At times, my yellow transparent ones would ripen later. It all depended on the weather. If is was an early year they were okay. If they ripened a little alter they would last a little longer. I used them for fired apples mostly. Plus I gave some to my neighbors. They enjoyed them mostly.
My family just doesn’t like soft apples. It was a tree that was already at the house when I bought it. I hated to take it down it was shaped so nice. They just didn’t keep very well. My son wouldn’t eat them at all. He would be glad when they were gone off the tree.
I tend to agree, the Lodi/Yelow Transparent are at their best when picked early. They are moderately crisp then and good for pies and sauces; a nice tart cooking apple. Left on the tree until fully ripe (brown seeds) they may pick up a nice apple aroma, but lose their other qualities and are pretty mealy.
Part of the difference could be I don’t consider SB/FS a real problem since I am not selling stuff. Also I don’t get bitter rot except occasionally on one particular variety, it is tied to soil conditions. White rot is much worse on earlier varieties for me but I also get it on some later varieties.
I would really like to get a copy of Rev. Morton’s catalog as well. Someone, somewhere has to have a copy. I hope someone finds it and displays it for us to enjoy.
The Yellow Transparent do not have a very long shelf life. They are very good for cooking up. As far as eating, not really that good. The Lodi, for me , were very disappointing. Look nice but no taste for my liking.
I agree. They make good applesauce, but not good pies because they get too mushy.
Anybody growing Daybreak Fuji, or Crimson Crisp?
From some reason, most of the trees I plan to remove or have removed are heritage varieties. Bevens, Va Gold, Williams Favorite, Stayman, Newtown Pippin, Roxbury Russet, Summer Rambo, Lodi and perhaps Grimes and Va Winesap. So far the only non heritage variety marked for deletion is Williams Pride. Cameo is on the questionable list.
I’m learning that its important for me to grow varieties that produce sell-able fruit most often in reasonable quantities. Its seems obvious now, but it was not so clear when I planted many heritage varieties suggested by the experts.
Was your Williams Pride biennial? Or get watercore?
blueberry, just curious what problems you had with Roxbury Russet.
This apple supposed to be resistant to fireblight and CAR, and has been productive and precocious for me so far (in new england). It is great to eat fresh and makes good pie and cider too. Doesn’t store as long as some varieties, but not the worst either. Commercially speaking the conventional wisdom is that consumers don’t want russets, and even among russets Roxbury is not the best looking.
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Had some watercore problems most years on WP and the skin is very tough and chewy. The main problem is low production. After 5 years their production is very low compared to my other trees. Pristine ripens about the same time and the production is about 5X the WP on B9 rootstock for the same age trees. I like the taste and appearance of the apples except for the tough skin.
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Watercore problem last year on RR was much worse than any other apple. Did not have a single sell-able apple on the 20 RR trees in year 5. I love the history of the apple and hoped it would do OK, but I believe my area is just too hot/humid. The apple does great just a few hundred miles north of me. The trees are not resistant to FB in my area
I’m also curious why the Va Gold is slated for removal. I have one and haven’t really had enough trial to decide how well I like it, but it produced well last year, is a fairly attractive apple and I think I like the taste (I’ll decide after another year or two of production).
Had a lot of FB problems with this apple. It has been one of the worst!
I removed and replaced several trees with massive FB infections two times. I do like the fact that the tree is a vigorous grower on B9. The taste and texture improve after a while in storage. Since the apple came from VPI, I hoped it would do well in my area but I believe my zone 7B heat/humidity is a problem. Albemarle (Newtown) Pippin which is one its parents does not handle my climate well either.
OK, thanks. I haven’t had to deal with much FB on my apples and this one hasn’t had it yet. I’ll keep my eyes on it though. Interesting to know that Albemarle Pippin is a parent. I think I got the apple after a recommendation from Steve Cummins and didn’t really know the parentage. You also can’t find ANY information on the variety, because I’ve tried.
Both Big Horse Creek Farm and Orange Pippin give its parentage as Newtown Pippin x Golden Delicious. OP does specifically mention that it’s “very susceptible” to fireblight. Tom Burford also describes it in his “Apples / A Catalog of International Varieties” and again mentions that it’s subject to fireblight.
Thanks jerry. That is in fact what my VA Golds have looked like and I enjoy the flavor. Maybe it’s failed to gain any commercial or hobby following if it’s a fireblight magnet. Like I said, I don’t really have much issue with FB (I actually just noticed a branch on a seckel pear that doesn’t look too good), but can’t imagine that people would want to have the apple around if it was a magnet for the disease.
I have evolved a not too different angle on the heirlooms, a few have done really well in my heat but a much larger number had to be culled. Of my overall top 10 (taking into account all issues including taste, diseases, production etc) the first 5 are not heirlooms. Pomme Gris, Blenheim Orange, Reine des Reinettes, and Rambour d’Hiver are the only heirlooms that have made it into the list, hopefully a few more will be joining though.
I wonder if the southern heirlooms would not have done better for you, I don’t think any of your heirloom apples originated in the south. The southern heirlooms can have productivity size chewiness etc issues but they are much more tolerant of hot and humid weather. I started not all that many years ago with them but I hope to have a list of winners soon.
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Scott
Can you name some of the southern heirloom apples you are testing? 99% of what Lee Calhoon calls “Old Southern Apples” originated north of the Mason Dixion line. Winesap, Stayman and Grimes are three apples that are very popular in the south, but originated from another region.
Oh, there are quite a few southern heirlooms listed by Calhoun which really did originate the in the South. Off the top of my head: Magnum Bonum and Hall, the extensive Limbertwig family, Hunge, Arkansas Black, Carolina Red June, Carter’s Blue, King David, Shell, Golden Delicious, Horse.
To be fair to Calhoun, his collection was a description of apples which had been grown successfully in the South, not just those which originated there.
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I did not mean to indicate otherwise. I like his book and refer to it often. Also had a chance to speak with him in person during several open house events at Century Farm Orchard where 100 or more apples from his book were available for tasting.
Linbertwigs are good idea - I need to give them a test. I removed my Carolina Red June because it was too soft. Horse and Magnum Bonum were extremely tart at the tasting. Summer Banana and Bevens are a couple of true southern heritage apples from his book that I grew for a while. I tried those variety because they were “owned” and sold by Lindley Nursery was located about 15 minutes away. Bevens was terrible and Summer Banana was nothing special.
Horse is known to be quite tart, but Magnum Bonum only mildly so when ripe. Perhaps your sample of the latter was a bit early, so it might be worth another try.