A few early apples

These are a few Strawberry Parfait apples, and one Pristine all picked today.
Also had a good William’s Pride this morning off the same multi grafted tree (base tree is Strawberry Parfait).
We have been enjoying the SP apples for a good week now, eating them as they color up. Ate another Pristine today, and I’m super glad I had them in catch bags, as both Pristine apples dropped today, and they were too good to want to let the turkeys have them!

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Lucky you. In Canada I’m at least 2 months from harvest.

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Jolene,
Nice to here from you.

Thank you for posting. Please post more of your harvest. You have so many interesting varieties. Look forward to hearing your comments about them.

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Thanks mamuang!

I have had a pretty busy summer, but it’s been good.

To continue this thread with what is ripening now, I tasted a Kerry Pippin off my multi grafted tree a few days ago, and there are two more to look forward to on that limb. Today I snitched a Chestnut Crab off a B9 I grafted last year, and it was firm, juicy, and enjoyable, but will probably get sweeter. There are still 8 or so more on that tree. I ate a Frostbite that dropped before it was ripe. And finally I am watching these two Ginger Gold apples on a B118 I grafted last year. Here is a picture of the tree with my youngest, and one of the apple by her shoulder in my hand.

Just for an idea of what is going on here in our zone 8 mountain climate, we finished the Late Santa Rosa plums last week, the Green Gage are getting ripe. Red Haven peaches are starting to ripen, some are ripe and soft on the tree. My Snow Beauty peaches are still firm, but they are colored up and the sugars are getting there.
The Seckel pears are done, the Butera Precoce Moritini pear are getting there, and the big old Bartlets are loaded.

I’m a gonna go pull weeds in the nursery, and try and share some pictures of the garden and trees later.

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I agree on the Pristine. Lost almost everything to frost this spring, but I did have 2 Pristine apple on B9 make it. They looked really nice until 2 weeks ago when we got hit with a hail storm. I picked them yesterday and ate what I could salvage off them. This one pictured actually looks basically perfect, just wont show you the other side that was hit with the hail!:wink: They were completely ripe, a little bit of crunch, not overly dense, but not mushy, I enjoyed the taste. I thought I could detect a almost pineapple like overtone. Definitely a keeper in my book.

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I planted a Pristine today. Robert Purvis recommend it so I bought scionwood. What a beautiful apple.

Dax

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Dan Bussey’s zillion-page book on the history of apples has finally been published:

https://www.jakkawpress.com/order/

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Thanks for your comments and pics. Cute girl!
I’m curious how you liked the Kerry and Strawberry. I over grafted my Kerry tree now r.I.p. I kept changing varieties on it and tried to keep only the Kerry but the poor tree gave up.

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Jolene,
Your young orchardist-in-training is a cutie!!!

Love to hear your comment on any apple you post.

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Here are a couple apples picked ripe today, the tall dark and handsome William’s Pride, and one of the two Strawberry Parfait apples in the center.

In the back there are two huge Belle de Boskoop that dropped early, and the pale one on the right is a Honeycrisp that had some bug damage.


The William’s Pride had some watercore, and was a bit past prime. It was very sweet, and had good flavor, but was starting to soften.
The Strawberry Parfait was a tangy contrast, with a firmer texture. The flavor on the S.P. was appreciated by everyone that tried them. My hubby likes them picked a little earlier.

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Here is a Chestnut Crab off a little tree in the nursery (Bud9 grafted last year) with the huge BdB in the back

Tasty for sure!

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Love seeing children in the garden and fruit trees. This is an experience not many children will get in today’s busy world. My children are adults now so I have moved on to getting my grandchildren involved.

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And that is part of why we didn’t stay in the city. We were there a couple of years, and moved here right after our second was born.
I could never regret that!

On the apple tasting, got a couple of Freyberg this morning, and a Golden Nugget tonight that was super packed with flavor. Hubby bit into it and said “Wow!” I second his opinion. It was like a concentrated explosion of sweet and tart, and not too much of either in my opinion. Some might like it sweeter, and they might get that way, but it was outstanding as it was.
Thank you @Scottfsmith for sharing scions, that is one hubby wants to grow a lot of. :slight_smile:

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Glad you liked it! I am also eating mine now, and I am remembering why I liked that apple so much. My previous tree had a bad root and I have been growing a new one for the past several years. Not only are they a great relatively early sweet-tart apple, I don’t get any problems on them from bugs rots sunburn etc.

Freyberg you need to make sure to let hang a long time, look for them turning darker yellow. I have enough years with the tree that I can spot that color difference but it takes some practice - just leave them on a super long time and you will start to see it. Unfortunately my tree is right by the road and the squirrels have been getting it every year for quite a few years in a row now.

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Here are a few not so early apples.
Cinnamon Spice on the left. I’m not sure it’s ripe, but it is quite sweet, and has a pleasant flavor and texture. It is easy to eat and like!

Honeycrisp in the middle. Sweet with a bit of tang remaining. Lots of juice and of course a great crisp texture.

On the right we have Pixie Crunch and it is a winner in my book! Very flavorful with a crunchy crisp texture. It is well named! Am I ever glad I traded in a Granny Smith and planted Pixie Crunch! :smile:

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Here is the baby with a large Aunt Rachel off a dwarf tree. She thought it was fun!
Aunt Rachel was a bit softer then some, and a bit more tart then sweet. We all shared the only one.

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Mine too ! Love that apple!

Apple is almost bigger than your baby ! How cute!!!

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Great apple pics and reviews. Cute apple helpers you have there. Always wonderful memories.
Interesting about the taste of the Strawberry Parfait and the Golden Nugget apple.

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