Just picked my remaining Arkansas Black. Unlike so many that I have eaten in the past these were great. They were very sweet and had an intense but pleasant tart taste.
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Wish I could grow them here- a real old-timers storage apple.
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Have you tried AB there and it didn’t make it?
Haven’t tried it- I am working under the assumption that it’s a long-season, southern apple. I might be wrong!
Northern-grown AB were the staple of the market for years, but they will take much longer in storage to soften up so you can eat them. Here they’re great right off the tree, and the heat seems to color them up well. They’re on the bottom right in the photo.
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I don’t know either, but I do know AB’s are being grown (and ripened) in zone 4b/5a in parts of central WI. I’ve considered trying it here, but haven’t as of yet.
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I see several post referring to AB and Goldrush being very tart at harvest time but these end up being ready to eat from the tree at my place. Apparently our long hot season eliminates some of the storage needed in colder areas with shorter growing seasons.
StarkBros say:…
“Flavor improves after 30 days in the refrigerator. Originates from Long Creek, South Carolina in 1983. Keeps for up to eight months in proper storage. Cold-hardy. Ripens in October.”
In 5b I pocked in November and kept them in fridge for 2 months. They were still very dense. Flavor…ehh. But it is still a young tree so…
Mike
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Well, maybe I should try it- I seem to always find room for one more apple on my Frankentree!
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I grow Arkansas black here in Michigan near Detroit. AB is the last apple to ripen in my orchard around Nov. 1. Some years I can eat them off the tree, but most years they need to be stored for a while.
They are by far my best keepers. I am usually eating the last of them, when my Monarks are getting ripe on Aug 1 the following year.
Blacks are great here in good years. Marginal in not so great years.
Also, an Alber Orchard down the road grows Arkansas black and theirs are usually even better than mine. Maybe microclimate, maybe south facing slope or something.
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I had s great friend in the military. Phelen Pilgreen from Montgomery. I was an Auburn graduate. I’m getting started Grafting pears and apples this year. I’ve been Grafting stome fruit for 8 years. Would enjoy trading scions with you if you’d like to. Thanks, Paul Eckerson
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so amazing…
Graduated from Soran University with First Class Degree with Honours in Computer Science
Was visiting with the fellow who operated a local apple orchard (now closed) some years ago, at the beginning of his season. He said that he had ArkBlacks in the cooler from the previous year that were still very good… but he couldn’t sell them because they were a little ‘shriveled’ looking, because his wife had gotten tired of keeping wet towels in the cooler over the summer to keep humidity levels high enough to keep the apples plump.
Some years back, in a NAFEX discussion, Ed Fackler(I think it was Ed) opined that the ‘Colonial J-Spur’ strain of ArkBlack was beautiful, but tasteless…and was to be avoided.
No prayer of me ever getting an ArkBlack or GoldRush (I have both in my plantings) to ripeness here - in late summer, the big European hornets consume each and every fruit - whether it be apple or pear on all the trees, ripe or not. After about mid-August, pomefruits are a loss.
Beeman… War D@mn Eagle! Third-generation Auburn grad, I grew up just outside the (then) Auburn city limits, got my BS and DVM there.
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Sounds like you need to do some sleuthing and find the hollow tree or hole in ground where the big hornets live…and you can imagine the next step without my help. 
I got stung in 1982 by one when picking red delicious…hand swelled double and palm turned black……had to quit for the day.
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