The Pristine that I picked before they were full ripe (around July 4) were not especially good. I believe that most apple maturity charts (like ACN) have a picking date that is just too early. The apple hangs on the tree well until it fully ripens, so if you wait until the apple turns lemon yellow its very good. When its ripe like that it does not last long without refrigeration. I’m going to wait a week or 10 days later next year before I pick mine.
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Yes, especially given it was Aug. 1, I was impressed with the Pristine. We also tried Lodi which was probably past its prime i.e. kind of soft.
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Scott
When does Pomme Gris ripen for you? Mine are first time bearing. Thanks
Carole
It ripens in main apple season, about the same time as yellow delicious.
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Just ate my Gravenstein apple. It was pretty good!
Not as good as the commercial orchards, but my tree is still young…
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Congrats Matt, is that your first of that variety? What kind of flavors did it have?
I just planted two Grimes Golden’s this spring on G.16 rootstock, one was a 7/16 and the other a 9/16". They seem to have grown really well over these first four months. Both have sprouted a vigorous central leader but not a lot of side shoot branches. They also got hit with a moderate case of CAR, but a lot of my other trees did as well. I was surprised that they also sprouted some blossoms in May considering they were just 3 foot whips when planted.
At any rate, I was wondering if anyone had opinions on this variety. I did a search on the site, and didn’t find a lot of critiques on it. Considering the rootstock and variety when should these start producing its first decent harvest?
Thanks Subdood.
Gravenstein is an awesome apple when it is at its best. Unique sweet rich juicy tangy flavor. My apple was picked a little early, and did not reach its fullest potential, but it was still pretty darn good. I prefer to eat Gravenstein after it spends 24 hours in the refrigerator; this improves the experience. The very bottom portion of my apple had the highest concentration of sugars, and those few special bites reminded me of how great this variety can be. Yes; this was my first home-grown Gravenstein. I was so proud of my little baby (can’t you tell?).
Speaking of Grimes- it is a good October russet. Crystalline sweet twangy russet flavor. I like Roxbury Russet and English Golden Russet better (their flavor is more powerful and pleasing to me) but Grimes is a solid apple too. Reports differ as to Grimes’ disease-resistance, but most sources seem to indicate it is a rugged and productive apple. I like Grimes - and all the russets - sliced into wedge-shaped pieces that can be picked up and eaten with a toothpick. The texture and bite is perfect then. Good luck with your future harvests. I’m sure they will be rewarding.
I really like Geneva.16 rootstock. I have 3 trees on it, and they are among my best-looking trees. Similar growth habit as to what you describe, but the side-branch thing is improving for me lately. I am finding them easy to multi-bud despite reports that the stock can be overly sensitive to virus exposure. However, my beautiful G.16 trees have not produced apples for me yet. My trees on B.9 have proven themselves much more precocious in that regard.
Matt I wouldn’t bud on G16. They look fine for a few years and then they start to decline. Maybe half of the G16 that I grafted other varieties to are dead now. The other half could do OK since the scionwood didn’t have viruses, but it was a big pain losing all those trees.
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Thanks guys for the replies. I also have a Novaspy (11/16") on G16, and it has one side branch growing on it, and a couple vigorous vertical leaders. So, is the lack of side branches a characteristic of this rootstock? I had a deer munch one of them off before I fenced it in, but it still has only one side branch since then.
I’m not worried about grafting right now, I just want to get the trees going and not risk butchering them. I have never done any grafting, obviously, since this is the first year I’ve planted any kind of fruit tree. I have heard, though, about how sensitive G16’s are to bad grafts.
Funny you should mention Roxbury and Golden Russet, as I have both of those as well. The GR is a 7/16" on G222 rootstock and the RR is a 11/16" on G30. The RR looks very good with lots of leaves and sprigs, while the GR is not doing a lot. It seemed to get hit with CAR pretty bad.
I mentioned about my two GG not putting out a lot of side branches. Well, I was just out there, and they do have a few, not a lot, but there are some. It’s my G16 Novaspy that is the one with just one branch.
Oh, man. Sorry to hear that, Scott. I hope I didn’t just shoot myself in the foot on this one. I’ll keep an eye on them…
I hope I’m wrong. But if you have some stocks you have not grafted to yet I would hold off. The mistake I made was I “parked” many grafts on trees I was not planning on making multi-variety. I was thinking that would not be enough to transmit the virus but maybe it was. In one spot I see in 2004 I had 8 G16s in a row where I parked buds, and all off them are gone now.
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I visited Distillery Lane Ciderworks today. I purchased 30 Gravenstein apples for $6! They are phenomenal. And I did the self-guided tour. I ate a Jefferis right off the tree, and it was quite good- the best Jefferis I’ve had yet. I took a few photos of their orchard.
Blue Pearmain
Ashmead’s Kernel
Rhode Island Greening
Calville Blanc D’hiver
Golden Russet
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Those look like publicity shots, very nice looking fruit, Matt. Did you buy any other apples besides the Gravensteins? You seem to be really fond of those. Where is this Distillery Lane Ciderworks?
Do they mostly grow cider apples, or all kinds?
Monday Me and Mrs Dood are going over to Reed Valley Orchard to sample some of their ripening apple crop. It’s exciting because they are growing about 8 of the 13 varieties that we planted this spring. Of course, they’re not all ripe, but we plan on making another trip maybe next month. We called them yesterday and they said that they have Honeycrisp*, Zestar, Early Gold, Mollie’s Delicious, Ginger Gold, Sansa, and Gala ready to buy. Looks like we’ll be doing some more apple canning next week! They got some pears as well, but unfortunately no peaches this year- frost got the blooms.
Yeah, only the Gravs were ready. They are in Jefferson, Maryland, near Burkittsville. They grow mostly cider varieties. Thanks.
I have bought many apples from them over the years. They used to grow many Euro cider apples and they had a similar experience to what I had, there were just too many issues with them to make it worthwhile in our climate. The last time I was there they were mostly gone and maybe they are all gone by now?
Case in point: They used to have Egremont Russet, which is a truly fantastic apple, but it was the source of repeated fireblight outbreaks, so they axed it.
So, have you guys in MD have sworn off trying to grow Euro apples, especially the English varieties? I had considered adding a St Edmund’s Russet next year, but if it’s going to be a pain, then I might reconsider.
We’re in a different climate than y’all, but not that much different, but I wonder if that would matter? Our heat + humidity might be a bit less, and the winters might be colder, so would that help? Isn’t it true that these varieties generally do better in New England’s climate?
I am trialing - or will eventually be trialing - the following apples of european origin.
-Sun Tan of England (grafted in 2016)
-Baker’s Delicious of Wales (grafted in 2016)
-Gravenstein of Denmark (fruited 2016)
-Rubinette of Switzerland (grafted in 2015)
-Calville Blanc D’hiver of France
-Ashmead’s Kernel of England
-English Golden Russet
So far, Gravenstein is a winner and I highly recommend it.
I have eaten the latter three from the aforementioned ciderworks and they are excellent.
Apples came from present-day Kazakhstan. Seedlings made their way to Europe and then to America. Every apple seed is different. Every micro-climate is different. You can read the literature - and ask about friends’ experiences - to make an educated guess about which varieties to exclude. But you just never know until you try.
Scott in Baltimore did have trouble with many of the euro types. But he found a few winners too, if I am not mistaken- including Rubinette.
My orchard is roughly 1,600 feet above sea level in the Catoctin Mountains. That might help me a little.
I was only referring to Euro cider apples in the above – pretty much all of them I have given up on. I have many Euro apples that do very well, including many English ones. A rough guess is about half of the non-cider ones I tried worked out. Ashmeads, Blenheim, Bramley, King of the Pippins, Laxton’s Fortune, and Worcester Pearmain are all English apples that I found easy to grow (and, all are great apples).