[NAFEX] Golden Russet apple
Ginda Fisher
list at ginda.us
Tue Oct 13 17:28:13 EDT 2009
What I've had that was called "Ashmeand's Kernal is a small, yellow,
heavily-but-unevenly russeted apple with reddish or brown
"highlights". It is very sweet and very sour. What I've had that was
called "Golden Russet" is a larger (but still small) yellow apple that
is heavily but evenly russeted, and has a more uniform and pleasing
appearance than the Ashmeads. It was round, not flat, and almost
syrupy sweet. Tangy, but not as tart as Ashmead's. Both have dense
flesh. People who I know who grow Golden Russet say it is a prolific
bearer, although it tends towards being biennial. Ashmeads is a shyer
bearer.
Both should be fully yellow under the russet when ripe. (Or have
brown or red cheeks, in the case of Ashmead's.) Either one, with a
green background, is under-ripe, and not very appealing.
Ginda
eastern MA zone 6
On Oct 13, 2009, at 2:40 PM, Claude Jolicoeur wrote:
> Personnally, I suspect there is quite a bit of confusion about true
> to name
> Golden Russet. I have G.Russet and Ashmead's Kernel, and once
> picked, I
> can't tell them apart - give me a basket of each, and they just look
> and
> taste identical. Maybe one of the two has the wrong identity? I came
> to
> think that at a certain point in the apple history, any apple that
> looked
> like the G.rsst was called by that name!
> Claude
>
> At 14:20 2009-10-13, you wrote:
>> I have 3 Golden Russet types in my orchard (SW Iowa zone 5) I have
>> an
>> English Golden Russet, American Golden Russet, and Ashmead's
>> Kernal. The
>> English Golden Russet seems to have less russetting than the other
>> two
>> apples. The American Golden Russet is a flatter apple. The
>> Ashmead's
>> Kernal is larger and has less russetting than the American. They
>> are all
>> tip bearers. The American Golden Russet bears almost every year
>> while the
>> Ashmead's Kernal took a long time to come into bearing and tends to
>> be a
>> shy bearer (except this year). My favorite use of the apples is for
>> drying. They make the most flavorful dried apples. I do not have
>> good
>> luck keeping them. My orchard is organic (I don't have time to
>> spray) and
>> they do get some insect pressure. Chieftain and Paragon keep much
>> better
>> with their slick skins.
>> Judson L. Frisk
>>
>>
>> Andy:
>>
>> I'd suspect that the "good" one is the true Golden Russet. And
>> the
>> other Golden Russet sounds like the one I had...or just okay, not
>> great,
>> matured later (mid Oct.) with a very weeping or willowy growth habit.
>>
>> ed
>> On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 10:21 AM, Whipple, Andy
>> <<mailto:ANWHIPPLE at tayloru.edu>ANWHIPPLE at tayloru.edu> wrote:
>> Brian and Ed,
>>
>> I have two different Golden Russets in my little orchard. One is a
>> small-medium, fairly round fruit, that is one of our favorites
>> (east
>> central Indiana, zone 5b, maybe an hour east and north from
>> Brian). It is
>> ready in late September – early October at which time it is hard,
>> crisp,
>> quite sweet and juicy yet with many other flavors so as to make it
>> quite
>> tasty. It's much more than simply sweet. The other Golden Russet
>> produces fruit that are medium in size and rather flattened in
>> shape. They are sweet and adequately juicy, but not nearly as
>> full-flavored as the other Golden Russet. That tree I've top
>> worked to
>> other varieties given its lesser quality of fruit.
>>
>> This year I had the most fireblight I've had in the orchard, but I
>> don't
>> recall the good Golden Russet being infected. With just one tree,
>> though,
>> that's not much to go on
>>
>> So which of these is the True Golden Russet? I don't know, but
>> perhaps Ed
>> can comment. We really do like the eating out of hand quality of the
>> round Golden Russet, though I can't comment on its use in hard
>> cider.
>>
>> Andy Whipple, just outside of Upland, Indiana
>>
>> From:
>> <mailto:nafex-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org>nafex-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org
>> [mailto:nafex-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Ed Fackler
>> Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 9:58 AM
>> To: North American Fruit Explorers
>> Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Golden Russet apple
>>
>> Brian:
>>
>> I was never that impressed with it's flavor even when fully
>> mature. And it is hyper sensitive to fireblight.
>>
>> ed
>> On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 9:54 AM, Raby, Brian
>> <<mailto:brian.raby at roche.com>brian.raby at roche.com> wrote:
>> Wanted to throw this out to the audience. My friend and I are
>> beginning
>> our experiment with apples to test for our hard cider brew. He had
>> heard
>> that Golden Russets were a good apple to use in the mix so last
>> weekend he
>> bought a bushel to press and test.
>>
>> I've got one at my desk right now and as I'm chomping into it, I'm
>> not
>> very impressed with the flavor or the juiciness (concerned about
>> how much
>> liquid we will get from the pressing). Kind of reminds me of
>> Honeycrisp
>> with the snap that you get when you bite into it.
>>
>> Is this one of those apples that getting better as it sits? I'd
>> say the
>> apple was picked a little premature because the exterior, except
>> for the
>> russeting, is more green than yellow. But then, I don't know much
>> about
>> the apple.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Brian
>> Zone 5a/b
>> Sheridan, IN
>>
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