Fruit Science, Wild Cherry Food Forest Discovered, and Free Apple Seedlings

FRUIT TREE SCIENCE, WILD CHERRY FOOD FOREST DISCOVERED, AND FREE APPLE SEEDLINGS! Hello Growers! It’s hard to believe we’re already in mid-August, and the growing season is winding down. Here are some interesting things we’ve seen and have been up to. This summer, we experienced an intense heatwave with 3.5 weeks of daily high temperatures above 95°F. Such extreme heat has a significant impact on the photosynthetic efficiency of fruit trees. When temperatures soar above 90°F, trees surpass their peak photosynthetic efficiency, which typically occurs between 70-90°F. Simply put, it becomes too hot for them to efficiently absorb sunlight and CO2 above 90F, leading to limited growth during this period. This photo was snapped at our nursery during 100 degree temps. Although the trees are certainly actively growing, they are doing so at a very inefficient clip. This tracks the research done by Dejong in his recently released book titled Concepts in Growing Fruit Trees At our nursery, we noticed the same pattern: minimal growth during these hot weeks. Interestingly, root development wasn’t affected, so when temperatures finally dropped to the tree’s ideal levels below 90°F in the last 2.5 weeks, we saw an explosion of growth! If you've observed similar conditions in your fruit trees and you’re in a region where winter extreme lows can reach -25°F or colder, now is the time to stop watering your young trees. Older trees can manage, but young ones are more vulnerable to severe frost if overwatered and new vegetative growth occurs late in the season. For a deeper dive on this topic, check out this video here on the Regenerative Fruit Growers platform that we’re sponsoring. Additionally, we’re excited to share a new video today featuring a 100-year-old wild sweet cherry forest in the mountains of western Montana. It's a testament to the resilience and beauty of nature in our region and there are several take homes that you can apply in your context for growing fruit trees regeneratively. We found a 100+ yr old wild, sweet cherry food forest growing in the cold mountainous region of Western Montana. Rife with cherries, fungi, medicinal plants, fruit bearing shrubs, and lots of other ecological synergies, you can check the video out here. Lots to emulate in our tree crop systems. Lastly, we’ve just harvested some exceptional heirloom apples, including Yellow Transparent—a variety with a long history in the West. Surviving down to -60F, Yellow Transparents were brought over in the early 1800’s from Russia and are present all over old homesteads in the west, having delighted generations with their precocious and precious yellow apples that make hands down the best applesauce. We also had the pleasure of sampling Crimson Beauty apples at Benson’s Farm in Missoula. The first known controlled cross of apples, this variety was developed in the mid-1800s by Francis Peabody Sharp, who aimed to create a cold-hardy apple suitable for the short growing season in New Brunswick. Though the texture was slightly soft, the flavor is truly outstanding, which bursts with intense strawberry notes. We’ll be offering both of these trees on Dolgo rootstock for Spring 2025, along with many other new varieties, so keep an eye on our website as we’ll be updating it soon! Yellow Transparent (left) and Crimson Beauty (right). These are two old heirloom apples that deserve their place in the orchard. Lastly, we are offering anyone who subscribes to our sponsoring channel Regenerative Fruit Growers, a free apple seedling tree with an order placed for Spring 2025. Check out the channel here, shoot us an email at [email protected] that you subscribed and we’ll send it along with your order. Thanks for reading and happy growing! MFTC Montana Fruit Tree Company 3200 Clark St. Missoula, Montana USA