All of my trees are currently in pots. We had a really rough winter last year and I had to get them in pots because they were shipped too early to me bare root. They are in 15 gallon pots.
We do plan to plant them in the ground in the near future.
Right now we have a Fuji, a Honey crisp, a black Arkansas, a McIntosh and a golden delicious. The only apples we haven’t tried that we bought trees of are McIntosh and black Arkansas.
Here is what I have on order for next year:
Cinnamon Spice
Suntan
Ashmead’s Kernel
Kidd’s Orange Red
Belle de Boskoop
Grimes Golden
King David Apple
Calville Blanc
Rubinette Apple
Westfield Seek-no-Further
Fireside
My goal is to have extraordinary fresh eating apples, and also some that could stand up to being canned and used in tarts or sun-dried.
I’d like to have enough for friends and family and then also be able to sell excess at the local farmers market.
I’m hoping not to have any mealy apples.
Anyone see any duds on my list? I might be able to change them out at this point while it’s still early.
It would be helpful if you supplied more information. From your profile you’re in zone 8A. What state are you in? Certain apples do well in some climates and not others so knowing which state you’re in would allow us to make better recommendations. It also gives us a clue to what the disease pressure is. I might suggest Goldrush for instance but that would be a poor choice if you live in an area with lots of cedar apple rust.
Are you planning on spraying the trees either with organic materials or synthetics or bagging fruit?
We bought a few bags to try and I like them, but it might be difficult with a lot of trees to bag the fruit might be easier to put tulle over the entire tree? I have something called surround that is kaolin clay. I have sulfur as well. I wasn’t wanting to use poisons if I could avoid it. We haven’t had any diseases as of yet knock on wood. Well, we did have leaf curl on our nectarine, but nothing on the apples. I noticed bugs don’t even eat the McIntosh leaves. What is cedar rust?
The disease pressure is going to be lower in California than in the East. You maybe able to get away with not spraying. Cedar apple rust is a common apple disease that can effect the leaves and fruit. It’s one of the four major apples diseases along with fireblight, powdery mildew, and scab.
I have Ashmead’s Kernel and Grimes Golden. Both are good apples. I don’t have any direct experience with the other apples on you’re list. Here is a hot climate apple list based on testing in Riverside,California. You might find it useful.
Yes, Kuffel Creek is in Southern California so it somewhat hotter and has lower humidity but it still is a pretty good analog for climate. Both Shingletown and Riverside have Mediterranean climates. My climate in Illinois is radically different. You can grow soybeans and corn here without irrigation. Rain falls from the sky on a regular basis in the Summer. So disease and insect pressure is much higher here but I don’t worry about running out of water.
I am with you about not wanting or liking mealy apples. My horses will not even eat them. I was going to get a Grimes Golden but for some reason I decided against it. Maybe a short storing time before getting soft. Double check that info on that one before you buy it.
I like Grimes much better, actually. It has a flavor component that I really like, but is missing in GD. I also grow Sinta, a back-cross of the two, and it indeed falls somewhere between its parents for fresh eating. Of the three, Grimes is the clear winner for me.