The socially responsible fruit tree.
August 24, 2015 7:20 AM Subscribe
Are there ethics/moral components to selecting a non-fireblight resistant pear tree?
I'm in zone 5, New England, and would like to purchase two pear trees, a seckel and comice. Their seasons overlap slightly and I think the cross pollination will be okay (maybe not perfect) and I might get a third to hedge my bets, pollination-wise.
I think the seckel is fireblight resistant-ish but the comice is not, but is supposed to be delicious. I'm new to fruit trees but understand fireblight is forever and once infected, will need to be managed and that some years will be worse than others.
I garden 100% organically and that isn't going to change. We live in a rural area with tall trees surrounding us. Our neighbors are far enough away that we can't see them unless we peer through the trees just right.
I'm okay with imperfect fruit, extra maintenance, and some lousy years. The soil and site are right for fruit trees. Am I ruining things for other people by putting a potential host tree in my yard, or is it so common, and our area isolated enough, that this won't be an issue? If this is really making a generalized problem genuinely worse, I'll plant fireblight resistant trees, but these were the two that I picked out (and it took me like weeks to do that!)
If there are suggestions for different pear trees or other fruit trees, I'm interested. I'm wary of the suggestions I read in Extension/.edu/science reports because I feel like they're more interested in efficient growing than in deliciousness.
(I'm thinking about this especially because our hemlocks are fighting wooly adelgid and I've been reading about how the hemlocks are terribly compromised. Even if I was more flexible on the subject of pesticides, there are so many hemlocks that it would make me woozy to consider it--there are more than two dozen on the property--they're all somewhat to very infected, and we have tons of wildlife to consider. This state of affairs occurred before we bought the property. The previous owners probably didn't know anything more about it than we did.)
Thanks for your advice!
I'm in zone 5, New England, and would like to purchase two pear trees, a seckel and comice. Their seasons overlap slightly and I think the cross pollination will be okay (maybe not perfect) and I might get a third to hedge my bets, pollination-wise.
I think the seckel is fireblight resistant-ish but the comice is not, but is supposed to be delicious. I'm new to fruit trees but understand fireblight is forever and once infected, will need to be managed and that some years will be worse than others.
I garden 100% organically and that isn't going to change. We live in a rural area with tall trees surrounding us. Our neighbors are far enough away that we can't see them unless we peer through the trees just right.
I'm okay with imperfect fruit, extra maintenance, and some lousy years. The soil and site are right for fruit trees. Am I ruining things for other people by putting a potential host tree in my yard, or is it so common, and our area isolated enough, that this won't be an issue? If this is really making a generalized problem genuinely worse, I'll plant fireblight resistant trees, but these were the two that I picked out (and it took me like weeks to do that!)
If there are suggestions for different pear trees or other fruit trees, I'm interested. I'm wary of the suggestions I read in Extension/.edu/science reports because I feel like they're more interested in efficient growing than in deliciousness.
(I'm thinking about this especially because our hemlocks are fighting wooly adelgid and I've been reading about how the hemlocks are terribly compromised. Even if I was more flexible on the subject of pesticides, there are so many hemlocks that it would make me woozy to consider it--there are more than two dozen on the property--they're all somewhat to very infected, and we have tons of wildlife to consider. This state of affairs occurred before we bought the property. The previous owners probably didn't know anything more about it than we did.)
Thanks for your advice!
You should call them and express your interest in taste over productivity and you absolute hard line on organic. Not just read what they have on-line.
posted by JPD at 7:51 AM on August 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by JPD at 7:51 AM on August 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
I would call Fedco. They're great people and specialize in trees/plants that grow in New England.
posted by plinth at 10:27 AM on August 24, 2015
posted by plinth at 10:27 AM on August 24, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
Unless someone else here is located where you are this is a hard question to answer.
posted by JPD at 7:50 AM on August 24, 2015 [1 favorite]