Steve, here are some links about BML, you may have seen them:
http://www.northstarorchard.com/products/apples/brushy-mountain-limbertwig
1 Like
They arenât all that preciousness.
Um, donât think Iâve heard about a trees âpreciousnessâ. Did your spell check play a goof on you? That happens to me a lot, probably because of how fast I type. Maybe you meant precociousness? How many of the GR did you bag? Are GRâs known for being not real productive? Do you think your friendly neighborhood fox helped himself to some?
Some of those trees I saw yesterday were loaded with them, but they were like 10ft tall, and who knows how old. Theyâre a bit early I guess, but the owner said the very dry, hot and sunny weather has really accelerated the ripening process. Their fruitâs like a couple weeks ahead of schedule. Theyâre letting folks pick Mutsuâs, and their schedule originally had them ready at the end of Sept.
I donât think Iâll have to worry about the GR sitting around until Christmas, I had one last night and one today already, and I picked maybe 8 at the most. I tend to like apples that have more tart than sweet, so Iâll have to show a bit more restraint, or just get some more on the next trip.
Iâll try to give yâall some kind of report of that BML, but my apple palate isnât as refined as others on here. Theyâll also have some Arkansas Black, so I am also interested in that variety.
Actually, given how much I like them, it has a lot of preciousness 
But yes, I meant precocious.
I bagged at least 20-25, maybe a few more. I think I heard that they take a while to get started, but I think they set OK crops.
Yes, the fox could have taken some. It wouldnât surprise me if the raccoon got some too- Iâve caught 8 in the last few weeks. It could also be a groundhog, which Iâve seen, but not caught.
A couple years ago, I got 70 lbs of apples at that orchard, about half of which was Golden Russet. I regretted later not getting 80-90% GR. Even with more than 30lbs, I was rationing them after a month.
Tart is good too as long as there is plenty of brix. Goldrush would be a perfect example of this.
1 Like
My gosh, 70lbs?? What is that, like 200 apples? Do you have like a walk in frig to keep all that stuff cool? Or maybe just a cellar would do, also. I guess youâre not the only one in the family to eat fruit, but that seems like a lot. What were the other apples you got from that orchard? You guys in the NE are fortunate to have so many good orchards closeby to pick from.
Your critter raids sound bad, we donât nearly have so many here to deal with. But the deer seem to take up the slack. We live way off in the boonies, and you live in CT, so Iâd think weâd have the opposite problems of each other.
Do you have any Roxburyâs, and how do they compare to GR? Less sweet and crisp?
Yes, Goldrush seems to be a favorite modern apple for lots of folks on this forum. Itâs one of the 14 I have planted, hope itâs worth the hype.
If you read up thread, @Matt_in_Maryland made an intetesting point about the gold/yellow varieties of apples tend to keep better in storage than other colors. I know thatâs not 100% the case, because some redâs keep well. So, why do you think that is? Are gold apples thicker skinned, or do they âbreatheâ differently, and therefore resist oxidation?
Hi Subdood,
Iâm sorry for the confusion. I did not mean to imply that all gold colored apples are good keepers. I merely meant that, among the ones you recently purchased, those that happen to have the word âgoldâ in their name happen to be the better keepers among that bunch-- coincidentally.
You asked about Roxbury Russet. It is my favorite October apple here. Stayman Winesap is a close second place. Hereâs what theyâve looked like in past years:
Roxbury Russet (my own photo from last fall)
Stayman Winesap (here is a link to Boyerâs website with the only photo Iâve ever seen which truly captures, in my opinion, what a perfect batch of locally-grown Stayman apples looks like)
http://www.boyernurseries.com/fruit_trees/apples/stayman_winesap.html
1 Like
2nd fridge in the garage. I had to air it out well though when I started keeping scion wood in it (Feb), to prevent the ethylene from affecting it.
Yup- the kids like apples too. My wife favor jujube instead. At the time I got those apples, only a few of my trees were bearing, and I (or an animal) had finished everything they produced by the time I went to the orchard.
There are deer in our area (my dad gets hit bad). There is a âdeer crossingâ sign within 100 yards of my house. But, Iâm happy to say that I havenât seen them in my yard in the 6.5 years weâve been here. (knocks on woodâŚ)
I had some from the same place as the Golden Russets and they werenât all that far off. A few degrees lower brix and not quite as good as the Golden Russet, though they had been picked a bit earlier (pre-pick vs PYO), so it isnât entirely fair. My own Roxburry runted out when I let it set fruit in itâs first year. But, I suppose that indicates you wouldnât have long to wait for fruit. I never got it restarted and ended up transplanting it last fall (re-purposing the area into late peaches and euro plums) into a smaller spot, from which it didnât recover. I think I did get a couple grafts of it going though.
Actually, I think some of the yellow apples are thinner skinned. Goldrush isnât particularly thick skinned and will shrivel if you donât keep it humid enough in storage. I think this is less of a problem with the really thick skinned ones, especially if they get a bit greasy like Granny Smiths tend to.
1 Like
That Monterey Herald story had best description yet Iâve seen of Brushy Mtn LT. Thanks.
1 Like
The Brushy Mountain Apple Festival is just around the corner. Should be lots of Brushy Mountain Limbertwigs at this festival in north west NC.
1 Like
Both Roxbury and Golden Russet are grown and sold around here in season. At itâs best I think Roxbury is just as good as Golden, but I find most of the time I think the golden are a little better; a bit more sweet and a little more crisp where the rox. is maybe a little more chewy. Golden usually looks better too; Rox. is more green under the russet and the russetting is not as uniform.
But in my yard I planted Roxbury. It is described as being moderately resistant to fireblight, and it has not been much affected by CAR which has hit some of my other trees. It is also precocious; it made apples in second leaf while a number of my trees have yet to make any here in third leaf. Golden is reported to be tip bearing, which was a concern for me since Iâm doing espalier, and also susceptible to fire blight.
For some reason Golden Russet is much more common than Roxbury at farmerâs markets and u-pick; maybe customers like the looks of Golden better so it sells more. At the place we go to pick we can rely on the lone Roxbury tree being loaded even if other stuff is picked out. Seems like no one is interested in apples which look that way. More for us! After the apples were extra delicious on that one tree last year, my kids all say Rox. is their favorite apple, even more than Honeycrisp.
2 Likes
Thanks for the pic and link. Sorry, I wasnât try to imply you were generalizing about gold apples. That RR looks nice, but doesnât seem to look too russeted. Would you say it has a more, or less crunchy flesh compared to a G Russet? It almost looks like some of the Grimesâ we picked.
Referring to Staymanâs, the orchard has those and Stark Winesapâs, and theyâre supposed to be ready in a couple weeks, but their Staymanâs have a bad case of splitting, like an overripe tomato. I suppose apples split because of too much rain at the wrong time?
I learned that Stayman is well known for splitting after many of mine split last year. Same problem again this year. Alar was used to help reduce the splitting before it was banned. After the Alar ban, lots of commercial orchard removed Stayman because they could not control the splitting. I really like Stayman, but I would not have planted any if I would have known about the bad splitting problem that often occurs after a wet period.
1 Like
Thanks for the reply. Well, that sounds good about Rox, we look forward to trying some at the orchard next month. Do they keep well in storage?
Yes, thereâs only four or five GR trees at this orchard, Iâm hoping they wonât be picked clean before we get back.
I think of all the apples weâve sampled at the orchard, our favorite so far was Honeycrisp, followed by Zestar, Gold Russet, and Jonathan. The ones we got this week need to sit a bit longer to ripen. I think weâve been eating some too soon, and not allowed them to sweeten some. Although, the Libertyâs weâve had have been pretty tasty.
Baldwin used to be a very popular apple in your area before Macâs took over. Have you had any Baldwin, and if so, how would you describe them? Iâm kinda intrigued by them, but havenât heard enough of them on this forum or elsewhere enough to get an actual tree.
I think youâll like Baldwin. They have a nice acidic bite to them and less sugar than Golden Russet and Goldrush. Still a good apple. I like them a lot more than Macs, which are pretty iffy in my mind.
1 Like
Thanks. How do Baldwinâs do disease wise, that is, if thatâs a variety you grow? And since we are talking aboot New England apples, any opinion on Hudsonâs GG, Hubbardston, King of Tompkins, and Rhode Island Greening? Both my wife and I really liked the Jonathanâs we had, but Iâve read that they tend to be pretty disease prone.
What do you mean about âiffyâ Macs? We liked the ones we got from the orchard, nice flavor balance, not too big in size, attractive apple. About the only thing I donât like about them is they turn brown fast after slicing them up, but thatâs not a big deal to me.
Regarding the oxidation of apples after they are cut up. Do you think those that resist browning are higher in vitamin C, a known anti-oxidant? Iâve noticed Jonathan and Cortland donât brown hardly any.
OK, here are some more pics from our trip this week.
Not sure what these are, maybe Grimes Golden, or Goldrush
Some Grimes Golden
A heavily laden Golden Delicious
Not sure, but maybe some Galaâs high up on a tree
A couple of rows of trellised apples
Some small pumpkins of various sizes and colors, up at the store/warehouse
The striped long gourds are Cushawâs, a popular variety in these parts. Usually theyâre used in pies, having a taste kinda similar to pumpkins. I donât know what the dark blue gourds are, unless theyâre just a dark pumpkin. My wife told me, but Iâve forgotten what they are.
And bags of fruits in our cart, after a couple hours of picking. Upper left is about 10lb of Maxine pears, which we actually canned today. Middle top are Pixie Crunch and Grimes, next to a bag of some small Gala; upper right are Jonagold and Cortland; lower left are Golden Russet and Jonathan, lower middle Gold Del and Liberty; lower right Winecrisp. Quite a nice haul.
2 Likes
I like Baldwin (as a more sour apple- think Jonathon), but donât grow either of them, as Iâd read that they are scab susceptible. Iâve grafted King of Tompkins, but it is too early. I think Iâve had Greening a couple times and wasnât impressed with it for fresh eating (like Granny Smith, but a bit less sugar and flavor).
Hudsonâs GG is great, but may be problematic. Iâm growing it and have never had more than a few. One year it cracked badly. Iâve heard from others that it gets hit badly with insects. This year, it set well, even when others didnât, but animals stripped it. I think a big part of the problem for me is that it is on M27 (mini-dwarf) rootstock, which gives it less room for error. But the few Iâve sampled have been very good. Large and sweet, with a very good pear-like flavor.
Not enough sugar for me. They also get soft quick and the flavor never grew on me. Maybe it is a grown up apple and my palate never matured
It wouldnât surprise me. Vitamin C is ascorbic acid, and I think lemon juice (also plenty of acid) is also supposed to prevent browning. There may be another method as well, since Cornell developed a new apple which doesnât brown and they may not have wanted it to be too acidic.
1 Like
My 3rd leaf Baldwin on G202 set 4 apples this year. They are the size of softballs and bright red. Ate a windfall 2-3 days ago, excellent. Crunchy, dense, good sweet/tart balance, juicy, some russeting, attracts aphids, superb single variety cider. Iâve been surprised with my GRâs. Where they are in the sun, they have a deep golden color that Iâve never seen in an apple before.
Thanks, you and @BobVance may have convinced me to try a Baldwin tree. How big has your G202 tree got?
I think that GRâs have a very unique, oddly attractive appearance, itâs unlike anything else Iâve seen in my limited experience with apples. And the taste is very good as well.
For those of you in the Mid-Atlantic, I highly recommend this upcoming event. If you are into antique apples, hard cider, and sweet cider, then this one is for you. The BBQ food truck is a bonus. You can wander the orchard, and buy antique apple varieties by the bag-load (mix and match!) for very reasonable prices. You wonât regret making the trip. Maybe Iâll run into you there!
Here are some of the apples they grow:
For more information, see:
1 Like
Is this the place you took and posted some pictures of recently?
Considering hard ciders, I know that most are blends of different varieties, but do they make single variety hard ciders? And if so, do they retain most of the flavor of that apple? I ask because of grape wines donât necessarily have the flavor of the original grape.