Hazelbrook–Lawson 100 year old apple tree

On Sunday 20 December Maryanne and Chris and I accompanied Father Eugene Stockton for a walk over an old property located halfway between Hazelbrook and Lawson, which was once the site of an orchard. According to Father Stockton, the apple tree shown in the photos was already an old tree when he first saw it seventy years ago. We think that it is probably over a century old. It fruits every second year and he can testify that the apples are very nice stewed with rhubarb.

Updates

We have a few reports that cuttings of native raspberry (Rubus Hillii) sourced from the Whitton's earlier this year (see pics in post below) are doing well.

Similarly berries sourced from Lizzie Connor, who used to live in Katoomba but is now a Taswegian, have taken.

The Cloud Farm Community Collective at Mount Tomah reported that red currants, yellow raspberries and gooseberries were already ready last week and raspberries will probably be harvested today.

Blueberries, though, look like they are waiting for the Blue Mountains Fruit and Nut Tree Network to pick on January 2!

Dwarf apples

Did you see the ABC's Gardening Australia program last Saturday night (4 December)? There was a great segment on dwarf apples and although the garden was in Tasmania, all the information would be relevant for us here in the Blue Mountains. They discussed pruning, organic manures, trellis's and the apple's love of dolamite. You can view it here. Please let us know if you have a dwarf apple varieties growing succcessfully in our area.