North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Thomas Olenio <tolenio@sentex.net>]

Hello,

I believe that you will find the answers are as varied regarding apple 
variety selection, as the
answer to the question "What is for dinner?".

There are many complexities you have to keep in mind.  Disease resistance, 
insect problems,
growth habit, bloom period, pollinizer, pollinator, dessert apple, cooking 
apple, cider apple and
of course soil/climate.  And this is only the short list.

The varieties selected for homeowners are the easiest to manage over a broad 
selection of
criteria.

As far as apple preference goes...  The average consumer has does not have a 
large pool of
varieties to choose from.  The markets are full of apples that are more 
economicaly viable for
the producer.  Apples that crop well with minimum care and spraying, they 
have long storage
times, do not bruise easily, have fantastic eye appeal and (oh yeah) have a 
reasonable flavor.

Consumers never get to taste some of the FANTASTIC tasting apples that do not 
travel well, or
bruise easily, or have a short peak flavor period.

If you want to eat "consumer" varieties you can buy them in the market.  If 
you want to explore
some other fantastic apples grow the lesser known varieties.

This is a complex and very subjective question.

Later,
Tom

jeff wrote:

> Chris wrote:
> > But why are Sweet16, Keepsake, and Pixie Crunch only suitable for home 
> > use?
> > And why is Goldrush a maybe for home use?
> > What makes the others superior for commercial purposes?
>
> I would also like to know the answer to these questions and
> have some leading questions <grin>.
>
> How big a factor is climate in apple selection?
> Do taste tests show a wide range of preferences or
>   do a few apples dominate?
> Would organic orchards have different apple preferences?
> Wouldn't we want to rate early and late apples separately
>   and also separate sauce apples from jelly apples?
>
> jeff (currently eating goldrush and preparing for pruning season)
>
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