Friends have an old apple tree likely more than 100 yrs old. It has round green apples, late fall (z4), good keepers. A few have a slight blush but most are smooth green, slightly waxy feel (but I think the ones we had a few years ago had some more yellow tint), with subtle dots. Flesh white w/ green tinit (maybe because they were picked early?), smooth, crisp enough, a little juicier than Black Oxford, mild sweet with some very little tartness. This tree grew close beside the front door of the old farmhouse. The house burned down and the only thing that survived was this apple tree! The folks rebuilt on the same foundation with the tree still there. The apples are quite good in spite of little care. Photos are from early October early drops. Early Nov. most still on tree. These folks head south in Nov. and always pick a bucket of the best fruit just before they leave for winter eating. A few years ago they drove off and forgot their apples. We got a call from some state south of here and said would we like to go get them. Of course! My notes just say they were still good when we ate the last of them end of Dec. We cut scions the next spring and grafted onto a seedling and a branch of a wild tree. They’re growing well. Any ideas on variety? Thanks!
I know this thread is old, but there isn’t much here on NW Greening. I’ve got a tree here that was mislabeled and am trying to ID it. I’m leaning towards NW Greening, but would certainly listen to other ideas.
Yeah, there’s got to be a reason they’re still around, but I haven’t figured it out yet, other than it gives a ton of apples every year and is very hardy, which is probably why you have one in your yard.
The tree at the top looks like it could be Rhode Island Greening, which is an intense sweet-tart apple. It’s almost as intense as a properly ripened Granny Smith.
Actually, it was labeled as a Zestar when I bought it. I’ve got another tree from the same nursery that was labeled as a NW Greening…and it is not a NW Greening. I’m thinking it’s a State Fair, but I’ll need another couple years of fruiting to confirm that I’d imagine.
My Dad always talked about NW Greening apples. He was raised in rural southwest WI and he said it seemed every farm yard had a NW Greening.
It’s possible but it doesn’t sound much like it because the flavor wasn’t intense, just quite pleasant medium sweet-tart (what I can recall). I’m hoping the tree I grafted from that tree will have fruit next year and I can get a better idea of what it might be. It doesn’t much sound/look like the NW Greening either. Of course, it’s also possible it’s a seedling. Sue
Update - Though the main tree I grafted didn’t set fruit yet a graft on a wild tree branch did - 3 apples. One is particular has much more red than the mother tree fruit, looking more related in color to the tree this graft is on than the original.
I let them hang till mid Oct when a hard freeze was forecast, put them a bag in the root cellar. Today (Dec. 1) I cut up the larger, redder fruit. Noticeably ribbed which doesn’t show much in the photo. Apple in good shape, firm, no wrinkles. White flesh, juicy, tender firm, seeds brown. First taste I was a bit disappointed - rather tart though quite fresh tasting and nice texture. But I kept going back for another slice. Though not very sweet it is not sour-tart but has quite a bit of flavor.
The tree it is on gets marginal sun. It will be interesting when the main tree (on antonovka rtst in full sun) fruits to compare - may be next year. But I’m happy to have a fresh tasting/good texture apple this time of year, and look forward to more. Sue
Another update. This graft on the wild tree is getting farther away from the mother tree fruit instead of closer. This year it had four apples, larger than the earlier ones, and definitely more red…
I called the folks with the original tree and they confirmed - that fruit had never had red overlay, maybe an occasional blush but mostly green-yellow, and nicely flavored. These are moderately juicy, fairly firm, and mostly sour. I have two stored in the root cellar to see if they sweeten in storage (sure hope so). The whole tree graft I have growing has still not fruited though it is a healthy good looking tree. I sure hope it has better fruit like the original. Maybe next year.
