So for the first time, one of our Gold Rush trees actually produced a few apples (10 or so). I picked them in November, as late as I could given the cold weather which was headed out way. They had yellowed then but were not ripe. Since then, they have been in a plastic bag (with some ventilation) in a fridge. From my readings here I was not expecting much from them until they had been stored a while, and so far we have been sampling one every month. They appear ripe, at least the seeds are fully brown, and over the last 6 weeks in storage their skin color has gotten more brownish. But when we sampled one yesterday, it was sweet but still very hard and not much depth to the flavor.
Just curious if these results are in line with what others find with Gold Rush apples? When does their texture change (get less rock hard) and the flavor develop? Am I still too early trying them now?
I just ate one out of the fridge and they seem to be sub par here this year, like almost everything else that managed to provide crop. These are from a site where I spray for looks and where they get dawn to dusk sun so they are big beautiful yellow apples with a red blush. They are better than what I can likely buy but not the kind of awesome Iām used to getting from this variety.
In my experience GR really come into their own in January or later. Even when compared to other storage apples they are late storage apples. I do not have as much experience as many here, but say Northern Spy and various Russets are as good in December as they are ever going to be. GR and Arkansas Black are on the long side of things.
I just ate a GR yesterday grown in North Carolina and it was darn good! I actually enjoyed the first Ark Black that I picked off my tree earlier in the fall. They may both get better after storage but I would eat either one as they were.
Iām with @Jwsemo, the ones that get the huge hang time and eaten straight from the tree are the pinnacle of the GR experience for me. Mighty puckery but mighty flavorful. I had to harvest my crop a bit early this year as the deer were munching them, they are very nice apples out of storage but not the WoW of a fully ripened one.
Even though we had a extremely wet summer, about the first of September it stopped raining and we had a very dry fall, no rain till about the second week of November. I guess the dry fall was enough to let the late apples get pretty good. The goldrush off the tree in November were fantastic, tons of flavor.
I purchased a Gold Rush tree based on the numerous positive reviews that this apple has. It is only coming into its 3rd year. As I had never actually eaten a one I purchased some Gold Rush apples via mail order from an orchard in southern New York. If one presumes them to have been picked in early November then today they would be ~ 5 weeks post harvest. Thanks to all the reviewers for their advice; it was darn delicious! My wife described it as, āyummy, but a bit acidicā, so I guess her taste buds run along the lines of the folks who describe a recently picked Gold Rush as ābattery acidā and suggest waiting until at least January to eat them. I have 3 more in the fridge, so I figure I will consume one each in the middle of Jan, Feb and March. Hopefully the tree in the back yard will be successful and we will have our own harvest soon. I surmise it will need active defending against cedar apple rust.
Iāve had them stored in a 50 F root cellar keep perfect all winter. Come March they were still super crisp and delicious. By April they were getting a little soft. Getting the brix higher should help them be sweeter also. Superb apple IMO.
Do you know the name of the orchard? Iām often asked where they can be purchased when I provide a few samples to customers who are waiting for their own trees to come into adequate productivity.
Sure. I bought them from Soons Orchards in New Hampton NY. (https://www.soonsorchards.com/ ) It was a mixed pack with some Fuji and Braeburn as well. I was glad to have those but was mostly interested in the GoldRush.