NAFEX’s “Apple Pedigree” DNA tool appears to confirm this:
About the P_ and F_ names:
Most years we put a bushel or two of Stayman (AKA Stayman Winesap) in a spare fridge in the basement. By at least April and often times May, they’re still as good as they day they were picked.
Some think that Blushing Golden is better than Goldrush or GD but its pretty obscure… another offspring of GD. I tend to want the spice and banana notes myself. Maybe its another great keeper to add to the list if you can find it.
I’m growing Arkansas Black specifically for its ability to hold up in storage. Instead of “going bad” it just slowly gets more and more wrinkled (like most of us).
When I first picked apples at a neighbor’s orchard she counseled me to eat the Golden Delicious within a week, the Red Delicious within two weeks, and… just put the Arkansas Black in a cool place and eat them all winter!
I read through some of this thread and will make some of the same points. I have been very interested in seeking out long keeping apples in the past. I did hours and hours of research on it looking mostly in old books and periodicals. I might be able to dig some of that up and share it. Once I experienced apples that hang into winter in good edible conditions, and realized that this can almost certainly be extended into spring, I lost most of my intertest in pursuing storage apples, as useful as they can be. As many said, there is no real equivalence between long hanging and long storing. I think, the closest you could say is that apples that maintain their quality, hanging long into the winter or even spring, are more likely to be good storage apples. But it is even more complicated when looking at ripening time. some of those don’t actually ripen until deep winter or spring and may or may not ripen well off the tree. Others, like Pink Parfait, seem to ripen, then just store on the tree like they are in cold storage. So it is complicated. It is true that many climates are going to be too cold to hang on the tree what I call winter hanging apples, but I don’t know what that limit is yet. A friend at higher elevation than me says that everything freezes there and is destroyed except Hauer Pippin, so there may be genetics that are more durable and can eventually allow us to extend the climate range. Storage apples are very useful, but the quality is not the same as an apple stored in the fresh air, with no hint of storage funk and naturally ripened on the tree. There is really no comparison My breeding goals have moved away from long keeping to the point that I just don’t think about it anymore unless it is about keeping it on the tree. If I were living in a cold climate, I’d be focused on it. Instead I’m focusing on developing more and better quality late hangers and extending them into the spring. There is however some relation between the two sometimes and some of the genetics I have and am creating will be useful in breeding for storage if that is your goal. If you can hang apples through the winter, definitely collect those high quality hangers and late ripeners and see how they go for you. It is true as some said too that some early apples do not hang very well. Gold Rush is not the best to hang late usually, but it keeps like a rock and improves in some ways with storage. I have an apple called northfield beauty that hangs way into the winter. It looks great, but you can just squish it in your hand and it is actually a summer apple. DM me if you want to chat about this stuff. most of my content around this stuff has to do with late hanging apples. Here is a playlist that has most of the content I’ve done on late hangers. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL60FnyEY-eJCWApj2rEhChkdOte1z54Mj I don’t know what term we would use for apples that hang long, but with the added requirement that they are actually good to eat. Long storing apples really have the same issue. lots of apples will keep until spring in storage, but are they actually any good, and under what storage conditions. I have a few criteria for late hangers. they have to physically hold tight through the winter weather, they have to be durable and not suffer too much in the way of damage from water swelling, fungal and bacterial pressure or freezing and they have to actually be good. You could add that they actually ripen late, but that is really related to quality and as I said, some ripen then just hang out getting a little riper, but very slowly. I have made lots of crosses toward these types of apples and I have little doubt that some of those genetics will be useful in breeding long keepers as well. Pink Lady is a good example of an apple that is both a long keeper when picked early and a long hanger. I can eat it off the tree here at new years and past and it is better than the stored version. I would never consider storing it.
Great info and insight on hanging and storing apples. I, as others do as well, appreciate your research and apple breeding you are doing. Great videos too. Thank you for posting those.
Many years ago, I was visiting with the owner of the last local apple orchard in this county. This was in late Sept/early Oct. He said that he had Arkansas Black apples in the cooler, from the previous year, that were still ‘good’ - and actually better than when picked!, but that he couldn’t sell them because they were slightly shriveled, as his wife had gotten tired of swapping out wet towels they kept in the cooler to keep moisture levels up, so they’d ‘dehydrated’ slightly over the summer.
Arkansas Black has a cult following for various reason. Personally, I think they are most valuable as a keeper in an off the grid scenario. Something that would keep until late spring or summer in a root cellar. They certainly would not be fit for any fresh market after long term storage.
Hi Steven
I have been a reader of your SkillCult blog for years - in fact your videos were one of the inspirations for me to collect “long hanging” apples. Thank you for that. It’s been a while since you have posted - maybe you could make some blog posts on “long hanging” vs “long storing”. I know I would be very interested in this.
Also, if you wanted to post any information you have previously collected on long storing apple varieties (here or on your blog) I would be very interested. I am going to expand the longkeepingapples.com website to include storage information and want to collate data from many sources. Ultimately, I hope to make a comprehensive summary of variety vs storage time available via a copyright free pdf download.
I have written about long hanging quite a bit but something that looks into some of the nuance between the two and overlap between them could be interesting. I do have a lot of research piled up in my computer that could generate a list of apples to collect and trial. I’ll think about that, thanks.
I have to say “thank you” as well for all your helpful and informative videos on your SkillCult site. I really enjoyed your video on the apple butter you made and did a followup on. Great info.
Thank you again. Keep up the great work.