She Knows How to Grow Them

I just had to show off my little beauties in the garden... I love that mischievous smile on my boy... The espalier apple tree in the background has been such a surprise and joy to me this year. I actually needed to thin the apples on the top row (Liberty apple, according to the tag), and I think I still left too many. But they seem to be ripening fine.

The second row was a different variety (Gravenstein, according to the tag), and it bore 3 apples for us this year. Not bad for the second summer. They were crisp and sweet. Two of them were damaged by what appeared to be an insect bite, but still went on to ripen nicely. I look forward to more next year.

The bottom row (Akane apple, according to the tag), didn't bear any fruit this year. I suppose this is the drawback of the horizontal cordon form of espalier - the energy for fruit production (and branch growth) is disproportionately directed at the top branches. Although the fruit production in my three levels and varieties of espalier asian pear were not so disproportionate, with each level bearing fruit.