I feel a little guilty being able to eat such a high quality apple at this time of the year while other locations have to wait. Okay I’m over the guilt stage. Gold Rush is a great tasting apple. I wasn’t sure how well GR would do in my warm climate but as of now it has done well other than a little CAR.
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Beautiful! Mine are still rock hard and very green, lol! They are also developping a red blush (from our cold nights, I am told).
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Most of mine are still green with a few exceptions.
Got over that guilt pretty quick, didn’t ya?! 
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Gold Rush is an awesome tasting apple when well ripened and this one was were it should be. Sweet complex flavor and not overly hard.
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Some years, most of them ripen in time, other years, most don’t. Fortunately, even those that did not ripen well, stiil tasted fine after a few months in a fridge.
I thought growing Gold Rush in zone 6a is challenging enough. I am amazed that @jessica4b grows it in zone 4b.
You go, girl!!
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Thank you @mamuang ! Well, in my case, I pick them in October/November (just before snow). The seeds are usually brown or brownish, so I’m guessing they are ready. I eat them like that, but they are still a bit hard and their color is not golden but rather a greenish yellow. The nice thing, as you mentionned:
Yes! Also, last year, I left a couple on the counter in the basement (around 15 Celcius). They were still good in April…And they became a nice golden color, but they wrinkled! The flavours were amazing, imo.
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Looks like GR at my location will start ripening now and extend for several weeks. When they start getting like the one I pictured I’m going to pick them and store in the refrigerator. The one I featured might be a little riper than what is needed for long term storage. I counted the GR apples on my trees and came up with about 80. If I can pick at the right stage there should be enough to last into the winter months. When my five grands spend the weekend with us they seriously alter the amount of my fruit reserve.
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Haha! I love to share with kids! They are the main reason I started growing fruits 
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Went for my morning walk through the small orchard with coffee in hand. Several more of the GR were turning and were eager to break off at the stem. Picked 17 more of which 2 was slightly damaged. I wanted them to hang on the tree until late October and some might still do that. I don’t think it matters much when they are picked as long as they taste good.
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Jessica,
Most of the time I picked my GR at the stage you described. That has been in early Nov temp below 24- 25 F was expected (I don’t let my apples hung below that temp).
Although you are in zone 4b and I am in 6a, there are other factors your and my fruit developed at the same stage. That could be how warm your spring and summer are, how high the heat during your hot time, etc.
Tony in Omaha is in zone 5a, a zone colder than mine but his area seems to warm up quickly in the spring and his summer is very hot.
I am in New England where spring can be cold or very cool into mid or late May. Our summer usually is not very hot, either.
Tony pick fruit about a week or two ahead of me every year.
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Mamuang, good explanation, thank you
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So sorry I never grewit
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So far I’ve picked off the tree and off the ground a couple dozen of the more yellowish goldrush. I’ve got about 80 left on there plus a dozen sundowner. The question is should I pick a bunch more ahead of this hurricane? We are supposed to get 4-6 inches of rain between now and fri. They still have a lot of green color. I may pick a few more but let the rest ride it out. Hopefully there are no cracking issues. I picked one of the more yellow ones today, cooled in down in the fridge a few hours. It was really good eating. Very sweet. Still some odd unripe flavors in the peel and pulp, but that should diminish in storage.
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I’m considering the same issues you are. Looks like we both have the eye pretty much heading in our direction and will drop several inches of rain along with strong winds. I plan to pick the apples that are turning today but I’m undecided about the greener ones. I have a similar situation with the Harrow Sweet pears that I probably will pick the biggest ones this morning. Glad I have finished picking the muscadines.
I do this a lot. And look forward to it. Glad to hear that you are out there, too!
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I did the same thing every day in RI including winter, now I do it on my terrace!
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