Anyone have any guesses as to what these varieties may be? I collected these from an abandoned orchard in the Huron Mountains today.
This is the first variety. The apple in back is a Honeycrisp from my orchard which is for size comparison. The tree appears to be a tip bearer, making it look like the apples grow in bunches. They are fairly aromatic with a very sweet light ‘pineapple’ flavor, and low acidity. Last year when I gathered a few they were larger, but the mother tree was split in half by a snowstorm that dropped 4 ft of heavy wet snow and ice this May. I was so impressed at the flavor of this variety I grafted it in my orchard this spring.
Second variety is larger, and was on a larger tree. As you can see it’s about the size of Honeycrisp. It is very sweet, making my lips slightly sticky, with more of the traditional yellow delicious-yellow apple taste. Not as nuanced or tropical tasting as the first variety. Again, not very acidic. Not aromatic. Both of these first two varieties seem mostly ripe. For comparison yellow delicious usually doesn’t fully ripen in this climate, and it is best finished off in storage.
Any ideas would be appreciated. I think I will probably get scion wood from variety 2 next spring.