North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[fuwa fuwa usagi <fuwafuwausagi@muchomail.com>]

Someone queried about the relationship between location/climate and the taste 
of apples.   As my job involves a whole lot of travel, and as Nafex is filled 
with people more than willing to ante up an apple or two to a famished 
looking rabbit, I have had the opportunity to sample the same type of fruit 
in many different localities in the same year.  I'll attest to the fact that 
the same variety of apple grown in the south taste very different, and the 
texture is different, and the harvest time is different than the same variety 
grown in the north. 

Northern Spy is a great example.  Grown in the north and allowed to mature it 
is one of the most desirable things I have ever eaten, grown in the south it 
is mealy, and rather bland.   Arkansas Black is got to be one of the pickiest 
things I have ever encountered.  It seems down near Ed's piece of heaven that 
it ain't worth a darn, but grown over around Little Rock it is quite the 
delicacy.  Dr. Matthews is awesome in Northern Indiana, but  on par with 
sweetened sawdust around Chicago. Honeycrisp is another, grown in cooler 
conditions, with calcium and a steady supply of water, without excess water 
during the last month of maturity it is awesome.  Grown in the south, without 
regard for how it is grown it is just like sugary watermelon, all crunch and 
no real flavor.

Soil plays a big role with some apples, yet some varieties could care less.

So in the end, where you are, how you grow them, and are the suitable for 
your area dictates the quality of your apples.  Macs are great where the 
nights are cool, and not worth a darn where the nights are hot and humid. 

And perhaps most important of all is "picked right".  Something 
Edwardo/Eduardo/TheWonderousMrEd can do, and the fluffy one can't.   

Lastly, remember commercial apples are usually chosen to perform over a wide 
range of conditions.   But  they still taste different based on locale.   

I guess if I was really trying to start a small commercial orchard I would 
consider laying out the cash and test running 200+ different varieties in 
addition to starting out a test block of my assumed money crop.   With those 
200 apples you might hit something that is really special under your 
conditions, something that might in fact seem rather unique.  In my area we 
have a seedling apple called Millington.   It is a darn good apple that 
originated here.  Crisp, juicy, tart like Macs used to be.  Strangely it 
likes hot humid August-Septembers.  Yet outside this area it is not worth a 
hoot.   

Excelsior,

The fluffy bunny


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