Apple progress

Our biggest apple tree just put forth its first fruits.  I counted at least twenty of these baby apples:

Scale: each one is 1/2 to 1"

Yes, this is the same apple tree that suffered from too much rain.  So far my brace had kept the trunk vertical.  So that's one concern.
Other concerns: disease; animals eating the fruit; limbs too thin to hold up the apples.  We watch over this anxiously.

The context: we'd like to grow fruit up here, but it's not a good climate, being so cold and the growing season very short.  Apple trees do work, so we planted one a few years ago, then planted a second (not shown in this photo; not fruiting yet) to ensure fertilization.  Ceredwyn also hand-fertilized, and planted flowers to encourage bees in their work.

This year is promising.  If things go well, we'll plant two more trees to set up a little orchard.  With luck and our efforts, apples could become a part of our homestead-grown diet.