Is anyone growing one of these varieties from Fedco that I’ve never heard of until today?
PRIMA: One of the first disease-resistant varieties to hit the market, now resides among the tried and true. Medium-large roundish fruit has rich yellow skin with a striking orange-red blush. Resembles Jonathan, which is buried somewhere in its convoluted parentage. Mildly subacid juicy white flesh provides excellent fresh eating and makes good cider. Keeps a couple of months.
Open spreading tree bears annually if kept thinned. Proving to be hardier than anyone had thought. Scab immune and resistant to fireblight, cedar apple rust and mildew. Blooms early. Z4. Maine Grown. BACK! (Standard: 3–6’ bare-root trees; dwarf: 2½–5’ bare-root trees)
PINOVA: Delicious and highly attractive apple bred for three important characteristics: disease resistance, shelf life and flavor. Pinova excels at all three. Medium-sized conic fruit is bright yellow with a pinkish-orange blush and crimson striping. Great fresh eating, it combines the sweetness of Golden Delicious and the complex flavors of Cox. Flesh stays white when sliced, making this a good choice for lunchbox snacks and salads.
Scionwood courtesy of Fedco growers at the Wild Mountain Cooperative in Greene, ME, who highly recommend Pinova as an easy-to-grow annual producer. Scab and fireblight resistant. Blooms midseason. Z4. Maine Grown.
PIPSQUEAK: Small russeted dessert apple with a long stem and a few faint pinkish-orange stripes. The rough skin almost feels like a kiwi. A large pipsqueak might approach 2" in diameter. For such a diminutive fruit it packs a lot of flavor. We eat them raw or baked whole rolled in cinnamon and sugar. One of our friends called it “the best apple I’ve ever eaten.” It’s surprisingly juicy, full of good flavor—tropical like a piña colada. Great fresh-eating crabapple—rivals Trailman. Ripens around October 1 in central Maine. A favorite of the kids at the Community School on Mount Desert Island in the fall of 2015.
Blooms midseason. Z4.
SEARSBURG CHERRYBOMB: Abundant small bright red crabapples almost look like ripe cherries on the tree. Surprising orange flesh is tart with sharp bright acidity, but also packs a lot of sugar. The best thing about this apple is that the trees are “absolutely clean of foliage blemishes with no spray!” according to Shatt. Cedar apple rust can be a huge problem in New York orchards and Cherrybomb has had no issues.
On trial here in Maine. Seems like a good candidate to use as a parent in the quest to breed climate-resilient and naturally disease-resistant apple varieties. Midseason bloom. Z4.
