Auburn picking the last of his Arkansas Black…which ought to be an October apple in KY.
So, in this part of the world…there probably won’t be any apples left on trees by October 1st.
And if there are, the varmints will have them!
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Short of the black seeds. If the timing is different each year, what is the best way to determine peak ripeness? Just eat one?
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Well, my mom’s Winesap is 42 years old and big as a 5 gallon bucket…and with probably it’s second heaviest crop ever. In “normal” years, there are some still on the tree at first frost.
Her Red Delicious and EarliBlaze were gone by August 1st. Ripe or rotten or both.
EarliBlaze is a pretty striped apple, but to my taste buds, I’d rather have EarlyHarvest.
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Still fruiting at 42! That is impressive and good to hear. That means most of my trees should outlive me. I like winesap. Mine died after its first year fruiting. Red Delicious to me is not so good. Never tried earliblaze. The golden delicious line is always king for me.
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Hmm… It is quite possible that the Pristine I am buying are picked on the early side for storage. I pulled one out of the bottom of the crisper that has been in there maybe 3 weeks and it was definitely much more mellow than they were when I first got them. By this time they are getting soft. So maybe if they are tree ripe they do tend towards a Yellow Delicious flavor. I will have to experiment with picking them when I have my own.
Agreed on the best conditions for Wms Pride. The best ones get watercore and are awesome.
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Wait on the squirrels to finish. They’re usually done and moving on to other varieties just before the one they’ve ruined is ready.
I’m eating Summer Treat and Atlas now. Ellison’s Orange is next. There’re a lot of falls this year. The codling moths got the better of me. I couldn’t seem to trap any though. I think my lures were duds this year. I ordered them last fall but probably should have waited until spring.
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I agree, Williams Pride is a winner for a sweet, early apple here in E central Iowa. I have to cast my vote for Chestnut, which I didn’t notice mentioned. It ripens with Wms Pride (early to mid August here) and is one of my favorite apples of any season. It is a small apple, but with superb crisp texture, very sweet and tart but leans toward sweet. It’s a real winner for it’s season.
Cheers,
Kirk
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Perhaps a Sweet Bough, or Strawberry Parfait. Both are more sweet than tart. They do not keep long though.
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I put this post out about 3 years ago, but wanted to bring it back.
Since then I put in 3-Pristine, W Pride, Summer Rambo, and Gravenstein. Most were 10 gal potted 6-8 foot tall from local nursery. Anyone know which early apples ripen before these that I have?
As a side note. Pristine has a curse. It is a machine that WAY over sets fruit.
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Best in my orchard is Monark. Ripens here in Michigan mid to late august. I like Williams pride too.
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Is Monark before WP?
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I think my Monark is ripe before my local orchards Williams pride.
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Early Mcintosh… that single apple was my last one harvested on July 22… the first bunch pictured were harvested on June 22.
It is tart and sweet great flavor very early here in z7a TN.
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Yellow transparent is early and makes wonderful apple sauce.
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Early McIntosh is a cross of yellow transparent and Mcintosh… makes it much earlier and sweeter (I think) … never had a regular Mcintosh myself… not that I knew of anyway.
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It might be around the same time as your varieties but I pick Ginger Gold around the middle of August.
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@Robert … Wynochee is a wonderful early apple which ripens after Lodi in Zone 4. It has great flavor, texture and is an amazing keeper. It won’t win any beauty contests like the Early Mac pictured but it also doesn’t have problems with fireblight or scab. We planted another one this spring.
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Several years ago, E.J. Brandt of the Lost Apple Project found a wonderful red apple in July on a farm in northern Idaho. The Temperate Orchard Conservancy identified it as a Turkish apple, the Sary Sinap. The apple’s shape is much like the Kandil Sinap. With a little bit of luck, we found records that the Sary Sinap was grown about 20 miles away at a college that is now Washington State University in the early 1900’s. The Sary Sinap ripens in July and is remarkable for its excellent taste and keeping ability for such an early apple. We were also amazed that an apple from the Turkish region could be so winter hardy as north Idaho has had many -10 and -20 degree winters over the past 120 years.[Uploading: Sary Sinap a.jpg…]
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Sary Sinap is a late variety. In northern Idaho it should ripen probably in November.
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