Subject: Cider Digest #1453, 3 July 2008 Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2008 14:13:59 -0600 (MDT) From: cider-request@talisman.com Cider Digest #1453 3 July 2008 Forum for Discussion of Cider Issues Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor Contents: Re: Cider Digest #1452, 23 June 2008 (Stephen Wood) thinning cider fruit (doug) Hail Cannon? ("drcath@tiac.net") Sodium-calcium-Bentonite ("J. Kent") Send ONLY articles for the digest to cider@talisman.com. Use cider-request@talisman.com for subscribe/unsubscribe/admin requests. When subscribing, please include your name and a good address in the message body unless you're sure your mailer generates them. Archives of the Digest are available at www.talisman.com/cider ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Cider Digest #1452, 23 June 2008 From: Stephen Wood Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:42:29 -0400 Re: thinning fruit Jason, 1. If you let most cider varieties crop the way they want to in their 'on' year, you won't have a crop in the 'off' year. If you want fruit every year, thin. 2. I think smaller apples grown on a very slightly stressed tree will have more of what we're looking for than large fruit grown on the same tree without stress. So don't overthin. 3. If you can figure out how to reliably attract curculio to death by cider, your fortune is made, and you can stop thinking about thinning. best, Steve Wood. ------------------------------ Subject: thinning cider fruit From: doug Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:51:48 -0400 jason- in my experience as a full time grower and cider maker and drinker(not speaking for others) thinning is good for many reasons, besides avoidance of alternate year bearing. an overcropped tree produces apples with less flavor and varietal character. the easiest way for a smaller grower to thin is to prune the tree after seeing how much fruit has set. summer pruning also discourages excessive vegetative growth and exposes the fruit to the sun which is priority #1. next years buds will be fatter too and produce better fruit. that's why the best fruit is always in the top of the tree. don't get nervous- the tree naturally prunes itself(by breaking!) in the growing season, not the winter. good luck, doug ------------------------------ Subject: Hail Cannon? From: "drcath@tiac.net" Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2008 11:44:45 -0400 I try to learn something new every day. Today's installment: The Hail Cannon, a shock wave generator designed to disrupt the formation of hailstones in stormclouds. Mom sent me a news article from Bennington, VT about a local dispute between farmers' rights to use an agricultural procedure and townies' rights to live in peaceful quiet. Both have merit, so there are lots of interesting side issues involved with the Hail Cannon on the hill! Also interesting is the fact that there is little scientific proof that it actualy works. The southern VT orchard lost $600K worth of fruit due to hail damage during one season so they're obviously willing to try fighting ice with fire (a controlled acetylene-air explosion that blasts a shrieking sound wave). The area has had 12 hailstorms so far this season. See the Eggers Anti Hail Device at www.hailcannon.com for some cool photos of this thing. I'm sure there are many orchardists here on the Digest who already know about this device but I'm also sure there are other cider enthusiasts and localvores herein like myself who have not. Cheers, Dave Catherman South Glastonbury, CT www.sleepybeelavender.com ------------------------------ Subject: Sodium-calcium-Bentonite From: "J. Kent" Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2008 18:45:30 +0100 Hi, Have anyone else used Sodium- calcium- Bentonite to clear hazy cider. If so how is it appiled? Pump the cider through a cream of it from the bottom of the vat or fill the vat with cider then drop the Bentonite through from the top? I hear that it can stay in suspension in the cider, so it will then need a good filter out. any advice will be helpful. Thanks Jeremy Kent Hereford ------------------------------ End of Cider Digest #1453 *************************