I’m no spray in NE Arkansas. Liberty does great in my yard. And I definitely have high CAR pressure as most Golden Delicious types are rust magnets for me. I even removed my graft of GoldRush as it was too awful to even look at.
In addition to Liberty, I’m also a fan of King David and Arkansas Black. And while Williams Pride and Enterprise haven’t fruited for me yet, their leaves look great.
As for grocery store apples: I am a rabid devotee in the Opal cult. I’ve had some misses in past seasons, but this year I scored a bag where every single one of them was out of this world.
In my case the cedars were about 30 feet away from my liberty. Maybe that had something to do with it being susceptible. I also had a sweet sixteen in the same location. Both had no rust issues with just a few applications in the spring.
Had a Liberty a couple dozen years ago. Healthy tree, pretty foliage (until drift from spraying by utility company killed it). But, I’d NOT put it on a list of best tasting apples.
Johnathon a better choice for taste, as it tastes better than Liberty, but still in the same
ballpark. Jonathon a more versatile apple. Even so, it’s not a ‘10’ in taste.
Arkansas Black isn’t going to come out on top in tastings either…but it is a dependable, no spray, producer.
Fuji is among the better tasting, and can be produced organically…at least in some years.
So can Red Delicious.
I wasn’t trying to say that Liberty is ranking amongst the apples that taste best to me. But I like Arkansas Black a lot better than Fuji or Red Delicious. Taste is subjective and for some people visual cues may contribute to the level of enjoyment.
I just ate my first Liberty apple from one of my trees today. I’m impressed. It tasted very similar to McIntosh, which is one of my favorite apples and the variety I eat the most of. I’m not sure I would be able to tell them apart if I was blindfolded. It wasn’t quite as tart as Mac though. It had a nice light crispness to it and was a very good looking apple inside and out.
I like Liberty too, nice apple and easy to grow. Also makes a good single variety cider. I grew it in MA and CA. Grew well in both locations, but a lot of sun scald in CA, which resulted in much smaller fruit than in MA.
Here’s Ruby Rush I got at local produce market. A sweet tart apple that is more tart at harvest and will benefit from storage. Disease resistant and available as trees. Not a club apple. I like it.
Come to think of it, my “office refrigerator” accumulates frost to its tiny freezer part, even in this dry region, which probably helps apples stored in it stay moist & crisp. Better investment than I’d imagined…
What is turning brown when you cut an apple are the polyphenols that are oxidizing when exposed to air, which impart astringency to the taste. I personally like astringent apples, so I like when they turn brown. But I guess if you are looking for an apple to put into a salad, then this one will look nicer after slicing.
Just looked up RubyRush apple. One site lists it as, “resists fire blight, cedar apple rust and fire blight.” That’s the quote. You might stumble upon it.
So, a seedling of Goldrush derives resistance to CAR from Enterprise, the pollen parent. Sounds like it’s worth a try. No mention of its taste, however. I love the spiciness of GoldRush.
The comments above about apples that brown when cut being good for you makes me all the more keen to try Sundance when it comes into production at a nearby orchard. It is supposed to be both a larger tree and fruit than GoldRush, which browns little if at all in my house, but Sundance turns brown when cut or bitten. BTW, my GoldRush tree produced larger fruit in its second crop than its first, so I wonder just how big Sundance apples can average.
Ruby Rush are nice looking apples. I ordered a tree from ACN today. FYI, that produce market gets its apples from Hollabaugh Bros just north of Gettysburg Pennsylvania if anyone is near them.
