Yes, here in the northeast, when the beetles attack you can quickly identify the HC in the orchard. They like plums just as much here, but do less damage to peaches and other apples.
Squirrels also prefer Honeycrisp to most other apples- well before they are deemed worth eating by humans. .
Am I remembering correctly you have some Carolina Red June? Have you harvested them yet?
I have two fruit in one cluster that is getting larger but they arn’t ripe yet. Hoping these are a decent early apple. My two bloomed out a little late so they might ripen later. We will see. How is yours doing?
I’ll be checking on them soon…
John,
When do your Gravenstein ripen, please? This is my first year having one Gravenstein that is turning a bit reddish. Not sure when to pick. With only one apple, I don’t want to pick it too early.
I have a few that fell and tasted ripe, but most seem to have a little more time to go. they have short stems and even checking for ripeness they’ll come off even if not perfect, mine don’t get too red. There are sports of it that get redder.
<img src="//growingfruit-images.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/3X/b/d/bd3820faf859b259791c80abc9f0578b5eff9ff6.jpg" width="690" height="515">
Thanks, John. Mine is redder than yours. It is as large as a Honey Crisp. I wiggled it. It did not budge.
Mine must be a sport, Red Gravenstein, then.
Just wonder who grow the RG and what do they think about its taste.
I grafted a red Gravenstein this year on g41, so mabye in a few years we can compare notes. Please let us know how yours taste
Jason,
I grafted mine last year. The graft produced flowers right away. I pinched them all off. I was not surprised that it flowered again this year. Since the scionwood was small so I’ve kept only one fruit. The apple is large!!! Hope it won’t break the graft.
I hope to pick it at the right time. Will report.
Your graft may flower next year.
Gravensteins are one of the few apples that you can tell are ripe by the smell. One of the best smells ever! Also they come right off with very little pressure.
I am so mad. Went out to check my one and only Red Gravenstein. It was gone.
I saw signs of an apple or two got eaten by animal everyday. I should have picked it a couple of days ago. Now, I know it ripens ariund this time.
Damn them
So mad.
They get the best fruit don’t they? I had all my Red Haven peaches eating by animals last year. EVERY one of them. I had probably 50 or so peaches on the tree. Left for three days, came back, all that was left were the pits under the tree. TY
Debut crop of Rambour Franc reveals light stripes in the sun on quite green background. 12 and 13 Brix, plenty of acid and nice aromas (hard to pick those out yet.) Makes smooth sauce with a bit of bite and good taste. Seems to drop when nearly ripe; this may change as the tree matures. (MAY…) Nice beginning to the apple season for us.
This does not seem destined to become a “best tasting apple” in this area, but a worthy choice. Hope to taste Wynoochee Early in a couple weeks first time.
Favorites remain, so far:
Winesap, Karmijn de Sonnaville, Empire, Gravenstein, Macoun, Beacon, Lady, Wickson Crab (way out west, it is fabulous fresh.)
Goldrush and Suntan are contenders, and Newtown Pippin.
Well, it is now clear that one (only one, thank God) of the trees I’ve ordered was mislabeled. Médaille d’Or it is not, standing on Gen41. That is an excellent dwarfing root stock. I’ll probably top work it to make another Hunt Russet on the property.
Then I saw your note again. If you have a stick of Orléans Reinette to spare, I’d like to try it here. It is of rather lower vigor, correct?
Anything you’d like that I have is at your disposal. Seven fresh grafts this year will offer at least one scion, and several will have more potential that way (although your lot is so vast, I might not have anything of interest.) I’ll e-mail the list…
That about sums up this latter half of summer for me … its been rough. I finally decided I had to just ease up a bit on it or I would be in a bad mood all the time. I try to forget whats been stolen and focus on the tastes I still can enjoy.
