apple trees

discussing the cherry tree at the community garden reminded me that i have not said much of anything about the apple trees out back all season...they seem to be doing well...the two larger ones have reached a height of three-and-a-half feet or so and should be well established enough to face the coming winter unbundled in straw and burlap...it has been a struggle to keep the runt in the sunshine this season and that's probably why it's the runt of the group...i do believe that i will mulch ( and i will mulch the other two trees as well ) and wrap the runt up again this autumn as soon as the leaves fall...still a number of years away from bearing fruit and then who knows what the apples will be like ( most likely spitters...where's my cider press? )so far so good on the fruit tree front...there's an orchard just down the road so i pretty much figured the trees would find the soil amenable...the4y are just another part of a perennial approach to a more locally based subsistence.