Apple trees can bear fruit at an early age

Precocious children can be amazing or just plain annoying. Precocious Blaise Pascal began studying geometry at age 12; at age 19, he developed a handheld mechanical calculator, and went on to discover that a vacuum exists outside Earth's atmosphere.

 

Apples can be precocious, but in the world of apples, precocious doesn't mean philosophical at an early age, but bearing fruit at an early age. Luckily, several apple trees will reliably bear fruit just two or three years after planting. The Akane apple, developed in Japan in 1937, is a quick-to-bear tree with red dessert apples that make great pies and are also good for drying. The somewhat small fruit has crisp, juicy flesh with the sweet but sharp flavor of its Jonathan parent. Akane apples hang well on the tree. The fruit keeps fairly well, but should be enjoyed before the year is out. As with most apple trees, you will need a second variety nearby to cross-pollinate. Thin the young apples so the remaining fruit will reach full size. Akane apples are hardy in USDA Zones 5-9.

 

Another quick-to-bear heirloom apple is the Belle Lucrative, a Belgian apple from 1825. Because it is disease-resistant, Belle Lucrative apple is perfect for the organic orchard or homestead. The small, yellow-green fruit has scattered small dots of russet. This is an apple to eat fresh off the tree, with flavor that has been compared to butterscotch. The hardy tree begins bearing fruit in just two to four years. Belle Lucrative is hardy in USDA Zones: 5-10.

 

Ever since John McIntosh discovered his namesake apple in Canada in 1811, the McIntosh has been one of the favorite apples grown. The sweet, snowy-white flesh is spicy yet almost tart. McIntosh is best eaten fresh or baked into pies and sauce. The trees bear very young, often just two years after planting. This hardy Canadian grows in USDA Zones 3-10.

 

If you can't wait to bake apple pie, then Red Rome Beauty will have you in pie apples in just two to three years after planting. The late-blooming Red Rome Beauty avoids spring frosts, so it is a reliable producer year after year. The somewhat tart, medium to large apples ripen from September to mid-October. It is self-pollinating, but you will get bigger crops with another apple tree nearby. It is hardy in USDA Zones 4-8.

 

Nobody can wait for strawberry-scented apples! Luckily, the heirloom Chenango Strawberry apple from Chenango Valley, New York, is precocious and will bear fruit in as little as two years. The fragrant, yellow-and-red-striped translucent fruits are perfect for baking or eating fresh out of hand. Even though Chenango Strawberry apples ripen over several weeks, pick them early for best quality results. This 1854 heirloom apple is hardy in USDA Zones 4-9.

 

Plant precocious apple trees for apples sooner than everyone else. It costs you nothing to be wrong and not get a crop for four or five years, but you should get the bonus of an early crop in just two years.  

 

As Blaise Pacal's famous philosophical Pascal's Wager says, believing in God costs you nothing if you're wrong, and wins you everything if you're right.