Well my apple season is coming to a close. I am leaving 4 Liberty apples hanging on the tree to see how they evolve. But those 4 apples and some rhubarb are all that are left.
I only got 4 types of apples this year but looking at bud development I hope to have many more types to taste next year.
We had our first frost October 10 with 4 more nights of frost that same week.
From early to late:
Redfree: I only had 3 of these apples. In august they had not fully changed color and did not release easily so I left longer. First I picked September 2 and the seeds were just starting to turn brown. 90g. 12 Brix. Tasting note: Very crisp. Mild apple flavour. More acid than sweet but not puckering (eg. still sweeter than mcintosh). I liked it. I finally picked the other two on September 11. One apple was fully red, sweet but softer and borderline mealy. 14 brix. I believe it was over-ripe. The 2nd apple had some green to it, was crisp with a nice balance of sweet and acid. 12 brix. With only 2 apples I really could not comment much on them. From this experience I would say Redfree ripening date this years was 2nd week of September after hand pollinating May 24 (110 days)
Redfree 12 brix apple
Redfree 14 brix apple
12 brix seeds left, 14 brix seeds right
Crimson Crisp: I only had 2 of these apples. They are supposed to ripen late September into October but I picked one on September 15 because it was mostly red and released easily. The seeds were all brown. Apple looks a bit like a small red delicious. 126g. It was VERY dense and slightly sour. I picked the second apple September 24. It was now fully red. 95g. Very sweet at 14 brix with very little acid and yet extremely crisp and crunchy with a very nice flavour reminiscent of a good red delicious. I am looking forward to having more next year! From this experience I would say Crimson crisp ripening date this years was 4th week of September after hand pollinating May 24 (123 days)
Crimson Crisp Sept 15 apple
Crimson Crisp Sept 24 apple
Liberty: This was my main apple producer this year. It is a tiny tree – I think on M27 as it tops out around 6 feet. Covered in apples. I only bagged about half to see the difference between protected and non-protected and there is a huge difference. Non protected were occasionally ½ the size, malformed and with some bad cracking and bug damage. First apple tasted was a windfall on September 4 and was sour. Picked again September 21 but seeds still not brown. 11 brix. Dry, not juicy. Tangy. Picked again September 30 and now it was crisper and jucy but still very tart and some seeds were dark but others light. 12 brix. October 10 I picked more. The ziplock protected apples were darker red, crisp, jucy and sweet. The organza protected apples were slightly less red, softer and sweeter. October 11 picked again and the Ziploc was more red, less crisp and very sweet. The organza apple was less red, some skin damage a bit more acid. On the 11th both were 15 brix. I trimmed an unprotected apple that was damaged and still had some green and it was very crisp and nice balance of sweet and tang. From this experience I would say Liberty ripening date this years was 2nd week of October after hand pollinating May 24 (140 days)
Liberty Sept 30 unpolished
Liberty Sept 30 polished - Yummy!
Liberty Oct 4 ziplock protected left, unprotected right
Liberty Oct 11 unprotected left, organza middle (note cosmetic damage done through the bag and less red coloration), ziplock protected right
Macfree: I only had 2 apples. My first apple I picked October 13. Pretty apple. Striated skin but the “green” is less green than Liberty but more a golden yellow/brown. 100g. 14 brix. Tasting sweeter with less acid than Liberty. Softer and less crisp than Liberty, a bit more like a McIntosh you get from the store. Flavour difficult to describe. Inoffensive, pleasing and pleasant. Ate alternating slice by slice with Liberty in combination with a sharp cheese and both were delicious. Different enough in flavour profile and texture that you could grow both. I think people who like slightly tart apples would prefer Liberty for the taste and crispness. 2nd apple was 153g and I picked October
From this experience I would say Macfree ripening date this years was 2nd week of October after hand pollinating May 24 (140 days)
Macfree Oct 13
Continuing my grape report from the last post.
So called Polar green (which is purple) continued to improve. September 4 was sweet, grapy and delicious. September 10 was 21 brix and very good. September 15 was 22 brix and starting to shrivel a bit. I would say best eating was first 2 weeks of September. Biggest problem with this grape is that the bunches have some grapes/clusters that break/drop in wind and after rains.
So called Pink pearl (which is purple) started shrivelling around Sept 10 and peaked at 19-20 brix. Peak flavour was probably last week of August and first week of September.
Concord seedless (which has seeds) started being edible September 15 at 17 brix. Became darker and racoons starting climbing the vines to get them September 20 at 16 brix but delicious with a very Concord taste. September 24 18 brix and some were starting to schrivel a bit but very delicious. September 30 18 brix and at their peak. Grapes would split when being pulled from the bunch. Absolutely delicious. I would say ripe 3rd and 4th week of September.
Concord. Exact same dates as my “Concord seedless” which makes me think my “seedless” is actually standard Concord. Although ripening was more uniform with my “seedless”.
Petite Jewel is probably actually Petite Pearl as my grapes are seeded. Small, tight clusters of very sweet grapes with nearly 25-50% seed mass in the grape. Harvested October 14 – 25 brix. I will be pulling this out as I want table grapes.
I am still harvesting Rhubarb so by far that is my heroic fruit of the year. Started harvest May 26 and still harvesting as of October 15!
So with harvest over, I am now starting to plan my scion wood orders for 2016. Pears, apples, plums, apricots. I can’t wait!