2024 -- All grew and produced well. Fairly major pruning on main Beacon - much more open now. Let two smaller trees set a small crop. First drop on Beacon 9/18 (bird pecked) - both smaller trees 9/22. Seeds brown, nicely sweet - harvested all 9/24.  Nice good sized apples, good flavor. Smaller trees apples more red than main (likely due to more sun on fruit). Main = 12#9oz; C = 3#9oz (9 apples); E=3#4oz (10 apples). Good eating through mid October - 10/1 nicely crisp. juicy, sweet, nice eating. 10/16 some getting near mealy (likely earliest drops or bird damaged). Used rest in sauce 10/25. Better to pick at first drop or sign of bird pecks, or before.

Decided last year that I had plenty of Starkeys since the Beacon graft is now in full production and the fruit has a short shelf life (not helped by warm storage in the root cellar at that time), though they are wonderful apples. Both single trees are doing fine but chose the Central one in front of the PV panels to graft over to Canadian Strawberry. Put on four grafts in spring, 3 took nicely. Was going to prune off most of Starkey wood but when it set a nice crop decided to let it go this year, just pruning some to give grafts room.

2023

     W (on BeaconS) - Continues vigorous, pruned to open up more. Beacon tree doing well. Had a dozen blossoms! Set ten. Two dropped 10/2 (Beacons done almost a month earlier) and another 10/6 with bad bird damage. But good tasting - sweet with mild flavor, good firm-tender texture and moderate juice. Checked others and realized most had bird pecks. Likely best to pick earlier. Total ten apples, good size, nice eating. Pretty muted splashed colors, some with a lightly russet-feeling skin. Good eating through October but getting almost mealy later November. Tree is late to go dormant - leaves still on when Beacon is bare (same as Black Oxford, Canadian Strawberry, Prairie Spy and Smokehouse).

     C - Vigorous growth, had two blossoms. Decided to remove them.

     E - Also vigorous growth and two blossoms (C and E grafted two years after W on small rootstocks). Let one apple set. Smaller than W and maybe not quite ripe but picked 10/6 when picked W's crop. Had late-bagged it to keep birds off so it was clean. Save in root cellar for late test..

2022

     W (on BeaconS) - Cut out dead and dying center of BeaconS down to the Starkey branch, letting it grow up as central leader/top of tree. Leaves looking a bit rough, maybe eaten upon, but overall did fine.

     C - (double bark-graft) - Looks good, vigorous. Cut off smaller of the two grafts.

     E - (graft on a4) - looking good.

2021 - all 3 grafts vigorous, healthy, late to lose leaves in fall.

     W - Had cut upward growing shoot for scions late winter (C & E). Tied branch down more horizontal.

     C - double bark-graft May on a10 ~8 yr old wild crab seedling, south of panels, both grew well ~ 24"!

     E - graft on a4 11 yr old, often cut down, seedling (possibly from Beacon fruit maybe), se of panels, grew 20"!

2020 - Vigorous, healthy, very good strong growth. Unfortunately discovered mushrooms at base of old Beacon stump are Armillaria mellea - Honey Mushroom. Lives on both old AND new (the living tree) wood. Badly infected. Beacon showing signs (see BeaconS). Starkey graft looks fine. Will cut a good scion late winter and graft elsewhere. But hope, and plan, that this tree recovers.

2019 - Scion from Carole, Washington (Quill-GF). Grafted end of May on se short branch of BeaconS in a space where I had removed a larger limb. Grew ~3".

Online Notes: (gf) fresh eating appeal, vig.triploid, w/o watercore issues, pretty. Quite flavorful.