New Apple Varieties on Auction , What This is Really About

About my new Apple varieties and what this breeding project is really about. Read my blog post and find auction links here: skillcult.com/blog/2021/3/16/a...
Thank you everyone for the views, shares and support :D Join me on Patreon to keep me doing more of what I do. Thank you patrons for supporting the mission!
/ skillcult
Support on / skillcult has been critical in keeping me experimenting and making content. If you want to help me help others, this is probably the best way to do it. Thank you Patrons for supporting the mission!
Buy less, but buy it through my links! Shopping through my affiliate links generates revenue for me, at no extra cost to you, click links here, or go to my Amazon Store page: skillcult.com/amazon-store/ But seriously, buy less, do more.
Standard gear I recommend. I either use or have used all of it.
Council Tool Boys Axe: amzn.to/3z0muqI
Bahco Farmer's File: amzn.to/3Hbdhij
King two sided sharpening stone: amzn.to/32EX1XC
Silky f180 saw: amzn.to/3yZzM71
ARS 10 foot long reach pruner: amzn.to/3esETmM
Victorinox grafting/floral knife: amzn.to/3Jki1E9
Wiebe 12” fleshing tool: amzn.to/3sB0qSl
Atlas Elbow Gloves: amzn.to/3FwB5g6
BOOKS:
The Axe Book, by Dudley Cook: amzn.to/32kx7sN
Bushcraft, by Mors Kochanski: amzn.to/32q2rpT
Subscribe to my channel for more insightful Self Reliance related content: kzbin.infosubs... Click the bell icon to be notified of new content. Subscribing doesn’t mean that much on it’s own.
Blog and website: www.skillcult.com/blog
Instagram and Facebook @SkillCult

[@toadstkr]

The evolution of Skillcult from dreadlocked rocker to lumberjack to professor who looks like Andy Dufrane from Shawshank Redemption.... it’s been amazing to watch over the years!

[@zackofalltrades8118]

He's the Andy dufrane of the 5 variety apple prison we have been living in

[@toadstkr]

@@zackofalltrades8118 perfect!

[@SkillCult]

Oh I see, it's the haircut :)

[@goodmusic3679]

Last night, after an epic, arthritis-inducing grafting session, I had a dream about a strawberry-flavoured apple. It wasn't red-fleshed, but even Nostradamus got some details wrong. Anyway, always love the apple previews - keep on making new malus.

[@SkillCult]

More strawberry apples are coming for sure. I think the trick is going to be growing a lot of red fleshed seedlings, mixed with anything berry flavored, and then maybe cross those showing the trait with each other. Just need another couple decades or three.

[@lblake5653]

This is very interesting. When I was growing up in NJ I can remember only having red and golden delicious, Macintosh, winesap and Granny Smith. Fast forward 50 years later I'm in California and every year we have apple varieties that blow my mind. My latest favorite is the Opal. I thought Fuji and Honeycrisp apples were the bomb until I had an Opal.

[@SkillCult]

I'll have to try Opal. I just had my third honeycrisp and remain unimpressed.When I was a kid it was just red and yellow delicious and newton pippin, then granny replaced newton and now we finally have some variety, though it's a limited range still.

[@derekclawson4236]

Thought this might be interesting to you. I grew a seedling apple tree and it's still probably less than 2 years old. It's already flowering pretty heavily. It'd be cool to see if it will set a fruit so young on its first flower.

[@SkillCult]

That is really great and as far as I've seen, lucky. I've heard similar stories, but it's pretty unusual. Wish we knew what the major factor or factors is.

[@derekclawson4236]

Man I'd love to start doing what you're doing myself. Would love to buy any varieties you think might grow in the FL panhandle. Especially the red flesh ones. Already grafted most of my available apple branches this season though. Maybe have two more spots I could try. Think I've had success with some of what I've done though. Golden dorsett scions are budding off real good after about a month. Unfortunately I'm a new grafter. Hesitant to remove the wrapping too early. Any tips on when to fully remove the grafting tape etc?

[@SkillCult]

@@derekclawson4236 I don't know much about growing in FL. Follow david the good if you don't already, survival gardener. Also check out Kevin Hauser, Kuffle Creek nursery and Apple and oranges blog. I might try tyo pollinate some dorsett golden blossoms today see if I can get some seed for people like you down there.

[@myceilauniverse9096]

@@SkillCult from my experience it’s the amount of available nutrients, light cycles, temperature cycles. I’ve experimented with either clones or from seed of the same variety and planted in several areas over the years all within 50ft. They all flower at different times do to above various reasons. This year we had a unusually warm winter we had plants going into seed 3 months before they where supposed to do so..

[@ciarfah]

@@myceilauniverse9096 Have you noticed any patterns with first blossoms though. Do seedlings start to set blossoms a year before others depending on conditions? Do some refuse to set blossoms under other conditions? Is is a product of variability? I'd love your feedback on this since it appears you've been observant in this area

[@andreferreira4564]

Steven! Congratulations, just checked the auction values on ebay, and got blown away. That's just amazing. Hope I'll be able to grow your varieties some day and cross them with the collection of heritage apple varieties I'm building here in Portugal (local varieties). Keep your amazing and inspiring work.

[@stonedapefarmer]

I've been watching your apple breeding work for a while and it has certainly inspired me to begin starting a lot more perennials from seed... everything from fruit and nuts to perennial vegetables.

[@baddriversofcolga]

This is so exciting! I can't wait to see the results from the cuttings and seeds I got from you. Hopefully my shoddy grafting ability produces something. And it looks like you're making out well on those auctions. Congrats!

[@danielsmith336]

You taught me how to graft with your videos and I have grafts from you on several of my frakentrees. Plus other scion wood choices I have acquired elsewhere have been due to your videos about those varieties. I'm expecting to get to try Bite Me!! this year. You have always been very generous with your scion prices and with giving extras. I'm glad that the bids kept going up and up and up with these auctions. They went out of my price range but you have a huge stockpile of good Karma and you deserve every penny.

[@TheAsadJK]

Been following your channel for a few years now and I'm loving the mission. I'm sure you'll make a great positive change in the world as a result of this. I'm not going to be bidding on your scions this year as I don't have the capacity for them but if you are going to be selling some more scions or seeds next year I will definitely be picking some up!

[@allisonbenfield6104]

I am so excited to see how many new and interesting apple varieties come from your orchard! I kinda fell out of love with apples for awhile (you can only eat so many honeycrisp's), but you brought back wonder and inspired me to start my own orchard and grafting for the first time. Thank you for putting so much love and effort into this project, it really is amazing.

[@SkillCult]

:) It's easy to lose faith in apples. Read this. skillcult.com/blog/2013/08/18/apple-head-from-punk-to-the-plunk-of-falling-apples

[@allisonbenfield6104]

@@SkillCult I had to read out loud to get the best experience. From a young adult inspired by Punk Rock to the Shakespearean ode to Apples, was really something I enjoyed reading. Thank you for sharing. I am supper excited to see, smell, taste, and touch what comes from the Apple seeds and few grafts I manged to get in the auction. This Love of Apples is truly an exercise in patience, and a whole lot of optimism, but so, so worth it.

[@eriksalmon]

Modern-day Johny Apple Seed. I just ordered some apple seeds. I am in Southern Calif and I am looking forward to planting these seeds and what comes from them.

[@orchardnotes]

Thank you Steven, this is hugely inspirational. Small-scale apple breeding is something I'd love to get into over here in the UK (I just need a bit more growing space and quite a bit more time), so I'll be reading your blog and watching your vids with great interest in the meantime.

[@paulyounger1190]

Wow we got Professor Skillcult today with the glasses! Haven't seen those before, looking sharp. I like these kind of chalk-talk whiteboard type videos. It's neat to see your notes on the board. Also glad to see your scionwood auctions are getting lots of bids!

[@SkillCult]

My autoimmune eye disease flared up and I had to wear glasses for a while. Seems to be under control now. I write down oodles of vid ideas that I never do lol, but you never know. stanger things have happened...

[@TJHutchExotics]

@@SkillCult I have several autoimmune issues- affects my eyes too. Glad it’s getting better

[@SkillCult]

@@TJHutchExotics I can knock it back in about 36 to 48 hours by fasting. Two possible reasons. Fasting raises some stress hormones that are anti-inflammatory. Also gut related stuff, either food sensitivities that trigger immune responses, or gut dysbiosis causing reactions to bacterial endotoxins or other byproducts of whatever is growing in there. My autoimmune stuff is was better these day;s. I was surprised this cropped up.

[@TJHutchExotics]

@@SkillCult interesting. I’ve been doing intermittent fasting for a couple of years with good success. Until last summer - wound up needing emergency surgery for an intestinal blockage.

[@SkillCult]

@@TJHutchExotics I often don't eat til pretty late in the day now, with 12 to 20 hour fasting windows. But if I eat if I need to. Longer fasts have more and different physiologic effects though. Check out YT vid interviews and talks by David Sinclair and Valter Longo. Both longevity researchers that think fasting is key to spurring cell regeneration and accessing our genetic code for better expression. They basically say that the research that showed longevity from calorie restriction wasn't due necessarily to chronic restriction, but that occasionally going hungry for periods of time will kick in the same mechanisms. it used to be super hard for me to fast, but it's gotten a lot easier and I can function pretty well now. Other things that helped inflammation, were metal detox re: Christopher Shade (after rough initial flares!), wachuma and the lightening process, which I hesitate to recommend because of cult-like belief format, but it works.

[@KevinsDisobedience]

It’s good to see you excited! I just got done pruning my trees. And just ordered two more trees, one plumb one apple. You have a very different climate than I have, but where can I find you scions? Never mind you just answered my question. Thanks.

[@manguydude287]

I am always so excited to see what you are up to. We are lucky to have people like you in this world

[@hollystockley6834]

This was timely. My last podcast episode was on much the same subject, and I pointed folks at your videos on apple breeding. Thanks for all you do.

[@SkillCult]

Great! Can you provide a URL?

[@OakKnobFarm]

My orchard is young, and my trees are still tiny. I can not wait until I have large enough trees to buy some of your scions and start grafting

[@donaldboyett7682]

I reached that point this year and started doing some grafting. Took me five years to get here but I feel like the door has been opened for experimentation now.

[@nagasvoice8895]

I checked on the auctions and things are going from amazing high bids. I'm so pleased to see the support for your projects that I don't mind being priced out this year. Next year for sure!

[@SkillCult]

I'll be working on propagating more cuttings and getting them out cheap in the future.

[@ciarfah]

Some of his seedlings are on fruitwoodnursery, I'm keeping an eye on it for more of the auctioned varieties (and Steven recently said he's trying to get his varieties to that shop) International shipping too is a God send

[@ciarfah]

I should say "more of" his varieties. Bite Me is on there already

[@tropicalco2339]

This is exactly what I'm looking for. Thank you for your hard work and time.

[@brettona123]

Brilliant! Literally. Great to see you selling and getting some cash to fund your project/s. I checked out your blog and your Ebay. Some awesome sales going on there!

[@zokowawa]

Absolutely amazing, and what a joy to see results this interesting coming out of an eleven year project! I have really enjoyed being part of the whole journey for the last 6 years and these new apples are gorgeous! I can't bid on the scions from this side of the Atlantic, but I will definitely be interested in pollen later on. Great and inspiring work, and I am very happy to see it bear fruits!

[@SkillCult]

Yeah Solko, you've been around a while! Hope to hear about fruit from the seedlings you've planted soon.

[@suttonelms1]

Hi Solko - yes; great work here. I am involved in similar work in the UK but can't write about it because it's for a private company. Some of the redfleshed look very exciting. Familiar with Rubaiyat, Wickson, Grenadine, thanks to Steve; these often have interesting progeny.

[@saltriverorchards4190]

I’ve added your eBay seller account to my favorites list in hopes of getting a few scions. I have plenty of room for trial apples on my land and I’m excited to see how all your hard work has paid off.

[@deepsixdesigns1477]

I am super excited about all these! Hopefully next season these will be in a little wider release. See how they grow up in the 'Boldt!

[@javierrivera9236]

Hello, Steven! I grafted Black Strawberry back in 2021 (almost 2 years ago) on G.890 rootstock and this year it's putting out flowers! Mind you, I live in Orlando, FL, where we get very little chill (or no chill at all, depending on the chill accumulation model) and the tree still produced flower buds! Really excited for this opportunity, so I'll report back to you once we get to taste this apples later this year!!!

[@SkillCult]

Great! My guess is that it will be meally there with the heat. it tends to do that anyway. But who knows and it might be useful for breeding if it deals with the lack of chill.

[@javierrivera9236]

@@SkillCult, we'll let you know how it goes! I have faith the texture may hold up well with all the rainwater we'll get during summer. Thank you for the reply, brother!

[@lindae3408]

Love you Brother. I'm glad the auction worked well. Great philosophy of sharing.

[@albertbierstadt1190]

Happy Spring!

[@SkillCult]

You too :)

[@georgekubrick3134]

It's been fun being part of the bidding process. I'm sure these scions will go to great homesteads and orchards.

[@georgekubrick3134]

Oh and quick question, when direct sowing wickson o/p seeds in the nursery, how far should I space?

[@georgekubrick3134]

Or would you recommend starting in a green house?

[@SkillCult]

I start mine in flats in an unheated greenhouse, then plant out. 6 inches is more than enough apart for a first year, especially if you are going to cut them off and graft them after the first year. 4 to 6 inches apart in the row, with more space between rows for light and maintenance is will work and is pretty simple. If you want them to grow better, give them a little more space, but the root system is quite small the first year.

[@georgekubrick3134]

@@SkillCult Thank you.

[@stephenluna7932]

Very cool. A gardening buddy is starting my interstem tree this spring. Looking forward to filling it in with your varieties in the future

[@Pay-It_Forward]

Wishing you success!

[@allonesame6467]

Good Luck! Go for it! Blessings Abound.

[@paulfredrickjohnson1]

Can't wait for spring 2022! I hope to purchase scions on each of these.

[@SkillCult]

I hope you're rich lol. some of them sold for as much as 90.00+ per scion. I"m working hard on propagating a lot more scions though, so they will go down in demand or price soon. In the meantime, it's nice to have some real money come in to support this and my other projects. I will have some actual grafted trees of some of these this year as well. Top priority though is making more trees to grow here, just to make a lot of scion wood.

[@allonesame6467]

Good Luck! Go For It! Blessings Abound!

[@banruk9616]

I dig your glasses, they suit you.

[@SkillCult]

I was looking at glasses and decided you can't make them invisible and I don't want some big modern make-a-statement frames. Up until pretty late, like the 40's probably, they were mostly just wire frames with roundish lenses. I like the plain round lenses, because it's super primitive. It's like hey, we can make people see better through glass lenses, lets make some round lenses, wrap wire around them and you can stick them on your face :0 Okay. minimalistic. But seriously, after months of not cutting my hair and looking like a youngish santa claus that got run over by a lawnmower, they just made me look really geriatric until I cut my hair lol. theyre okay now tho.

[@nonyadamnbusiness9887]

Agree with the assessment of plant people. I had a woman last year refuse to trade or share pineapple guava seeds with me because she was planning to air layer her bushes and sell the plants. Weird. I also regularly go to trade a plant with other people and they keep putting stuff in my car until the dog has to sit in my lap on the way home.

[@SkillCult]

Yes, to the generous plant people!

[@HacknBuild]

This is an exciting project and I am glad to be actively participating in it! I grafted my BITE ME and Pink Parfait scions the other day. I am curious to see how they turn out. Hopefully others will share their results too. Keep up the good work 👍

[@playbytherootz4777]

Wish 8d of seen this last month. I'm so envious of you and your growing situation and knowledge. I'd of been honored to have anything you made, j got so caught up on my stuff haven't been watching videos. I missed out!! Mabe next year but I'm bummed

[@SkillCult]

Well they sold for as much as 90.00 dollars per scion lol, so maybe it's just as well.

[@RossRaddi]

Thank you.

[@jeremybyington]

Have you considered applying for grants? Your work is very beneficial to agriculture and I imagine it would qualify for several grants. Breeding a late winter apple could provide fresh fruit during the seasonal food gap. That has to qualify for funding from somewhere.

[@SkillCult]

Maybe under some small grant, but all the money is basically funneled toward industry, not the home grower niche of plants. We pay for the research, then they charge us for the result. But possibly more like a private grant. maybe there is something. An issue is that I won't do anything anybody else's way, so it would have to have a lot of leeway in working methods.

[@abcabc39]

Apply for next years NAFEX grant program - looks easy to get

[@SkillCult]

@@abcabc39 Maybe I should become a member ahead of time ;)

[@abcabc39]

@@SkillCult yes NAFEX is rapidly building up and can use support from people like you and people that watch your content

[@martingartenschlauch4803]

Hi, great channel, very interesting project, so much knowledge and Information . I am following for a while now. I am graftng myself, about 150 trees (old european/ German vareities, mostly Apples) every winter, and I am taking care of a tree nursery with about 300 trees/ 80 varieties. My question: do you send seeds to Europe ? Thanks !

[@johnlord8337]

Good options.

[@lynnmoss2127]

Thank you for your passion and sharing. I have a variety of very old and boring apple trees on the old homestead. How long should I wait after a very severe prune, to consider graphting scion?

[@SkillCult]

If the trees are healthy, I've just cut back the entire tree to structural wood and grafted it in one year. I favor frameworking, which takes off small wood, but leaves the basic tree structure in tact. So you end up graftin mostly into stuff about 1/2" to 1", sometimes bigger or smaller, but no huge cuts for grafting. If the trees really need to be brought down a lot and you are cutting off too much structural wood, they might need time to recover. But usually you can just graft it all.

[@lynnmoss2127]

@@SkillCult Got it!

[@dlbuffmovie]

Outbid on everything I tried for....sigh. I'll wait till you have more and we'll try them in Vermont.

[@derweschi2979]

Hey Steven, it´s unlikely that i´m going to get some of your seedling-varietys, cause I´m in Germany, maybe seeds or pollen (I wrote you cause some seeds, think it didn´t come threw). But; I proudly can tell you that I got some Wickson scions!! So happy about it :-). I got Sweet 16 too (and some other varietys which are very rare in Germany; Pink Peal, Pink Princess, Jefferis, Wolf River and a bunch different malus sieversii types). The motivation, vibes and facts etc. in your vidoes also inspire me and are a big part of my apple breeding I would say :-). Wish you good success ;-). Thorben

[@suttonelms1]

Fascinating video, Steve.

[@SkillCult]

Thanks, things are sure going interestingly. Lots of new stuff coming on this year. We should touch bases.

[@suttonelms1]

@@SkillCult Yes, that's a good idea.

[@elkhound25]

this is type stuff makes homesteading life exciting ! thanks for all you do. its interesting you mentioned the red developing as it gets colder. i have been growing your bronze beauty lettuce out a few years now. it gets pretty cold here in winter. this winter its been as low as 11f and dropped seeds grew in fall and several lived entire winter without protection. as it got colder them became darker red to the point they had only red showing.i pulled the ones survived the cold and rabbit damage into a bed to grow out for seed.i believe this way the lettuce will get trait of growing farther and farther into winter and be super hardy.

[@SkillCult]

That is great news on the winter survival. I should do that too. Send me some of those seeds back lol. I have noticed that one seems to do a little better in winter than some other letti. I think red pigment is a stress adaption. I read that it is light stress, which I think it is sometimes, but there is obviously a cold trigger too, as you say on the lettuce, also purple tree collards, much more purple in the cold weather. One experiment I'd like to do someday is to expose RF gene apple seeds to very bright harsh light as they sprout on the top of the soil. The idea is that they might turn on genes to express red pigment traits for protection. Do batches of control and light exposure, then observe leaf color and eventually fruit color in both populations. I should do that...

[@achingbach2904]

@@SkillCult cool ideas for sure! Don't forget to write em down for later

[@elkhound25]

@@SkillCult i will send you some for sure. i hope to send you some of the yellow potato onions as well. i thought i could last year but crop failed mostly for various reasons and i have about lost them.plus they were not keeping for some reason and i planted them all out in mid winter. i see a few coming up so i have hopes of at least a small harvest.i have a rare golden shallot thats reproduced through bulbs only.its a very light yellow color and sweet.these came from old timer friend and they go back to the 1940's.he and i discussed shallots use to only be bulb reproduction and not from seed like you see modern shallots are today.i have a rare amish bottle onion as well i hope to get seed from this year.

[@SkillCult]

@@achingbach2904 ha, I won't forget that one, but I do forget them lol.

[@sharmasanju1443]

I want to breed a red dilisious verity a high colour strain

[@cocoamcjaegermeister5534]

Not sure if I fully understood the mission but if it's about getting more original genetic apples out there and destroying GMO im all for it

[@SkillCult]

Basically increase and recover apple genetic diversity and grow more varieties that are suited to home growers and small orchardist, not just the industrial, supermarket paradigm.

[@jeffreydustin5303]

Which scions would succeed in humid zone 8a (South Carolina)?

[@SkillCult]

I really wouldn't know, none of this new stuff is tested in other climates yet. People just have to graft them for us to find out. A l0t of the RF varieties get scab pretty bad though.

[@playbytherootz4777]

I'm totally on same page as you on this breeding thing. There is so much there throwing away cuz of there simple minded commercial focus. This is what I'm doing also breeding up diff things as diff from grocery store varas possible. Love this shit!

[@SkillCult]

Awesome! To me, breeding and selection is the pinnacle of involvement in our own food supply. 🍎 🤘

[@jeffreydustin5303]

Are Mendelian genetics useful for apple breeding?

[@SkillCult]

I imagine so, but I don't follow any kind of longer plan like that. They are hightly variable though too, so there might be more variation than expected.

[@tragikk03]

I'm one of the guys who your videos inspired to join you in this endeavor.. my Grandfather was the type of guy you talk about, he had a good sized garden of similar foods that you grow in his back yard, but I didn't learn very much about that side of his skillsets I'm starting today working on the soil in the area I've picked - I'm hoping to start planting next year or 2025 PS: satan as the serpent tempted eve with the apple, in the garden. Cherubim, or cherubs, are a class of angel. Cupid is a modern non-Biblical depiction of a cherub - don't quote me on this, but I believe 2 cherubim guarded the gates of the garden of eden (possibly after the Fall of Man when Adam/Eve were expelled) Christian "mythology" is most catholic revisionist history.. Real Christian believe what the Bible says, which you could argue the stories of Jesus took on a mythical slant, potentially.. But, unlike other gods from myths and religious texts, the human Jesus from Galilee did exist, according to historians. We have more historical proof of him than some of the great roman emperors of the past Not proselytizing, just adding context and correcting the error someone told you was accurate

[@TJHutchExotics]

I now have a new desire to play with apple genetics.... but, living in zone 3 it could be fruitless. Pun intended Thanks for the video Steven Appleseed :)

[@SkillCult]

There are growers in siberia and alaska and people trying to breed up new stuff. I work with one super hardy apple called trailman. I am grafting crosses I've made with it this week. I've also sent crosses of that with other apples to Alaska and Canada. so, there's hope :) There is an alaska or far north (Canadian?) fruit group, but I think it's a membership thing.

[@TJHutchExotics]

@@SkillCult That’s cool- amd inspiring. crabs are successful up here so I’m bidding on a couple of scions to try out.

[@SkillCult]

@@TJHutchExotics Some crabs. I think the trick will be to get the few best crabs that do well, then pollinate with more interesting stuff and plant large quantities of seedlings, plant them out and let the climate grind out all the weak ones until some survive. I would not guess that cherub is a very good bet. I don't know the lineage, but haven't heard that Wickson will or won't survive up there. read this story www.outonalimbapples.com/varieties/wealthy I will try to make some more trailman crosses this year. Also, if you have any apples, I might be able to get some trailman pollen. I usually sell pollen in the spring as early as I can.

[@TJHutchExotics]

@@SkillCult I will have to delve into some books amd learn my crab varieties.

[@SkillCult]

@@TJHutchExotics Find those people. contact me through the website and I'll try to hook you up with my friend in alaska that tests a lot of stuff and is also growing from seed.

[@dwightmann6297]

Cool

[@stephenp5973]

Who else watches these videos while enjoying an apple?

[@TheGoupil19]

Any chance of seeing any scions/seeds in Europe? Keep it up. Love your stuff.

[@SkillCult]

Seeds I send to Europe, and pollen. Scions will make it there at some point.

[@TheGoupil19]

@@SkillCult Thanks. I'll try to get on top of buying seeds.

[@Ami-ut2us]

Have you ever gotten your hands on a roberts crabapple? Deepest red Ive ever seen and several studies say the same. I want some seeds / scions but Ive yet to find a source stateside.

[@SkillCult]

Just got it this year! Never seen the fruit or tree though.

[@Ami-ut2us]

@@SkillCult There is a pic on a site named orangepippin. Did you import a tree? Ill be first in line for some seeds & scions lol. *Robert's crabapple, whoops .

[@SkillCult]

@@Ami-ut2us contact me through my website.

[@Ami-ut2us]

@@SkillCult will do

[@Ami-ut2us]

@@SkillCult sent a message and also including something about other crops you may find interesting =)

[@thomasholte1828]

But a certain baseline of money does help to enable projects. I really enjoy your apple projects.

[@SkillCult]

There's a bunch of potential issues with using money to solve problems. But unless I can clone myself, I need project managers and labor to pull off some of the big projects I'd like to do. Ideally, I'd spend my time and energy and thought mostly on the stuff i can do best. Working long term with a carefully selected manager person though is very different than tossing money at some random workman you find in the phone book. So that's the idea anyway.

[@paradiserain530]

How do I bid on some of these?

[@SkillCult]

I do auctions on figbid in the winter. You can find out by following my instagram or blog at skillcult.com

[@grifb9741]

What Apple Variety that you've tasted is the most unique? (Compared to any supermarket apple)

[@SkillCult]

Hmmm... When it's really ripe, My Jewel is insanely strong banana flavored. Wickson has this unique malty flavor that is also a little bit present in bite me. The red fleshed apples have red flavors, like berries or fruit punch. Sweet 16 is another one, with complex unique flavors, kind of like cherry candy or something. Others have strong fruit candy flavors. Black Strawberry is pretty unique and rich. At it's best it definitely competes in that mix.

[@migarden2ourtable705]

You’re awesome the father of apples 🍎

[@seancarney6376]

Open Source Apples. Count me in. I LOVE apples and am about to put apple trees into our small orchard in South Central Arkansas on a property we just purchased. I will probably want to grow some of your apples! The property came with crab apples all over for ornamental reasons. I have started moving some of them into the orchard space with the idea that they can serve as pollinators which can be grafted onto. I will be hanging out here a lot to learn more. :-)

[@SkillCult]

def use those crabs to collect and test varieties. That is really an asset to not have to grow new trees to do that. Once you graft a bunch of stuff, you won't have to worry about pollination.

[@playbytherootz4777]

Id like t o buy sum black straw pollen next spring. I've got a u n named variety I ma de northern spy and a crab with red leaves and wood w pink flesh, id like to breed that to,

[@SkillCult]

Hopefully I'll have some. They variety seems to be tending toward alternate year bearing, so it may not fruit well every year. It sold out pretty fast this year, but I'll make as much available as I can going forward. I've grafted a lot of new grafts for scions wood production and pollen/seeds.

[@user-br2tt4th1v]

Red apples. I will try to graft a Veiniöun apple to my seedlingplants this year in Sweden. This red-fleshed ciderapple may be happy even in your climat-zoon 3 in America. We may have some vinter-weeks around 30 degrees Celsius nearly 40 degrees Fahrenheit so it is important for us if we will have some red-fleshed fruit to try this kind of Baltic apple. My question is. Have you tryed Veiniöun at your place?

[@SkillCult]

I don't have that one. I'm sure a lot of people in the north here would be very interested in that.

[@jaredbedard545]

Are you familiar with the open source seed initiative? They might be interested in doing a highlight on apple breeding. Might get some additional publicity and you could potentially pledge a variety as open source through them.

[@SkillCult]

I know my bro Chris Homanics is involved but I don't know much about it.

[@alphanumeric1529]

OFF TOPIC QUESTION: How are your biochar beds doing? Retaining fertility? I remember you did, what, 5%, 10%, 15% biochar beds as an experiment. That was several seasons ago, now, right? What is the longer term impact? Any thoughts/analysis on longer term results? I remember the biochar had an initial negative impact in the first season, but subsequent benefit. Has that benefit remained? Or even increased? Would love to hear your thoughts on the matter. Sorry for the off topic, have been wondering about your longer term results, as I amended my beds last year upon your recommendation with (uninfused) biochar when I built/mixed the soil for my rows, and this is the first video of yours that has come up in quite some time, so had to ask! All the best, and as always, thanks for the info you share, brudder. I'm about to hobble out to my beds, and with my lyme destroyed joints try to mix my hand built, dark, loamy, biochar infused, fertile soil in with the crap gravel, rock, and stone in clay matrix "soil" below (the "soil" left by the developer 20 years ago when this house was built, a real issue for suburban food growers I don't see any youtube suburb gardeners talking about... I've found construction trash a foot down that has been almost perfectly preserved for over 20 years by the anaerobic clay conditions down there. It's freaking gross. I can see what fast food the construction workers ate by the plastic remains of their lunches, ketchup packets, etc. that still look like the day they were carelessly dropped).

[@sharmasanju1443]

Help me plzzz

[@robertbrawley5048]

Prices ain't going to be coming down on scion wood based on my observation of figbid auctions It's phenomenal. The price of a cutting demans higher price than a rooted plant of the same variety

[@SkillCult]

I'm going to check out bid and grow for next year. I grafted a lot of trees of these, so there will be a lot more scion wood after next year.

[@robertbrawley5048]

@@SkillCult yeah someone was offering an Azores dark fig plant for "buy it now" for $48 when two cutting the previous year went for $400 . It seems like $7 per cutting or scion is the low price based on scion wood prices at Raintree nursery

[@robertbrawley5048]

@@SkillCult Ebay has a bad rap for scion/cutting sales in the fig world so I don't typically look to ebay for purchasing. But I have trust in your presentation

[@mdl17576]

Do you or anyone reading this know of an existing database for fruit breeders to offer things like pollen, seeds, or scionwood to others in the community? If it doesn't yet exist, I think something like that, could accelerate our efforts. For example, I'm in zone 5b and excited to try BITE ME!, but worried it might not fully ripen before the end of the season. If so, maybe an offspring bred with a good early season apple like Williams Pride or Akane could preserve the red flesh and flavor, while offering a ripening window that works for this area and maybe get some better scab resistance too. As things stand, it'll be a few years before both fruit for me, and more still before I could grow crosses to fruit. Maybe someone out there already made that cross and has more seed than they can test out. If so, that could take years of my efforts. Maybe someone else wants to try crossing Redfield, a red fleshed cider apple that does well in the NE with Sugarwood? Well if they've got mature Redfield trees, but lack access to Sugarwood genetics, if I've got pollen listed on this hypothetical database, that shaves a few years off their efforts. Basically we could maximize access to genetics and minimize time spent waiting to test our crosses. If there's call for this sort of thing but nothing else exists, let me know, I've been thinking about learning to create online databases, and it's a lot easier to motivate myself if I have a project in mind.

[@SkillCult]

Not for breeders, but I agree that we need that community for sure. I'd like to see a pomme fruits breeder forum somewhere for exchange of info and genetics. That's why I want to get pollen and stuff out, so that the first steps I've taken can be taken forward and save people a generation. I've been crossing red flesh and scab resistant stuff into the lines I'm working, so lots of F1's coming on and ready to go. Definitely Sugarwood with other RF cider apples! I've used William's Pride a lot, so I'll have pollen coming up from those crosses. Like I have 5 William's Pride x Vixen flowering this year! Vixen is like a large Wickson basically. could be some amazing potential in there. Anyway, go start that forum :) I have thought that Scott Smith might host a topic on Growingfruit.org, but I can't be too involved. I probably would only even contribute minimally, due to other interests/time/energy et.. but it should happen somewhere soon.

[@horseblinderson4747]

Small genome has killed store potatoes

[@SkillCult]

Like apples, there are now at least a few more options, but that isn't saying much when you switch the comparison to only russet, "red" and "white" potatoes, to true potato diversity of localized varietals.

[@deepsixdesigns1477]

30 bucks.... some of those suckers cleared 70!

[@SkillCult]

Crazy

[@brunosulikowski]

Can I get your ebay name so I can see availability Thank you

[@SkillCult]

I do auctions through figbid.com now. The best ways to find out when scions are ready are patreon, subscribing to my blog, instagram and facebook in that order. I also sell many scions through my webstore and not on auction. Many of the things in this video are now in the store and a lot cheaper than auction prices.

[@jordan9503]

what is your ebay ??? id love to buy a tree of yours!

[@SkillCult]

Skillcult. I sell scions and maybe some trees next year on my website. Auctions were just for these new varieties. Probably do something similar next year.

[@jordan9503]

@@SkillCult just looked it up and i dont see anything apple tree related anymore im assuming your all out this year ? either way i look forward to buying a one of a kind tree from you at some point to add to my collection . you have inspired me a lot and your work in this is unmatched by anyone else !

[@SkillCult]

@@jordan9503 I have never sold trees, though i'm grafting some this year, so maybe next winter. I have scion wood for grafting. www.skillcult.com/store but the only seedling of mine there is BITE ME!, the original Wickson seedling I talked about in this video.

[@SkillCult]

@@jordan9503 But yeah, ebay is all cleaned out this year. I only had a few.

[@davidkehr4730]

What is your eBay name?

[@SkillCult]

I don't sell scions on ebay anymore. I use figbid now. Name should be skillcult.

[@projectmalus]

Great video! If there's a really healthy one that needs a name...how about Prine after John Prine, with a tongue in cheek poke at the PRI program that produced disease resistant fruit that tend to lack character/flavor which John had in abundance. I really like that Flaxen, would be an interesting cross with Pink Pearl. Thanks!

[@SkillCult]

Flaxen has a hint of pink flesh, which I forgot to mention. If you want to make the cross with PP, just say the word and I'll send pollen if I can collect a bit this year. ;)

[@SkillCult]

And using flaxen as a parent, should keep carrying the scab resistant gene forward. Much needed in RF apples!

[@projectmalus]

@@SkillCult Oh heck, I was considering the pollen offer when I remembered my original Pink Pearl bit the dust last year. It was propagated but the new trees aren't ready to flower...another year perhaps. PP is the worst for scab here but the taste is very sprightly, effervescent. I'll get back to on that, thanks.

[@SkillCult]

@@projectmalus I have not actually fruited pink pearl here, but should get fruit in the next year or two. I've never been too impressed with it. It is grown around here a lot, this being etter country. A lot of those RF apples get horrid scab. I think that William's Pride has huge promise as a parent. It has excellent resistance, high quality, and sometimes significant red flesh coloring. it also has berry type flavors sometimes, so it just seems like a no brainer to get into the mix. I'm also using other scab resistant parents with RF crosses with the idea of getting a diverse first generation to work with going forward. Hit me up later when you're ready and see what pollen I have along those lines.

[@projectmalus]

@@SkillCult Thanks for the reply. I thought Pink Pearl tasted like that Sprite drink, and definitely liked it, just not as a steady diet. The color made it worth it, too. Good growing! There's a tree in a sort of abandoned homestead orchard that looks like Flaxen but it's orange and full of tannin, a tip bearer. There's another with some red inside, tasty with a kind of filigreed pink like some old roses and sweet peas have. I'm going to propagate about 5 (or more) of the trees in this diverse orchard, thanks mostly to your influence. They're really in bad shape. Cheers.

[@DevaJones03]

headed over to ebay to try and win something!!! worse case scenario i'll drive the prices up #EvilLaugh

[@robertbrawley5048]

The good things about high prices is that the small guy. The new guy. The inexperience guy, has a chance to get the sought after varieties as those with commercial intent or experienced hobbyist /collector or KZbin channel guru. I got use to the high prices and if I just have to have a certain variety let the bidding start off at $70 not end there

[@jsantiagosalazar9364]

can you teach brain tan, oil and others?

[@BwanaSuttree]

With today’s genetics, is there anyone out there that artificially modifies apples? Apple breeding has a wonderful charm but seems unnecessary.

[@sharmasanju1443]

Plese rply to me