North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Ginda Fisher <ginda@concentric.net>]

Naomi Ann Counides wrote:
> 
> Keepsake!  Keepsake!  Keepsake!
> Naomi
> 

Naomi,
Keepsake was on my short list of apples to try to grow in my backyard. 
But I ordered some from Applesource this year and they (well, we've only
tried one so far) were very disappointing.  I expected it to be small
and ugly, but I didn't expect it to be soft, a bit mealy, and have off
flavors.  I'm pretty sure my apples were mishandled in shipping (the box
was badly dented, it was at least one day late, and I suspect a week+1
day late) but the Ashmead's kernal, the Cox's Orange Pippin, and the
Caville Blanc were all pretty good.  (The Keepsake, Pitmasten Pineapple,
and the Sweet Sixteen were unpopular.)  Any ideas what went wrong?  Do
you think I should try again?  I was hoping to grow a decent keeper, so
if it spoiled in a box on a truck, that's a bad sign.

Thanks,
Ginda Fisher
Eastern Mass, zone 6