Honestly, by my standards, all my apples in storage this year suck at this point except a few old strain yellow delicious (didn’t have that big a crop) and Newtown Pippons. In 25 years of growing I’ve never had nearly so much trouble producing adequately sweet and flavored fruit- particularly apples and pears. Only J. plums really obtained their usual high quality.
Well, blueberries were fine and at certain points of the season nects and peaches were quite good. I’m pulling both nects and BB’s out of my freezer and will for the rest of winter into spring.
I just ate a Newton Pippin that I got at the farmer’s market about a month ago. It has held up great, and was 15 brix.
But, I liked the Evercrisps that I finished last week better. I missed out when they were selling them, but when I asked about it, he brought me a bag of 2nds the next week. Honeycrisp crunch with more sugar/flavor. The brix ranged from 15-18, while Honeycrisps have been 11-13. I did see a bit of bitter pit on one of the Evercrisps, so it is possible that they are also susceptible (as is Honeycrisp).
I’d be interested to compare a Cosmic Crisp and Evercrisp side by side. It’s been a few years since I had one, but from what I recall, SweeTango is also very good and from the Honeycrisp family.
Please keep us updated on how the trees do. I wonder at what point they will widen the distribution of the trees. Any idea how it is supposed to do in lower chill areas?
How old are those Bamboos in the background. I got 8 small bushes in ground last year. I winter protected them with dried grass clippings and a 14 inches of snow that kept them alive despite the low temp was -20F for a night. I also potted up 2 small bamboo bushes just for insurance.
Funny story but i used to work in a mainly cancer/human biology molecular biology gig, recently switched to a more varied company that actually does a lot of big-ag genotyping stuff.
At a conference this week, and had dinner yesterday with a customer group that included kate evans, the lady who created cosmic crisp.
If Cosmic Crisp kills the Red Delicious demand, then I will be somewhat tickled. I remember the 80s and early 90s when all you could find at the store were flavorless Red Delicious. There may have been a few Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, and MacIntosh, but it seemed like 90% of the apples were Red Delicious.
I don’t think variety names will matter too much longer. They are trying to get rid of them to keep consumers ignorant. They have already done it with stone fruits. They only sell ‘Black Plums’, ‘Red Plums’, ‘Yellow Peaches’, ‘White Peaches’, ‘Sweet Red Cherries’, etc.
They do not want savvy customers waiting for their favorite varieties to come in season, or to know when the peaches they are selling were harvested 6 weeks ago. They want uniformly red fruit that can be stacked like cordwood and refrigerated for months. Soon enough, apples will be sold as ‘Red’, ‘Yellow’, ‘Green’, or ‘blushed’.
That being said, I will probably buy one of these to replace a tree that had it’s core eaten by rot and bugs.
@crabman, I think Jazz is a club apple - meaning only professional growers who belong to that coalition (club) can grow it. Hopefully someone who knows more will chime in.
Based on my first taste, Cosmic crisp beats out Jazz, Topaz, Opal and all the club apples I’ve tasted. It has that unique Honey Crisp crunch which I really like. As well as a far higher level of sweetness and balancing tartness.
Detailed Description
A patented variety newly released from WSU and only available to growers in Washington State. Cosmic Crisp® Apple is a cross between Honeycrisp and Enterprise. A large, crisp and very flavorful juicy red apple known for high yield, attractiveness, disease resistance and long keeping quality. (ONLY SHIPPED TO WASHINGTON)
