So yesterday Tom and I took a tour of the orchard to see how the trees we wassailed in January fared compared to the ones we did not.  Above is the Brown Snout tree.  It had an average yield but an early drop of apples from the heat and drought.  Below is a Brown Russet which is still developing well and produced a few apples.

The Brown’s apple below produced better than previous years.

This Kingston Black had no production this year.

This Cox Orange Pippin (the best apple I have ever eaten) did well this year but is still developing.

This is where a young Kingston Black had been.  It produced so many apples that it broke at the graft and had to be removed.

This Kingston Black produced no apples but is still growing well.

This Cox Orange Pippin had really good production for a small tree.

These two Harry Masters Jersey did great producing a lot of cider apples and are still growing well.

This Roxbury Russett unfortunately continues to die.

And this Yarlington Mill made no apples at all.  It seems to be going biennial.

So by my count 7 of the trees we wassailed did better than usual, three did worse and the rest are no change.  Compared to the rest of the orchard this is an improvement.  The rest of the orchard had overall decreased production and more worms than usual (which we will be addressing this winter).  I am trying to keep an open mind, and it seems like the Wassail was a success.  Because of additional planting we have no room in the orchard for a large bonfire anymore so cannot have a big party.  But Tom and I are planning a small wassail in January and those that would like to participate can.