@Plantmurderer First things first . . . I love your screen name!
And - glad to hear that there is one more Ashmead’s fan out there. I really didn’t expect that many to come out of the closet - for the little ugly green and brown apple. And I usually love Goldrush, but the disease resistant apple had a lot of nasty spots on it this year! It might be disease resistant . . . but not without spraying it! LOL
I like them so much that I’m spending a lot of time cutting around all the icky stuff - to save what I can.
I’m editing this post of mine - after reading @alan suggesting Esopus Spitz. I second that - It is the BEST apple I’ve ever eaten, but it won’t grow here. Drive a couple hours north and west of here . . . and they are beautiful. They don’t have a chance in southeast VA, though. I hope you can give them a try - and are successful. 'Sounds like we like the same taste in apples.
I’m interested in that earlier Goldrush you mentioned. I’m going to look into that. Last year my Goldrush were great. And they lasted for months in my refrigerator. I was really looking forward to them this year . . . but I didn’t spray enough and paid dearly for it.
My Ashmeads ripened early this year - and I wasn’t expecting that at all. I was away for a week - and when I returned they had turned mealy. The ones I tried in August were nice and crisp. Next year I’m picking them earlier. And spraying them more!
In Z. 5 Goldrush may not reach adequate ripeness to achieve good quality- in a shorter than average season it can even happen in Z6- especially at sites lacking full sun. Now there is an early strain sold by Adams County Nursery that is a sport of the original, unlike another apple purported to be like an early Goldrush, Crunch-a-Bunch. I’m not sure this early version is going to be as good as the later one on a good year, although it looks just like the original and has the same very precocious bearing habit, unlike C-A-B. I’ve eaten one from a tree in my nursery and they are almost ripe, but they seem to be lacking the full acid punch of the original.
I don’t buy apples and Goldrush is a much more valuable apple for me than Ash. I can eat excellent GR all winter long while Ash breaks down pretty quickly. It ripens too early and my storage fridge is still full of plums and peaches when its ready to harvest. It is grainier and not as hard as a properly ripened Goldrush and GR has somewhat higher brix.
My favorite apples have high sugar AND high acid. If you like Ash, you should try E. Spitz, which comes in at higher brix and is less grainy. It’s also one of the most beautiful apples there is.
I was lucky enough to try a single varietal Ashmeads cider made by Ninepin a few years ago. Lots of acid, but excellent flavor. The main orchard they deal with has U-pick so i went and found them. Definitely one of my favorite apples to eat.
I bet it was like 10% alcohol. Roxbury is close to that, and I think Ashmead is richer. The sweat cider from those types of apples is like syrup. Top shelf in my opinion. You won’t find many russet single verity ciders because the producers are cheap, and russets render less juice than other apples.
No. the buyers are cheap. Often people ignore quality unless it is deemed high status. We aren’t as smart as we like to believe and mostly follow. It keeps us functionally tribal.
Russets are in a bit of a disastrous feedback loop. They dont look like the standard apple so people avoid them. If people avoid them fewer people produce and sell them. If fewer are available people are less likely to try them and taste how amazing they can be. It falls on hobbyists to propagate these amazing apples through time until tastes change as they always do and what is old (and very good) is new again.
Asian pears sell for several dollars a piece. People buy Bosc pears. Somebody just needs to rename and market some existing russet as “JuiceGasmCrisp™” and charge $5/each.
Anyone growing Ashmead’s Kernel in zone 10? Trees of Antiquity lists it as up to zone 9, while many of their trees are listed up to zone 10. I love the apple but don’t want to invest water and space into a tree that won’t perform. We don’t get much heat here (eastern San Francisco Bay Area), but we also don’t get much chill.
Graft it to something else- they may even extend its range. You will know how well it works sooner than planting a whip grafted to a free-standing root stock.
Hi Jerry. I am embarrassed to admit that I went and picked apples at Cullipher - twice this fall. I missed the Spitzenburgs . . . DARN! But I was able to get some amazing Goldrush there. (Mine were all buggy and nasty this year.) Their orchard is impressive - with some lovely little trees. Not a spot of rot or a bug - anywhere.
I went there to pick my own Spitzenburgs awhile back and despite their FB page saying PYO was open, the orchard was closed until the weekend. But they did have pre-picked ones for sale. I put them in my fridge and I need to start trying them soon. I noticed the big Goldrush on the trees still a few weeks from being ready.
