Would thinning more help? That’s about the only recourse I see.
Yes, thinning more might have helped some. The apples are so much bigger than I expected, at least some varieties, and that changed the equations.
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Just thinnin’ … maybe the perceived general lack of flavor this season is due to long COVID … or in my case advanced old-age-dependent olfactory degeneration.
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I just picked up an 18 oz Jonagold (Jonaprince) apple from the ground- yup, fricking huge. It tasted OK and certainly was as juicy as an apple gets. Brix was 14, which to my palate is when apples become edible for fresh eating. Interestingly, I ate a Sept. Fuji yesterday that tasted almost too sweet and it only came up to 15 brix. That is the difference acid and a lack thereof can make. However, with low acid stonefruit, my palate requires more sugar for me to enjoy the eating. I cannot grow low-acid peaches here that get high enough sugar to please me. Only nectarines.
At any rate, I’m pretty sure now that my overall apple crop will not be junk even if it may be the poorest quality I’ve ever produced, overall- and, by far, the most crop with the largest fruit. They may not be mouth candy but they certainly are eye candy.
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Now I’ve just tested another over-sized apple of the Hudson’s Golden Gem variety. It was part of the total harvest I did yesterday of that one as fruit was dropping and going to waste. Same brix as the Jonagold and sweet enough to be good. There’s almost no acid in this one.
I put all the Spitz I need for my own use in my storage fridge. They are at 16, which is 2 to 3 points too low for what I consider optimum, but still enjoyable to eat out of hand. I have 1.5 25 gallon containers worth I can’t put to use and will distribute to friends and a nearby food bank. Over another 100 gallons of other varieties that will mostly go to those places as well. More apples are on the way… more than that by far. All I need for myself is about another 40 gallons. I’m hoping for a rise in brix in the next couple of weeks. We may finally be out of the monsoon. This week’s rain only brought a half inch.
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