| Anna- First to blossom, first to ripen, usually about a week
or two before school lets out. It will bear the first year you
have it. For some reason ours were of poor quality for the first
couple of years- mealy, astringent, lacking character. But the
last two years, despite very different spring weather, it was good.
Crisp, sweet, with a hint of tartness. It was the favorite apple
of Bambino the Bird Genius who would show up once in a while to mooch
handouts.
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| Dorsett Golden- Another true maniac, Dorsett looks for any
excuse to fruit, whether it's the first year it was grafted or setting
two crops a year. Bred in the Bahamas, it is well-suited to a hot
climate. In January it explodes in blossoms, but doesn't require
quite as much thinning as Anna. It ripens about a week after Anna,
bruises easily but keeps rather well. The shaded fruit is the best
quality. Chop it up and add it to home-made ice cream, and blended
with Anna makes a decent cider in late June. |
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| Cripp's Pink- (AKA Pink Lady™) Even though
these are readily available in the supermarket, our home-grown ones
are superb. This sample was shaded and thus poorly-colored, but
was still scrumptious anyway. It has a susceptibility to
fireblight and might be difficult to grow in humid areas of the
America South. It laughs at the heat and is suitable for the low
desert. |
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| Honeycrisp- Yes, I know this is strange to see,
but this apple bred for the brutal winters of Minnesota held up
exceptionally to our heat and was as good of quality as any I ever had
from our supermarkets. It was just like you hoped it would be;
explosively crisp, candy-sweet, very juicy, and beautiful, almost like
this store-bought one in the photo (sorry, we ate all ours before
getting a photo).
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| Fuji - Fuji's grown here rival any on the planet. The
secret is our long season which Fuji's need to fully ripen. You
can tell when they're ready when the flesh is decidedly yellow, almost orange. You'll never
want to go back to eating a Pacific Northwest Fuji after eating the real
thing. Note the palm trees in the background. |
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| Hawaii- Starting in early August Hawaii will ripen for several
months, still hanging on the tree in November. It is sweet and delicious even when quite green, and holds
on through the worst of heat. The tree is extremely productive.
The texture was crisp and firm, and had a sweet, tropical taste. |
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| GoldRush™- This
is our favorite disease-resistant apple that fakes you out by looking
ripe in early October, but hangs on the tree two more months to be
ripe for Thanksgiving. The usual tartness it has in colder
climates is not as pronounced, but it still is a great eating apple
with a complex taste; I'm liking it more all the time. |
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| Wealthy- It's remarkable this Minnesota native that was bred
for the extreme cold does so well here. The thick, beautiful skin
covers a whitish crisp flesh that has a good balance of sweet and tart,
with interesting overtones. Best eaten completely ripe, which
might not be until mid-November. |
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| Stump- Despite almost every apple splitting, Stump hung on the
tree well and developed into a beautiful, although rather small apple.
It was rather tart until fully ripe, but turned out to have a good rich
apple taste that would liven up cider and do well in pies. We're
hoping it grows out of the cracking habit. Update 9/9/08: this year's
crop had none of the splitting and attained good size. The flavor
was wonderfully sweet/tart, giving us the first taste of fall. |
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| Pristine™-
A wonderful summer apple, ripening in early August. Introduced
as a disease-resistant apple by PRI. We have no license and
cannot sell it, but I thought it worth mentioning anyway as the folks
at PRI have been very kind to us. It is sweet/tart, crisp, and
juicy. Despite its seemingly pale color it resisted sunburn
during our brutally hot weather. |
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| Williams' Pride- Ripening early August, the tree is with
deep-red, almost purple apples is striking in appearance. They color up despite
nights in the mid-70s. The yellow flesh was crisp and spicy.
Wait until the stem end is completely red to pick. |
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| Bramley- The national cooking apple of England,
this replaced Zabergau as our favorite cooking apple. It ripens
in our early fall heat but still is crisp, juicy, and
refreshing. It has quite a bit more zing than you're used to
from Granny Smith, and also makes a wonderful applesauce. |
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| King David- OK, we finally got the
correct ID on this apple we've been calling Arkansas Black; you can't
blame me, as it looks an awful lot like it. But the taste is far
superior and it was a standard bearer for Stark Bros. Nurseries for
years, who rated it their most productive apple. It's precocious
and reliable for us and ripens late, around Thanksgiving. Many
who taste it rate it tops for flavor. It grows from Maine
to the low desert. |
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Red Boskoop- This mid-fall apple impressed us with its mix
of sweet and tart flavors, combined with a good crunch and lots of
juice. It bore heavily and was not bothered by the summer
heat. Popular for 150 years in Holland, I'm glad to welcome it
here where it is good for fresh eating and pies.
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| Dixie Red Delight- This Alabama apple colored up two months
ago but is just now (Christmas) starting to ripen enough to get your
teeth into. It has all the hallmarks of a good keeper with a tough
skin and dense, yellow, sugary, spicy flesh. It bore well and is a
great addition to any orchard. |
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| Wickson Crabapple- A big taste in an itty-bitty package.
It has a crisp white flesh with a clean, powerful sweet-tart taste.
The tree is prolific and has showy white blossoms. Purported to
make killer cider, but we enjoyed it for fresh eating. We've tried
this in different parts of the country, and ours are by far the best
we've tasted. Outstanding. |
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| Mollie's Delicious- Unrelated to Red Delicious,
Mollie's ripens pretty early in the year, but is crisp, sweet, and
juicy with good flavor. It is hard to tell when they are ripe,
as the appearance is no indication and if you leave it too long they
are mushy. But at the right time, they are excellent eating with
a very pleasing aftertaste. |
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| Nittany- As you probably figured from the name, this apple
was developed at Penn State. But it does well here, ripening
mid-January with a cinnamon flavor and nice aroma. The tree
bears heavily and reliably. |
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| Lady Williams- An extremely late apple, often
hanging on the tree until February. It can be identified
by a distinctive white vertical stripe on one side. Quite tart
until fully ripe, fans of hard sour apples will love it. But if
you are very, very patient it is wonderfully sweet/tart when
ripe. It is a offspring of Granny Smith and a parent of Pink
Lady. |
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| Sierra Beauty- An extreme sweet/tart combination and crisp and
juicy. It ripens mid-October in time to compliment Sierra Beauty
and the tree is usually loaded. It was developed in the Sierra Nevada mountains and so
is kind of a local; haven't tried it in pies yet (where it is said to
hold up well), but great for fresh
eating. |
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| Arkansas Black- I might as well put a photo of
King David here, as the two apples are almost undistinguishable on the
outside (King David is a little flatter). But they are two
different apples with different tastes. Known for being
rock-hard in colder climates, ours were crisp, flavorful, and
excellent right off the tree. We're sure about the variety this
time; it's very good here. |
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