Are any of you growing Evercrisp? A commercial orchard consultant I know just told me it is hands down his favorite apple and he joined MAIA just so he could grow it in his small PYO orchard. He says it’s ugly but tastes beautiful.
He also says anyone can join the organization for $100 and get access to all the apple varieties they’ve developed, and generally, any apple that thrives in the midwesst can’t be too hard to grow most places. The consultants orchard is in the Hudson Valley and he first sampled this variety in orchards there.
Alan, I heard great things about Evercrisp from multiple sources as well, I wouldn’t be surprised if it tasted better than the famous Cosmic Crisp. A friend of mine is growing it, quite vigorous variety, it’s a Fuji x Honeycrisp cross if I remember correctly so not resistant which might be it’s disadvantage.
Same here, two of my kids who don’t like apples fell in love with Evercrisp. I get it from a local orchard in PA throughout the winter, probably consuming half a dozen bushels of it every year! It is also a great keeper, last year I bought it from the same orchard in June! was still mostly crunchy and the flavor slightly less than in the middle of the winter.
Tossed an Evercrisp today. Purchased at supermarket in Feb.
Been in front seat of pickup truck ever since (a snack I never did eat).
Just finally rotted…despite being locked up in a truck often parked in the sun!
Not sure that’s the virtue of the variety per se, or due to help from the final fungicide spray it got to enable long storage. In any case, that’s really remarkable, there are not many varieties of apples that would mostly survive the summer inside a car! I am happy I planted a couple of trees of it this year.
I suppose like with many other apples…some scions will be distributed.
I remember something like 5 years ago I had an email exchange with Markus Kobelt of the ‘Redlove’ apples. Asking when I could obtain one of his apple cultivars in the US. He replied they were not available in America.
I proceeded to mention I already had two of them…and there was no more conversation.
So, little birdies do distribute scions sometimes.
The laws are to protect the breeders from commercial production of their creations that don’t provide them revenue. I hate the club system because I’d be happy to pay my share for that work but there is no such avenue for us home growers- not one within the law. The ethics of growing patented varieties in a very small and non-commercial scale is somewhat open to interpretation- the law is unenforceable at that level.
My transformation into a snob is complete.
I drink hard to pronounce wines from Italy in addition to locally produced hard cider, I hang out at a yacht club, I smoke a pipe and to top it off I now have a favorite orchard where I buy Evercrisp. I can’t help myself. I used to try to have a working man’s hero thing going on with being an aspiring orchard owner…but I’m just a snob.
In all seriousness, the Evercrisps at the orchard I stop at were picked in October. It’s now July and my mother was just telling me that the Evercrisps best the daylights out of even the club apples she gets at the grocery store.
All I can do is hang my head in shame, embrace my inner snobbery and try not to be to hard on myself.
MAIA’s really on to something. I hope their other varieties hold up as well as Evercrisp. I like ludacrisp too… it’s biggest drawback being that it goes south in storage by April.
I grabbed a few Evercrisp along with my Lucy Glo and others at my recent trip to Chuck’s.
Wow! I loved it. It’s got great sweet tart balance and outstanding texture. It’s harder and denser than Honeycrisp. I like hard apples.
I’ll keep my eye out for it now.
BTW, not ugly, although a little small.
Hmm, doing some reading, it sounds like there’s already a more attractive sport. I wonder if that’s what I got, or if I’m just easier to please in that department.
I have purchased before at my local farmers market in NYC where they grow them up in the Hudson Valley by Kinderhook. Apples are usually decent there- far better than grocery store- however I cant say that I remember the evercrisp being outstanding compared to the others. In fact it didnt really stand out but I ate one last year so I will buy some again soon to taste. My palate also needs to be devloped and there are many apples I have yet to taste. So take what I say with a grain of salt.
MAIA apparently has two Evercrisps? One being a mutation, any idea which your orchard contact is raving about?
They are real popular in Virginia as a tart break from Gala and Honeycrisp. Local ones here ripen by the end of September. Not too pretty being mostly green with some dull red. By the end of the selling season the green has mellowed out.
Here’s some I bought before Thanksgiving and put in my crisper. I bought a bushel when the local produce market closed for season. They keep well in and out of standard refrigeration. They dry well and of course great for pies. I mix them with Stayman for pies and applesauce.
This year the Crunch a Bunch and Goldrush did best, although many of the Goldrush split and had problems before they were ripe. I wish I’d been much more aggressive thinning the Goldrush.
Yes I was responding to you. I am surprised you are already out of apples, but I don’t know how much space and time you have devoted to apples, although you’ve been a forum member for over 8 years. I’ve read that the northwest crop was generally pretty heavy.
I didn’t spray or bag and did my thinning from the ground when strolling the yard.
I’ve got a full time job that occupies most of my time and energy that isn’t for spending with family. It gets dark at 4:30PM and is raining during harvest.
All fall I got lots of apples to eat fresh, but the ones that were clean enough for storage were mostly eaten or given away quickly. When I left for a 3 week business trip at the end of November, the only apples left hanging were Goldrush. When I got back the tree was stripped, presumably raccoons.
On the weekends I had a number of projects this fall.
Crop failure sucks and I can imagine having a life that doesn’t allow you to do everything you could to help your trees. The funny thing is that I have a sister who lives in Trinidad north of Eureka and she gets clean apples without spray- and I mean pristine. She hardly does a thing and has apples through winter most every year.
She keeps chickens in her orchard and that seems to take care of it, but I see a lot of untended trees near her just loaded with fruit when I’m there in early winter. I would have thought it would be the same deal where you are. .
