To prune or not to prune
I hear ya. I am myself very very far from being an expert in fruit trees. Do you know about Sepp Holzer’s technique though? I think it’s in the book “Sepp Holzer’s Permaculture” (which is incredible!). Basically he just doesn’t prune — here is a diagram from a different source about his technique:
He talks a little bit about it also in this excellent short documentary:
There are few things in life of which I would consider myself a “super-fan” but Sepp Holzer’s work is high up among them. He’s taken things that everyone says you can’t or shouldn’t do in cultivation, and simply made them work. His thing is: don’t listen to what people tell you to do — try it yourself and gain the experience.
Also, for your comparison of crab apples & wild grapes, I might offer the alternative explanation that the difference in taste is a difference in species and variety more than a matter of cultivation. But then, I am also big into wild flavor! And we shouldn’t try to compare wild flavors with their cultivated counterparts, but appreciate them for their own uniqueness.
