Picked Golden Russet last week. Gold Rush tree hasn’t fruited yet. I was surprised though when several local orchards announced already that they were closing for the season, including Indian Creek, the retail and pick-your-own component of Cummins Nursery.
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Gold Rush is very late. This is an off year so only two GR apples. It will have a good production next year as it has a serious biennial tendency. I will graft most of the tree to other varieties. GR doesn’t ripen in time for me mostof the time though it gets 8 hours of sun in the summer. My other apples don’t get that much sun but ripen well.
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That is a handsome press. Who is the manufacturer?
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Pleasant Hill
Probably cheaper and better to build your own - some good YouTube videos on rack and cloth presses. But with two little ones and a long to-do list hard to fit it in.
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I was surprised by that too, and even more surprised when Indian Creek said see you in June.
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What are its tasting notes?
I do not have refined taste buds and am not good at describing taste of fruit. I can tell if I like it or not.
We tried Suntan today. All 3 of us liked it. The texture was firm but not crunchy like Honey Crisp. It tasted good but was on a tarter side. My daughter said “It tasted like apple”. That was a high praise for a picker eater like her. I could see why she said that. When I cut up the apple, it had nice aroma.
What I found weird was that the apple had only 2 seeds, one regular, the other was flat as if it had nothing inside. It was the first apple I ate that had only 2 seeds.
@HighandDry Is it common for Suntan to have few seeds?
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I harvested several apples yesterday. Varieties I grow are what I like. They are either sweet, balanced (sweet/tart) or a bit on a tart side but has other features I like such as sweetness undertone, nice aroma, etc.
This is a down year as several varieties decided to go biennial. I am happy to get new varieties like RL Calypso, Pixie Crunch, Razor Russet, Roxbury Russet to try.
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Any favorite there for fresh eating? I have about five of those varieties just reaching bearing size.
Wow, Tippy! What a fabulous collection and such work keeping them all labeled properly. That is really hard to do!!!
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Do you like sweet, more tart or balanced apples?
All of mine are for fresh eating. Although Calville Blanc is known to be an excellent cooking apple, well- ripened Calville Blanc is very good for fresh eating.
Both taste and texture is important to me. I usually prefer crunchy over tender texture. Russeted apples add to nice texture, too.
I like apples on a sweet side so of this batch, Orin and Baker’s Delight, are my pick. I also like Frostbite and Pink Parfait but both took this year off.
Some of my apples do not produce with consistent quality because of excessive rain or a prolonged dry spell, etc. Honey Crisp and Hoople’s Antique Gold fit that category. Excellent one year, and pedestrian another year, depending on a growing condition.
Most of mine have a biennialing tendency. The ones that have produced every year are Pink Lady, Orin and Golden Russet.
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Mrs. G.,
I lined them up in an alphabetical order so it is easy to remember. 
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I’ve not heard of Baker’s Delight nor Orin. The most perfect apple I ate was at Capital Reef National Park in Utah, planted by the Mormons, but I have no idea what variety it might have been. Maybe I was extra hungry that day.
Orin is a Japanese apple. It is light, crunchy, sweet and refreshing. Several Japanese apples share these characteristics.
Baker’s Delight is under patent, I think. It is firm, aromatic and sweet. Everyone I gave apples to said this variety stood out to them.
You can only by them through Gurney Nursery.
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Great information. I had heard of Baker’s Delight but this is a lot more information about the taste. Sounds like a nice apple to try.
What is your opinion and description of American Golden Russet please?
Your line up of apples is just gorgeous!
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AGR is a nice, sweet apple with tender flesh. I wish I could describe the taste better. Some people really like it. I like it but not as much as Hoople’s Antique Gold which has more honeyed flavor and firmer texture.
I hope people with better taste buds and vocabulary will chime in.
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If possible, can you please rate them by taste and keeping abilities?
