I’ve never heard much discussion of this apple, although I brought it up once (probably on the GW board) and I hope to hear from others on it.
My frankentree gave me only three of these last fall, and I sampled one (disappointing) and bagged two and threw them in the crisper drawer. About six weeks ago I ate one and it was terrible- tasted like some kind of paint remover or something.
But PS is known for being great keeper that improves with age, and I’ve eaten them in the past and found them wonderful right off the tree. So I held on to the last apple until my wife complained. Today I cut it up and ate it, and it’s pretty fair-not great, but much, much better than the last one.
So I’m going to give the scion another couple of years (remembering what Scott said about Rubinette going from being nondescript to excellent as the scion matured, IRRC.)
Here’s what The Orange Pippin says about the apple:
All purpose. Red over yellow, attractive large fruit. Some russeting may occur. Excellent flavor, improves in storage. Extra long keeping winter apple.
Prairie Spy is one of the earliest apple varieties developed by the University of Minnesota. It was selected in 1923 from seeds planted in 1914, and introduced commercially in 1940. It was known as Minnesota 1007 during its development period.
The parentage of Prairie Spy is not certain, but the name, and its growth characteristics and fruit appearance suggest it is probably a seedling of Northern Spy - but this is not certain.
At this time the University’s main focus was the introduction of cold-hardy varieties and Prairie Spy is well-known for its ability to survive in zone 4 winters. However it performs well in warmer zones as well.
Although grown commercially for a period in Minnesota, Prairie Spy (like Northern Spy) is not best-suited to the needs of commercial growers. For example, it can take several years to start bearing, and fruit size can be highly variable.
Most tasting tests rate Prairie Spy as having an excellent well-balanced sweet flavor.
A mentor had told me that some apples need a number of years fruiting before they develop their characteristic taste. He said 3 years is common and up to 5 not entirely uncommon and recommended a hold of at least 5 fruiting seasons before making your mind up. Note that is fruiting years, so for a biennial tree that could be 6-10 years.
And then there is soil, temperature, and climate to consider. Most of the Minnesota releases suck in warmer districts(think Honeycrisp or Harlson), Sweet 16 being a notable exception.
And then other apples are simply variable. Take Mother (aka American Mother) for example. It is in a class of its own taste wise, but the taste each year varies. It goes from good to exceptional depending on the year. When it is right, you will never forget it.
That being said I do believe I have tasted Prairie Spy and liked it very much.
Thanks, FluffyBunny. I’m glad to hear it, as the first apples from my tree were really bad, but the tree that provided scions for mine produces excellent ones.
I’ve never heard discussion of the phenomenon aside from Scott’s mention of it in regard to Rubinette, which I also have, so I’m glad to learn more of it.
I think I’ll introduce it as a new topic and see what people say.
Any more Prairie Spy experience (from anyone)? Mark, how did your PS do this year? I’m considering adding it next year and can’t find a lot of hands on info. We have three 40 yr old trees that for 38 years thought were PS’s. That’s what the nursery said they were and that’s what we called them. Then I saw a photo and description and realized what we have definitely aren’t (though we really like what we have so I’m happy with the mispick). But I thought it might be fun to grow a real PS here.
Hi Sue- as it happened I didn’t get any good PS this year. None of my apples did well and it is such an atypical year that I won’t hazard a guess from any of the results this year. Next year!!
Maybe my prarie spy is mislabeled because it’s the best apple! My girlfriend and family did not let one hit the ground this year! Mine have a few red veins under the peal and are extremely delicious. They could take or leave honeycrisp but everyone wanted PS but it is a shy producer in Kansas.
First production on 3 y.o. tree picked mid-Oct. and stored in fridge for 3 months was disappointing. Tried 2 different apples- 1st was decent taste, reminiscent of the excellent Northern Spy ( to which it may be related) but very soft. 2nd was mediocre flavor and texture. I’ll wait another year or 2 but it is looking like this might not be an apple for me to grow here. Searching for good keepers.
I picked our Prairie Spy apples in early October this year. We had hard freezes in the forecast and I wanted to see if avoiding those freezes led to improved storage of the fruit.
Starting this week, my wife and I have each been eating one for a snack each day. They are excellent eating. Nice balance of sweet/tart leaning towards sweet with a full flavor, crisp, and juicy. We’ll run out of them before the New Year. I wish we had more.
When they’re good they are very, very good, and when they are bad …
I think the flavor of PS is unlike any other apple I’ve ever had, and I like them a lot. Hard to describe the taste, but spice comes to mind. Maybe hints of pear? Glad they’re working out for your family.
I would agree the quality can vary quite a bit. I let them hang too long last year I think. They got soft quickly in the crisper. When eaten fresh off the tree I don’t care for them at all.
I’m not great at describing flavors, but I agree that PS is unique. Not as unique as Frostbite, but definitely not “plain”
Keepsake is a descendant of Northern Spy as well as Sweet Sixteen
Minnesota went back and tested their lineages and corrected quite a few
On another note, I am grafting Mantet and just noticed it is a parent of State Fair; Mantet is an early one and Walden Heights here in VT loves it (I got wood from them and recommend them).
I have one Prairie Spy grafted onto Bud118. I have yet to taste it. It is probably five years away from bearing. I chose it because Claude Jolicoeur recommends it for cider and ice cider, and his zone is similar to mine…
Every time I read this, I’m struck by how much their record keeping improved with time. It leaves me wondering how often people were provided with scion that wasn’t true to type early in the 1900’s, or before.
