Your apples and tree look great!
I picked Goldrush, Newtown Pippin and Old Fashion Winesap and set them on the counter for some more ripening time before I sliced then.
I rated the apples - Goldrush, Newtown Pippin and OFW in that order.
Wish I had collected enough for more taste tests in 30 and 60 days
Goldrush and OFW are productive in my hot/humid 7B climate. Newtown Pippin is not very productive or easy to grow.
Just picked up some sun crisp from my neighbor, first time tring them. Excellent apple, like it so far as much as goldrush. I will be getting some wood from one of his trees, if you haven’t tried this one you should try to find some to sample.
Jesse, I’m curious as to how you liked the Milo Gibson. I finally tracked it down and grafted it last winter.
Next time.
Jesse- Fantastic apple production. How do your Spitzenburgs taste? Rumor is they keep yummy in cold storage until Christmas.
I gave Milo Gibson it’s own topic…I like it fine for fresh eating, cider, haven’t tried cooking with it yet. Flavor does not match descriptions of sweet licorice flavor, to me it seems more like a light russet, medium acidity, not dense yet crisp flesh. Thin, tender skin.
Hopefully I didn’t pick them early, there were quite a few on the ground and the seeds are fully colored. Perhaps they will develop some other flavors after mellow in in storage.
It is a terrific apple year up here, and many of my trees which were volunteer crabapples I top worked 7 years back have full crops-happy days!
My Spitz is probably my largest tree of that group and has the biggest load of fruit. These are really good apples with fine textured, dense sugary flesh and good acidity that keeps me coming back for more. Not all that many suitable for long term storage due to insect damage, codling moth got into these. The tree is also suffering from foliar scab, none on the fruit though. Most will be pressed for cider, some will get dried.
My favorite fresh eating apple is currently Baldwin, also enjoying good ol’ Golden Delicious.
I have been eating McIntosh for the past two weeks from my refrigerator. Had to take a break and selected Honeycrisp today instead. My Albemarle Pippens are ripe and I am select picking a few Northern Spy that are ripe on the tree (this variety is really ripening weird this year as one is ripe and the one 12" away is still not ready). Glad to have some more variety to eat.
Jesse,
How did your home grown Golden Delicious taste?. Could you tell what strain is yours?
No idea, got scion from neighbor’s 50 year old tree. It is a delicious apple😉
Goldrush time… picking these for the past week start in with the damaged ones, still great eating. My trees are cropping nicely this year, should have plenty to store into the winter.
Our Sundance apples are beginning to ripen. They seem to be a little late this year, maybe because I didn’t thin well enough? I haven’t had trees long enough to know if that can impact ripening. The one we ate today was like caramel. Really incredible. I was worried they’d be watery and mediocre this year due to the rain and overcropping, but if this is any indication, this could be our best harvest yet.
Ryan,
Caramel as in its texture, taste or fragrance, please. Caramel reminds me of something soft and sweet.
Caramel as in taste - maybe a bit of the fragrance as well. It’s definitely sweet - our Sundance tree has given us fruit for maybe 3 years and this was the sweetest, by far - but with a character I can only describe as caramelized. Maybe this is what is sometimes meant by “burnt sugar notes.” See https://shop.cumminsnursery.com/shop/apple-trees/spitzenburg-esopus and Apples of Uncommon Character, p53. It’s a firm, crisp apple, though not as firm as GoldRush, and juicy.
I’ve still got a number of Red Fuji on the tree, and some Cornish Aromatic, maybe a few others on grafts hidden in the leaves. I’d better get out there and see if it’s time to pick. Can’t wait to try the Cornish Aromatic. (both from grafts)
Thank you. The description of Spitzenburg that makes reference to lychee ( my favorite fruit) and rose interests me greatly. But then, the “highly susceptible to fire blight” stops me short of acquiring the scionwood.
@JesseS, still has a few Gold Rush hanging. It is kind of nice to have fresh fruit on the tree while almost every other trees are either leafless or half-leafless.
Nice loaded apple tree John. What ever it is, you are going to have a lot of apple pies for sure!!
Tony
It gives a lot of apples every year. Too many and they are a bit on the small size without cutting out some. Doesn’t shoot out a lot of branches going into production early.
