Having never before tended grapes, I now have Maréchal Foch, New York Muscat and Seneca started, while the friends whose soil they are planted in also started Canadice.
What grapes have you liked growing best so far?
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Jupiter is one of our favorite grapes from a taste perspective. Late frosts are a little harder on it than some other varieties, but it does bounce back well.
Candice, Somerset, Everest, and NY47616 have been my most reliable producers in our area. All of those are very good with the exception of Somerset. Somerset grapes have high tartaric acid in my growing conditions, so it’s best used for juice and jelly where the acid can crystallize and be filtered out. Fresh off the cane they cause irritation of the mouth.
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@NuttingBumpus has Benoni ripened for you? I have a single Benoni apple and am wondering when to harvest.
Short answer: no.
From what I read, this is actually later than I might expect to harvest Benoni. I’d pick it today. If anything, it would be an easy date to remember to gage future harvests. Tom Burford in “Apples of North America” says it is ripe midsummer in his region.
Picked it today. Not the finest specimen (except it was my only specimen). It was ripe, but not overly so. Nice flavor, kind of fruity notes, Brix of just over 15. Bit of the bitterness I noticed in the Kerry’s Irish Pippins. It is on the same scaffold of the same tree, so maybe the tree got stressed with our heat this year. Overall I’m pleased and look forward to more in future years.
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Two years back I got covers made of “yoga pant” material, which blocked the sun. They had to be secured with a wire twist or string or rubber band cut so it could be tied. I put kaolin to the covers and dried ‘em on a screen before application. That might be worth trying to keep Benoni from scorching and cracking. Your Benoni looks to be about as big as they get, and about the size of most of my Lamb Abbey this year.
Next year I hope to trim the numbers of Lamb Abbey much earlier for larger fruit. Love that apple.
I need to check my grafts of Lamb Abbey and see how they are doing. I just reread the description I copied from somewhere, “A small apple blushed reddish-orange over light green, this one has a taste you won’t forget. The crisp, coarse flesh has an intense, sugary flavor with subtle notes of pineapple. Amazing for fresh eating, great for baking, Lamb Abbey has also found favor with cider makers.” Does that match your experience? Can’t wait to try it!
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Yes. It has the same parents as Claygate, but only on one side of the family. Hard, crisp, juicy, pineapple overtone; it would be winner in cider, which also contributes nicely (however small) to pies & sauce. It can overbear when it grows up, so prepare for some thinning.
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