Lots of exciting new varieties to taste this year. Most varieties are developing well even some on new grafts. It should be a very interesting winter full of new flavors.
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I use your same trick of putting the names on the fruit with markers. After forgetting the variety for the nth time I decided its better to do that, it makes for fast and easy marking in the field. I have a similar-looking pile in my fridge now.
Scott,
Exactly. I do that on the field with new varieties i am not familiar with. That way, when picked, they don’t get confused in the first years after grafting and i can decide if they are keepers and i should graft more or they can be replaced by better ones.
In the following years i may use a single letter or none at all when i know them well.
Melrose
Idared
New ones receive a special care and interest sometimes with their full name
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Nice looking harvest so far, J. I didn’t think apples would do so well in Portugal, due to the warm climate. Citrus, figs, olives- yes, but not apples. Guess the weather’s a bit more moderate than I thought. Are you up in the hills, or near the ocean?
You are thinking of the climate in the southern part of the country like Algarve.
I’m 30km from the ocean in the center of the country. The climate is temperate (summers highest temperature is usually 95 ºF and lowest in the winter around 29 ºF). In a normal year the number of chill hours is around 350-450h. I should have problems with some apple varieties that need more but they produce fine. This year was atypical and we probably had less than 250 chill hours. Peaches, Plums and others fruit types were very affect, most varieites didn’t produce a single fruit. Nevertheless, apple production is almost normal.
For instance here’s one of my Granny Smith trees:
And here’s the first pick of a tree from a Northern variety much appreciated over here (Bravo de Esmolfe) that, according to the text books, needs 900-1100 chilling hours:
I am lucky and can enjoy the best of both worlds. Figs, olive trees, citrus, but also apples, pears, plums, walnuts, etc… I’m even trying chestnuts which is pushing luck a bit, but we will see in a couple of years.
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Three apples I was harvesting now.
From top to bottom : Red Jonaprince, Rajka, Opal
Red Jonaprince has probably the best flavor right now, love the sweet/tart flavor. Opal the second but it would be the best one month from now if it actually lasted that long (tree is young). Rajka is also good, kids don’t like apple’s skin but this one is really thin and smooth so they don’t mind
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That Bravo de Esmolfe looks a lot like the Winter Banana that we grow here on the coast just north of San Francisco. We just finished picking the last of them for this season. Our climate is similar to yours, perhaps just a bit cooler in the summer, and we are able to grow the same wide range of fruits and nuts.
Jerry,
The “Bravo de Esmolfe” (which translates to Wild of Esmolfe) is a very old portuguese variety (200 years+) that has nothing to do with Winter Banana besides looks. It has a unique scent and a very distinct flavor, which is juicy, sweet and simultaneously acid, This apple has earned the recognition of the public and that has allowed this humble variety to be sold in the big supermarket chains (when it’s available, reaching high values) alongside Gala, Golden, Granny, Starking and all the usual (much more insipid) ones that appear in the supermarkets.
Some information on the variety:
“Apple with a 5cm diameter, of oblong-conical shape and whitish bark, with a white, soft, juicy and sweet pulp. The production is obtained through scattered trees, at altitudes of 350-550 m. The area of orchards is 140 ha and the average number of trees per old orchard is 800-1600 and about 400 in the new ones. The apple goes into production in a slow manner, every two years. The tree is known since the eighteenth century and this variety is originally from the village of Esmolfe (Penalva do Castelo) and would have been obtained from a tree that grew spontaneously.”
"The Bravo Esmolfe apple is a Portuguese apple and unique in the World. Esmolfe, is also the name of the village where everything started, located in Penalva do Castelo – a county in the interior center of Portugal (Beira Alta). It is believed that this apple is more than 200 years old, and it distinguishes itself by their scent, intense flavor, sweetness and unique sapid qualities. It is singular and excellent to health. According to some academic studies, this apple has phytochemical properties that help the human body to prevent various diseases due to it’s high content in fibers and polyphenols. Accompanied by Serra da Estrela cheese, it’s excellent to consume between meals or as a dessert.
I am not noticing the alternating issue mentioned in some information available. Mine has given me lots of fruit every year.
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It’s a lovely apple, and it sounds like one I would enjoy.
Do you eat the ink, wash it off, or cut it off?
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Where did you get Opal?
Lol. Yeah, I thought Opal was a club apple
I always cut off the ink. I generally eat apples with a knife so its no biggie.
I have found that some apples will absorb the “inky essence” and it can ruin the apple, making it taste poisonous.
I’ve found this to be true with writing in marker on peaches as well. The flavor of the peach is ruined. Beware.
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I believe Paul is in Europe and Opal is common for home growers but is a club apple in the US.
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Matt,
I usually peel the skin off with a knife. Below the skin there is no sign of ink, not even a slightly darker flesh. Also no odor. I believe the ink doesn’t penetrate further than the first layer of skin and doesn’t affect the fruit in any way. At least in all the varieties i used it on, until now. And the marker used might make all the difference.
As i said i only do it in the first couple of years when i still don’t know the new varieties, they give me just a few fruits and i want to decide what to do and absolutely need to know that i am tasting the right varieties.
Just tasted my first Topaz today. Very good complex and rich taste, specially considering is the first apple from a still small graft. This one should be a solid keeper as it’s reputation predicted.
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@murky: Yeah I am from Europe and it’s available to homegrowers here.
Maybe due to it’s club status Opal is much better known in US. The Institute of Experimental Botany in Czech released also other varieties that seem to be more popular than Opal like Topaz, Admiral, Shalimar (the same parentage as Opal) and newly Bonita, that might be become “European Opal” in terms of popularity since it’s widely planted in commercial orchards due to it’s look and resistance.
@mamuang: That’s some good memory you have 
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Paul,
I love Opal so I’ve followed the info about it. I am envious of you with all the varieties you have access to. Hopefully, some of them will be available to the US home growers in the near future.
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mamuang,
It’s a fact. Like Paul i am located in Europe and have the good fortune of being able to access some very interesting varieties in our side of the pond.
Here’s a link with information about some “new” (the article is from 2013) and exciting varieties for us apple enthusiasts. I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on some of these:
An Update on Apple Cultivars, Brands and Club-Marketing
But we also envy some of the varieties you have available over there (not necessarily only on apples) and are quite difficult to obtain over here, so the feeling is mutual.
Paul,
I haven’t heard about Bonita. Do you have more information or a link about that variety?
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Does anyone have Criterion? There was a big deal about it 20 years ago or so - I planted a tree but the varmints girdled it