Bear,
I do. I respect Murky and his knowledge. My soil is OK. I don’t like climbing a ladder (a sure footed kind, obviously).
Don’t like my fruit trees tall but do not want a rootstock that can runt out, either.
Bear, I also emailed you.
Now that’s the second time in as many days I’ve heard Jonagold mentioned in the same breath as Honeycrisp. I even looked it up and the comparison was made in that write-up as well. I’m going to have to look into some wood of this variety from ARS. Mrs. G really likes her’s also. Yep…gonna have to plug on some Jonagold.
One more Jonagold endorsement here. I have a few limbs grafted and they have an excellent flavor and somewhat like Honeycrisp but still a little different. The Jonagold tree appears to grow faster than the Honeycrisp. Bill
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On orange pippin there quite a few comments about it. It’s one of my favorites and always gives me a good amount every year. I agree with the commenters on orange pippin that says it has some tartness to it, but more sweet. Wouldn’t say it’s all sweetness.
Me too on Jonagold. It’s our go-to for purchasing in the late winter when all our Liberties are gone or too mealy. I have one branch on my frankentree, and may add another. Too bad it’s a late ripener, but that does seem to go hand-in-hand with good keeping.
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Jonagold is an excellent tasting apple, even out of the grocery store (usually).
Not sure how easy it would be to grow. One of its parents, Jonathan, is notoriously disease-prone.
My understanding is that Fuji is fairly vigorous, but Rubinette is not. Fuji would probably do well on B.9.
My graft of Rubinette on a B.9 stock grew okay this past year - at least 2 feet - but could have grown more.
mamuang,
Bear_with_me is just more modest than I. I’ve grown mostly M26 on my handful of apple trees. The rest I look up via Google.
Even though I have a good amount of apples, I can’t resist the macouns at my local store.
I’ve only tried Jonagold from the store a few times and have never been impressed. Usually the texture is poor, which makes me think it isn’t much of a keeper and surprises me that it appeals to the same folks who like Honeycrisp.
At the fruit ID table at a Home Orchard Society event, I’ve tasted one considered probable/likely to be Jonagold that was really good. So maybe the ones at the stores here just have been no good.
If I remember correctly, Matt, I respect your palate - I think you listed a number of your favorite apples that may have been headlined with Golden Russet and Rubinette which are excellent apples to my taste. I seem to recall overlap in tastes on a number of others.
Hope I haven’t confused you with another poster, but makes me want to try some good Jonagolds.
They seem to have a short shelf life. I have had some that was comparable to Honeycrist and some that was in my opinion average at best. I suspect the bad ones were either picked early or past there prime. Bill
I do like Golden Russet, but you might have me mixed up with someone else.
I just started growing Rubinette this year-- have not tasted it yet.
I have also had Jonagolds that were past their prime and tasted nasty. I agree that their storage ability is dubious. But when you get a good one, they really are excellent.
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@Olpea is growing Fuji if I remember right. I seems like he posted a picture and it’s very vigorous.
I’ve never been a huge apple fan, but this year I’ve started to see the appeal. I’ve been trying all the varieties at the store, and even went to a CRFG apple tasting. Jonagold is now a big favorite (and to confirm comments above, the Jonagold grafts on my Gravenstein have grown way more vigorously than the Honeycrisps). Another apple that really surprised me is “Pacific Rose.” It’s a great apple, and big and beautiful, but has an unexpected perfumy aftertaste that is delightful. I’ve also liked Jazz and numerous apples from the CRFG tasting, but I can’t find my notes from it. I remember tasting Karmijn de Sonnaville and thinking, so this is what all the fuss is about!
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I found two new varieties today that I’ve never seen on my local market shelves. Opal and Sonya. I know Opals been talked about here but I’ve not heard mention of Sonya.
The Opal was absolutely delicious. Cross between Golden Delicious and Topaz. Bright yellow color, great sweetness, and quite a bit of acid too. The texture was great. They were a little on the expensive side but I hope I start seeing them more often around here.
Sonya on the other hand was as disappointing as the Opals were good. I should’ve known I wouldn’t care for it as it has the characteristic Red Delicious dimples on the bottom of the apple. Apparently a cross between Red Delicious and Gala. This apple was quite striking in color but falvor was bland. It had Zero acid and was mildly sweet. texture was as expected from a Red Delicious offspring. Cost the same as the Opal’s. No reason to ever buy this one again.
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I agree with 100% of what you said speed, and my multiple experiences with Sonya was the same. Bland and unremarkable and I also felt the similarity to RD. Opal is indeed very good, and that’s saying something I think, since I tend to strongly favor red apples.
Just bought a bag of Jonagolds and they are so different. I would say average at best. Had a nice crunch, but tasted like a red delicious.
I’ve been getting “Envy” apples lately—a little expensive too, but a solid rival to Fuji. Incredibly crunchy–when you bite into it you get the feeling the apple was about to burst open anyway! Also very sweet, with just a smidgen of tanginess, and a nice flavor. I’d say it has a little more flavor than a store-bought Fuji. The other advantage over Fuji is that is seems to have a thinner skin–the skin blends right in with the flavor of the apple. With Fujis I sometimes feel like I’m left chewing a mouthful of flavorless leathery skin.
I looked it up and here’s what Wikipedia says:
“Envy is a trademarked brand of the Scilate apple variety. Scilate is the result of a cross between Royal Gala and Braeburn. It was developed in New Zealand by HortResearch, submitted for a patent in 2008 and patented in 2009.”
It’s definitely not a very distinctive, heirloom-type where flavor comes first, it’s one of the new super-sweet apples with less tang, but delicious for everyday crunching, imho.
Envy can be quite good, always very sweet. I’ve had some that are insipid though, nothing but sweet. I think the best Fujis are better than the best Envys, but quality control on the Envy’s seems better, at least around here.