The last times I commented on this unusual apple was to note how disappointed I was in it:
But this year looks to be better. Just had one right off the tree and we both enjoyed it- noted its “different” taste. Since its known for good flavor and is supposed to improved with storage I’m encouraged.
I’m not going to try to describe the taste, partly because it has proven to be so variable thus far and also because I’m not quite sure how to. For right now I’ll stick with “different” and maybe “assertive, spicy” and dodge anything else. But the texture is tight, firm close. It’s known as a great storage apple, so I’ll save the rest for spring, and see what that does for the texture.
I think it’d probably make a fine cooking apple but I haven’t tried it. I’d love to get others’ experiences.
I just ate my first Prairie Spy of the season. It had a bit of bird damage, so I picked it and took it home. Cut out the damage and enjoyed it. It was a nice mix of sweet and tart. Nice crunch, juicy. I’m not the best at describing flavors, but their is a unique taste at first crunch of each bite. Maybe a hint of cherry?
My PS are going to have to come off of the tree today ahead of the big chill, but I’m sure that they’re nowhere near ready. I guess I’ll stash them in the back corner of the fridge and see what they look like in April.
The seeds in the one I ate were all brown, so I went back and picked the rest. We’re not getting the snow that those in parts of MT, WY, SD, ND may get, but the temp is supposed to drop well into the 20s. They’re in the crisper now and will likely stay in there for maybe a month or so. I don’t have a lot of other fruit this year, so they’ll get eaten up quickly. I would like to try and keep one until March just to see how it compares.
Took the first Prairie Spy out of the crisper today. I put them in there on 10/9. It is crispy, juicy, and quite tasty. There is a fruity flavor that I can’t quite describe…maybe almost peachy? At some point when I have more of them, I’d like to make a single variety sweet cider with them and see how it turns out.
Glad you like them- I haven’t tried mine yet. I’ve got a ton of apples that aren’t known for keeping, including some wonderful Karmijn de Sonnaville and maybe a couple of Rubinettes, and bags and bags of Liberties. Also some Jonagolds and two very red Fujis, but those are good keepers and I’ll leave them for now.
I hope the cider works for you if you do it. I can’t imagine that it wouldn’t.
Got to eat my first Prairie Spy apple this year. Nice large apples, some a bit bumpy and some bird and other damage but most pretty good. First drops Sept.18. Seeds brown and decent flavor but not ripe taste. Oct.3 getting more bird pecks so picked. Very short stems! Had to carefully “screw” them off to avoid spur damage, so rather slow to pick. Seeds brown but taste still rather sharp, but juicy and high flavor. Into the (rather warm) root cellar. Tried one Oct.28 - still too early to eat. Mid Nov. - not yet. Finally - Dec.2 - Very Good! Tender, juicy, interesting flavor, nice sweet-tart balance. Some bitter pit and rot, but many OK. Ate them fresh daily until Dec.14 when the last one was enjoyed. Look forward to having more and seeing how long they’ll last, and happy they appear to be a good storage apple for us.
This is a particularly special variety for me because the first apple trees we planted almost 50 years ago were told to be Prairie Spys, and that’s what we thought they were for decades, having never seen nor tasted a P.S. before. With the advent of the WWW, and thanks to GF members, I found out those trees were in fact Beacon’s (a very good variety thankfully). But now, so many years later, we finally get to eat a real Prairie Spy! And we liked them.
