This year was a bumper crop. No late frosts like at least 2 of the past 5 years. I had some real suprises and some real duds. I will try to list this in ripening order.
- Monark. Usually I enjoy these mostly because they are the first to ripen. They are good for an early season apple. Nice texture and balance but no complexity. This year though my friend made most of them into sauce which was unbelievable. Somehow complex flavors came out in the sauce. I tend not to process much and have focused my efforts on fresh eating dessert apples. My strategy has been to make friends with people who do like to process. I’m not kidding, the sauce was unreal. She likes to process sauce very smooth using a stick blender. Everyone else also thought it was awesome. Usually I don’t pay that much attention to this tree but from now on I will prune for maximum productivity, pick up and wash drops etc. She wants me to grow a second one.
- Snow. I’m starting to get tired of this one. I still like it better than it’s parent (I think) Mcintosh. It’s just kind of one dimensional. I may keep it around because it’s a heavy producer and I’m thinking of buying a cider press next year
- Cox. Somewhat disappointing this year. Texture and flavor where good, nice and balanced but little richness and complexity. Cox seems to be like this at least every other year. Might not be worth growing for most of us. Seems to bear every other year, flavor is only great every other year that it bears and it’s the most scab prune variety here. I’ll keep it but if I knew this I probably wouldn’t have grown it to begin with
- Rubinette. Same as cox this year. Balanced flavor but no complexity or richness. Much easier to grow than cox, bears well every year and much less fungus
- Eden. This has been the star of the show. This is the first time I have had a large crop that wasn’t taken by raccoons or squirrels. This was by far my families favorite and we are eating them like crazy. Very rich and nutty flavor. Hints of malted barley or unfermented beer (wort) High sugars and plenty of acid. These are probably half the size of a standard apple but about 50% bigger than wickson. We think they taste like lychee, my neighbor says they taste like a smoothie made with lychee and kiwi. Unreal this year.
- Hudson’s Golden Gem. Also a star in my orchard. Very sweet with little sour but the sweetness is rich and complex. Honeyed an pear like. Very nice texture, slightly dry. These always get a little watercore but it’s one of those varieties that actually taste better with watercore. I like them so much I planted another one last year and just planted a 3rd this fall.
- Nonesuch. Not great. Wasn’t quite sure when to pick them so I sample them every 3-4 days for about 3 weeks. The never developed the perfumed scent of flavor that they are known for. I planted it because an orchard down the road grows it and I enjoyed them.
- Tollman sweet. We always love these. Very sweet with no sour. A little banana like flavor. It wasn’t a great year because of san jose scale.
- Razor Russet. Not great this year and a similar flavor and texture profile to Hudson’s Golden Gem and similar season. HGG is much better and I would rather eat them. I will give RR another season.
Rubaiyat. Better year this year. Ripened and colored up inside before going mushy. These are a little too sour. I probably wouldn’t grow it again but friends like the novelty when I give them some. - Kidd’s Orange Redd. Disappointing. No complex flavor and tested like a good golden delicious. This was the first good crop though so hopefully better in years to come.
- Karmijn de Sonneville. I only got about 5 apples from this tree but they are unbelievable. So far all the apples I have every tasted these are the most intense. When you bite into one it’s like Wham! I think it might be too much for some people.
- Drippin honey pear. These were fantastic.
