So I visited my aunt and she mentions her apple tree is loaded this year. She said the apples were good but she’s questioning what they are. There are pictures shown below. She said when she bought the tree 10 years ago they sold it to her as Jeffersons apple. I thought Jeffersons apple was Spitzenberg which is red isn’t it? I told her my first thought was Granny Smith from the looks of it. So I tasted one and it tasted like Granny to me. It was firm, somewhat dry and tart as I expected. She doesn’t spray. The only disease I saw what the sooty blotch and fly spec. The apples all looked great. I brought some home, I cut one up and you can see it has water core. The seeds weren’t black but mostly brown. You can see in one apple there is a slight red blush on one of the apples. In the last pic I polished the Apr and removed most of the sooty blotch.
Is it Granny Smith or is there something similar in this late season that’s green and tart?
It is probably Newtown Pippin (aka Albemarle Pippin). Looks a lot like it (the original green strain from New York, which Cummins Nursery still sells).
Jefferson grew Spitzenburg, Roxbury Russet, and Newtown Pippin at Monticello.
Thanks Matt. I’ve heard of Newtown Pippin but have never tasted it. It’s a pretty good apple. Do you think it would be a good apple for making apple butter. I’ve been wanting to make some and she’s offered me plenty.
I cut one up to show you. It was ripe, seeds were brown. Brix was 11. Not my kind of apples. I know several members here like acidic taste. I prefer sweet apples like Honey Crisp or Fuji. I bet you Jefferson would have like HC and Fuji, too, had they been available then.
I’ve never actually stored apples before and doing a little reading it appeared there are many theories on what works best. How do you guys store them? Should I refrain from cleaning them and just take the best quality apples and store them in plastic bags in my crisper? What about zip lock bags?
I used some of those Newtown Pippin to make crock pot apple butter. I didn’t have time to do it the old fashioned way. Turned out pretty well but I’ll never eat it all. Didn’t can it so will probably only last less than a week. Have some to my dad and sister. My daughter loved it on an English muffin. A little chunkier than traditional apple butter.
So I’ve had these apples in storage for 2.5 months and decided to try one. Not much has changed. Still very tart like a granny smith. I don’t notice any sweetening at all. Still think this is Newtown or could it be Granny Smith? The apples had dark seeds and were picked after many had dropped. So that seems early for granny.
Where did you get this apple? I got mine from Raintree, it was definitely mislabeled and it looked like that too. I decided that it was Granny Smith, since it was green and very tart. What a disappointment it was. Here is my only one apple from this tree.
Antmary, mine is an unknown apple I picked at my aunt’s house. We probably speculated it might be Newtown Pippin but I’m having my doubts. The apples I’m referring to look more green than yours and have more of a round shape. Yours look more squat shape like Mac.
Thank you, @mamuang , I think that @speedster1 apple does look like Granny Smith. Mine looks more squatty but it is hard to judge the shape by a single apple. Granny Smith has the characteristic white dots on the green skin and it is, well, very sour too, without any other aroma or aftertaste.
