Nice looking apples there Murky! So would you consider this an EGR or a AGR? Have you tasted these apples before or is this your first year having fruit on the tree?
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My GRs are consistently russetted. However, if the fruit becomes syrupy sweet and a bit dry when fully ripe, if it isn’t true EGR it might as well be.
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This is my one and only this year. It has russeted even wuth about 4-5 hours of sun.
I removed a ziplock sandwich bag from the apple hoping it would fall off. It did not budge so I left it for a few more days. Hopefully, apsquirrels won’t know about this one.
@BobVance, when did you pick your GR?
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I’ve been picking them since mid-September (mostly the damaged ones initially). Back then, the brix was ~14 and they were a fine apple. Now, with the brix in the 17-20 range they are great. But I did get a mealy one the other day, so that triggered me to start picking them in greater numbers before the others go soft.
I got a decent sized bowl of them today:
I picked about half of what was left on the tree today (this is the “before picking” shot):
It isn’t worth the risk- just pick it and enjoy it. One apple is far too likely to disappear. The amount of improvement you get in a few days (especially with a lot of rain coming in our forecast) isn’t that high.
I would have picked more myself, but I had a lot on my hands with picking other apples which have even fewer leaves and need to be picked before they start softening on the trees. One of the others was Sundance, which required some scrubbing to remove the sooty blotch. I never used to remove it, but I find the kids are less squeamish about it…
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“Oneapple is far too like to disappear”. Exactly that’s what happpened to my first year Kidd’s Orange Red in Sept.
What rootstock is your Golden Russet on? I saw a metal support pole. Mine is on B 9. I use the same pole you suggested.
How’s Sundance taste? I just grafted Sun Crisp and Suntan. I could collect more Sun if this one is good, too.
I had the same experience, picked a mealy one and harvested the rest yesterday. Just tested one and was surprised it had 19 brix. It is very tasty, but not on top of my list. Yesterday I tried one of my Newtown Pips and that’s what I’m talking about. Finer and denser flesh, less woody skin, more juice and some acid kick. No wonder the Queen of England banned imports of it from VA- the apple was putting the English growers out of business.
On the other hand, if your palate begs for a sugary, syrupy apple, I will admit the Golden Russet properly ripened fills that bill this season. And the Queen won’t stop you from exporting it to England:wink:
Thanks for encouraging me to wait- I do like the apple a lot. First crop I’ve gotten from my own tree.
A tale of two sides. My tree is in a partial shade. This one apple had a more russeted side where the sun shone on it and quite green on an obscured side.
“AGR is more like a dry-fleshed apple”. Mine had dry flesh. So, mine is AGR. Is its other name Bullock, right?
The brix on the russeted side was 20 and the green side was 16. The apple was not fully ripe as the seeds were not dark brown yet.
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That’s funny - I had heard the story the other way around, that the quality of the Newtown Pippins given to Queen Victoria persuaded Parliament to lift duties on their import.
https://www.albemarleciderworks.com/orchard/apple/albemarle-pippin
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Gee, did I misremember that story, or did I hear it from someone else who did? I’ll never know, but yours appears accurate. The apple from Elmhurst, Queens.
Martinella may still contract growers to provide it for their distinctive sweet apple ciders. It’s been a while since I was back in Santa Cruz where it was last cultivated in any scale commercially- mostly for the cider.
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Mine is also on B9. It’s pretty big for a B9 and took a year longer than most to bear.
I think of it as Goldrush-lite. A bit earlier, crunchy and a bit tart with reasonably high brix. I let it over-set this year (it is a very productive tree and has set in years when others haven’t), so most are only around 15 brix. I think they mostly stopped ripening a month ago when it lost most of it’s leaves. It’s good and I’ll keep it since I have it, but I don’t think it is in the Goldrush or Golden Russet tier.
I’ve only had Newtown pips from the FM (past years). Some were a bit bland and 10-11 brix. Others were 14-15 brix and pretty good. They all had good texture, with a bit of breaking crunch and pletny of juice. Do the ones you grow get better brix?
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My GOlden Russet on B9 does not grow much but that is likely due to a shady spot it and several of my fruit trees are in 
Thanks for your input on Sundance.
Right around the corner from where my wife grew up, more or less. I looked into growing it for that reason and because it sounds like it can be a really nice apple, but what I read about its disease susceptibility made me question whether it would be a good bet for us.
Maybe I’ll try to track down some scionwood for a Bloodgood pear (from Flushing) instead…
Hi. This seems to be one few posts on this thread in which one person report 2 trees with the same/similar name: blank"golden russet" that appear to give different fruit. That was some years ago ing and you said the ‘american’ golden russet was just starting to bear fruit. I am curious. Does the fruit still apppear different now?
Newtown isn’t especially susceptible to disease here in my inconsistently sprayed nursery with trees too crowded. It tends to be a healthy and vigorous tree that sizes up in a hurry. The fruit I got this year is surprising by how much stink bug damage there is on it compared to other of my chosen varieties nearby. Tough year for stinkbugs though, especially on trees with light crops and my Newtown is one of them, but the high sugar of the variety may make it more attractive. It is a relatively high brix and highly flavored apple. Probably my second or third fave heirloom.
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Thanks for the review of Newtown, Alan.
Am I right in remembering that Spitzenburg and Baldwin are also at/near the top of the heirloom list for you?
Yes, and both are much more generous, at least for the first few years of bearing. I’m still working on my Newtown- it has a deep sweetness enveloped by a bit of tartness that is unique. It was also my favorite boyhood apple in CA. Santa Cruz has a perfect climate for it, apparently.
My favorites tend to be those with dense flesh. I like both sweet and tart apples.
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Hi Bob. Have your thoughts on Sundance changed at all with a few more years of experience?
I keep letting it over-set, so my evaluation isn’t the most appreciative or fair. My dad likes it a lot though, so that is a point in its favor.
I’m more into jujubes than apples now. I still like really exceptional apples like Goldrush, Golden Russet, Sweet Sixteen (when it is just right) and Evercrisp. But most of the good-eating jujubes (Honey Jar, Sugar Cane, Coco, Massandra, Black Sea, Russia #2, etc) would qualify as exceptional apples (25+ brix, crisp, crunchy). And no need to spray…
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I’ve just confirmed that mine is 589892 .06 from the GRIN catalog. My wife found the scion sheet from 2011. I don’t think that’s the first time I’ve grafted Golden Russet, but I’m confident this is that one because the other scions I got at the same time are the other ones on that tree: Hudson’s Golden Gem, Kandil Sinap, and Bramley’s Seedling. The 1st two I’ll likely cull next year.
PI 589892 Golden Russet United Kingdom
So maybe it is English. It does seem to be a partial tip bearer. Between it, Bramley’s, and the fact I grafted too high, that tree is a bit of a mess.
Bob
This was the 3rd year eating Golden Russet from my tree. So far, the apples have not impressed me. The quality gas not stood out yet. It could be that the tree is in a partial shade. Lack of sun affects fruit quality?
The only good thing is the tree sets fruit every year (no biennialing) and the fruit were large.
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