click on the appropriate tab to read the history of the farm's development and the special products they have to offer. They sell their own dairy products, grass-fed beef and pork, but they also provide a retail outlet for natural, healthy products produced by like-minded neighbors, such as honey, maple syrup, eggs, and chickens. Nancy and I have enjoyed their healthy foods for years and urge you to give them a try. You will be glad you did.

The Minar family were very kind to Nancy and me, providing us with a spot to sell our books under their big tent and a big room to perform my stories for lots of kids and their parents. We had a great time talking to old friends and meeting new people. The atmosphere was fun and exciting, as kids and adults of all ages mingled with each other and discussed the operation with the friendly Minar family members who made themselves available throughout the day. Keep the event in mind and check the website regularly to discover the date for next year's Milkapalooza.

Nancy and I wish to thank Dave and Florence Minar and the entire family for having us at the event.
We especially thank Linda Minar for her time and effort in arranging our visit.

Photographs by Nancy A. Fredrickson, except for the one below, which was taken by a friendly customer.

For more pictures of the event, click on Read More below.