Thinning Apples

We have a number of fruit trees on our property and most of them are apple trees.  We have one each of Braeburn, Gravenstein and Jonathan, two Liberty and one tree which has 6 grafted varieties on one tree and is espaliered on wire.  Last year was a poor fruit year because of cold wet weather when the blossoms were out.  The blossoms may have been out, but the bees weren't!  This year, everything came together nicely resulting in what looks to be a bumper crop on all the apples except the Gravenstein, which tends to produce well every 2 years.  This is not its year!  Now that the apples have nicely formed, it's time to thin them.

I know that there shouldn't be more than one apple per spur.  In addition, a dear friend who grew up in Washington's apple country advised me to thin to a hand's width between apples.  Today I got a start on thinning.

Above, is a picture of unthinned apples on a Liberty tree.  The Liberty is one of our favourite apples.  They are small, but sweet, tart and crisp.  All in all, delicious!

Now I've gone in with a pair of sharp-pointed pruners and nipped off all the fruit that was small or deformed and left a hand's width between the remainder.  This allows the tree to devote all the nutrition and moisture to the remaining fruit, ensuring that you get the largest fruit possible.  On our stony, shallow soil, that's very important!