Best tasting apples

Etter Gold - seriously underrated. A heavy producer. Apples store forever. They start out tart and sweeten up as they age.

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I have a two year old Etter’s Gold on G-30. Thanks for the report. I might graft another one next spring on B118 for a back up. :grinning:

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Thank you for this excellent information. I will get some of each one to try out.

Sounds like I need to try one of those apple trees. Are these apples very small. I see they are listed as small to medium. I would rather not have tree with small apples. I have limited space and a tree with small apples would sort of be a waste of space for me. That is why I do not have any of the crab apple trees in my orchard. I prefer at least a medium sized apple.

I have ripe Anoka apples. But they are way too small…tree overcropped and I didn’t thin.
The taste reminds me of “Geneva Early” but a little more sour and a little less mealy.

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Wickson really is a great little apple! Delicious!

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@SkillCult
Steven,
The wickson were all you said they were!

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I grafted it the last winter but it did not take. I kind of gave up on Wickson thinking I have about 40 apple trees/50 varieties so I should “calm down” but now when I see your post I really have to get it :smiley: Wickson, Bravo De Esmolfe, Sundowner and maybe Pixie Crunch or King David and I better stop reading all the threads here about apples.

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in what I know and my taste. In the best apples I would put “belle fleur jaune” , “JUBILÉ” and “QUERINA FLORIDA”.

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Wickson got also top rating on Adam Apples

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I do not know this apple. I will have to look and test.
But how much apple turns out to be chosen by consumers, like the “pink lady” and which reveals to be very sensitive to diseases and very technical in driving. These are often varieties of professionals. Marketing plays a big role too and very good apples are forgotten.

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Wickson is great in some parts of the country… not mine though. Its highly prone to cracking and rotting and is a CAR magnet.

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Clark, I’m confused. Aren’t these ripe closer to late Oct. or Nov.?

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Arthus,
Even in this forum where we give our honest opinions about fruit we grow, the best tasting apple for me, may be a spitter for many others. Location and climate has a lot to do with the taste of fruit.

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I agree with your statement. What works in even in the same state may give totally different fruit results. What can grow well about an hour South from me I cannot grow at all. I enjoy spitters as well.

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The apples at the supermarket are there because they KEEP for months, look the same in July as in January, and they make money.

But, you can probably find a dozen apples you like better than any in the supermarket…you just have to be adventurous and search out lots of lesser known apples.

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What kind of flavor do they have? They’re crabs, so I imagine they’re pretty tart?

When you read the classic “Apples of New York” varietal descriptions, the writer often states that the quality of a particular variety is excellent when grown on favorable sites. Baldwin, for example, seems to favor quickly draining, sandy soils. Somehow, my silty loam isn’t good enough even though the drainage is excellent. The apples off my Baldwins are occasionally wonderful apples, but most don’t develop the full Baldwin flavor and drop off the tree while still mediocre. It is one of my favorite apples when it reaches highest quality, but I’ve grafted most branches over to other varieties because it is so inconsistent on my land.

Of course, even on the same site, varietal quality swings on a pendulum as radical as American politics from season to season.

@mamuang, I agree with you.
We all have different tastes. The soil, the climatic zone, the sunshine, the quantity of water are all factors that modify the quality of the fruits and therefore of the apples.
But he has varieties where the majority of farmers agree to recognize the qualities of certain varieties.

I am from a Region where the apple is a culture. At home, historically, we make cider, pommeau, poiret, chewables and especially Calvados. I am from Normandy. I do not know if it speaks to you. I was raised under the trees. I almost cut everything at 18 years old. Now I replant. Like what.
I have friends who are awarded annually for their cider at the International Agricultural Show in Paris. So I grafted their cider varieties.

I was surprised to see that you also made cider. I would be curious to drip a day.

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Arthus,
I do not make cider. @JesseS is the one.