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Apple Cider Making. Woods Cider Mill is located in Weathersfield, VT and online at: www.woodscidermill.com This Video was produced by McNaudio Media Solutions LLC at www.mcnaudio.com Music for this video is credited to: The Skillet Lickers from Goergia Recorded in the 1920′s Roots of American Fiddle V.1 – This Cider Mill was Featured during the knife fight scene in the movie “The Cider House Rules”

This 1910 photo shows the cleaning-up process after sugaring at what was then the Aldrich farmhouse. The Aldrich/Wood family has been making maple syrup here since the early 1800s, and apple cider, cider jelly, and boiled cider since 1882.

Restoring Old Apple Trees Video One

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Restoring Old Apple Trees Video Two

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Restoring Old Apple Trees Video Three

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Restoring Old Apple Trees Video Four

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Restoring Old Apple Trees Video Five

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I’m just off to usbcider to download a gallon of perry.

New Forest Cider

Tags: newforest cider, borough market

Apple varieties mentioned are Stoke Red, Kingston Black, Yarlington Mill, Dabinet and Katy.

Also a view of the twin screw press.

This latest one is all about summer pruning.

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Summer pruning is a discretionary activity for orchard keepers, so you have to decide if it’s needed or not. Where a tree puts on a lot of new growth, then it’s worth thinning it out a bit but this will vary from season to season and from tree to tree. The best time is July or August, before the apples ripen to reduce apple scab  damage and increase the light levels.

Only the smaller manageable trees can be pruned in this way, not the giants.

Planting a very small tree, a one year maiden. Large rootball.  Plant bare rooted trees in the winter from a local nursery.

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Using the saw to remove low branches. Clearing away any rubbish, vines, young trees getting in the way. Take the big branches out first before using the secateurs. Remove crossed branches, anything that’s tangled up. leaving some new , healthy looking upright facing branches. Walk around the tree and look at it from different angles. Don’t take out more than a third of the wood, and don’t cut a bit off everything all round – pudding basin haircut.

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What to do with a neglected old fruit tree? Do you want maximum fruit or a big tree to sit underneath?

Here’s one to restore. Is the tree vigourous and in the right place.

Pruning a neglected apple tree is not difficult. A few simple principles and a sharp saw will see it all right. the main thing is to use the saw to remove whole branch systems that are diseased, too low, too crowded or crossing, and mostly leave the rest of the tree alone-at least for the first year.

There is a very good section in the RHS book ‘The Fruit Garden Displayed’ on pruning neglected trees, but sadly it’s out of print.

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Top working  or grafting over an apple tree which is sound, but not the right variety for example. This example is a Crimson King that has been grafted over to other varieties. A pencil of the chosen variety is cut in February and kept cool until around April when the tree is getting going. Saddle grafts and cleft graft techniques. Probably best not to let the graft fruit the first year, let the joint strengthen first. Will fruit heavily in only three years from being top grafted over.