[NAFEX] What's your opinion on these?
Ginda Fisher
list at ginda.us
Sat Aug 27 17:37:38 EDT 2005
On Aug 22, 2005, at 12:18 PM, bruce wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Do any of you have good or bad opinions of these apple & pear
> varieties:
>
> Queen Cox
> Bramley
> Fiesta
> Greensleeves
> Honeycrisp
> MacFree
I've eaten Bramley, Honeycrisp, and MacFree.
Bramley is sour and not especially interesting to eat raw, but is
supposed to taste good cooked. I enjoyed it fresh as a sour apple,
though. It's supposed to be highly resistant to scab, but my one
graft succumbed to some other problem and died. It was on a multi-
grafted tree, and the whole tree died, so I wouldn't interpret the
bad result as implying anything at all about Bramley. The twigs were
thick and had interesting bark - they were the most distinctive of
all my budwood.
MacFree is one of the many disease resistant apples that have been
released recently. This one tastes somewhat like a mac, but the
flavor isn't as rich or distinctive. Personally, I think Liberty has
better flavor and is supposed to be at least as easy to grow. A good
Liberty can taste better than a Mac in the same sort of way. Liberty
apples tend to be a little small, though, and the optimal picking
window isn't very long.
Honeycrisp was well named. It is one of the sweetest apples I've
ever had, and it is easily the crispest. The flavor is okay - mild,
rather than assertive, but certainly pleasant and apple-y. The
sensation of eating it is terrific, though, because of that great
crunch. I don't think it is as fussy about climate as a Mac, but it
certainly needs to be grown in the north, probably zone 4-5 is best,
although it might be okay in zone 6. In warmer weather the flavor
doesn't develop as well, and it seems to be a troublesome apple to
grow, getting all sorts of minor diseases as well as watercore,
sunscald, etc. I don't think it is as good as Macoun, which is
nearly as crunchy, just as sweet, not quite so firm (Macoun goes
"snap" more than "crunch") juicier, and has a richer flavor. But
Macoun seems only to grow in northern New England and doesn't keep
more than a couple of weeks. Honeycrisp grows across the country and
keeps quite well. It seems to keep very nicely for a couple of
months in my fridge, with other ripening fruits, access to air, and
all the other things that are supposed to be bad for storage.
If you live in the right climate, the only reason not to grow
honeycrisp is that I expect your supermarket will be carrying it in a
few more years. It is being widely planted by commercial growers.
On the other hand, almost everyone enjoys eating it, so you probably
will, too.
Ginda
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