North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Richard J. Ossolinski" <osso@acadia.net>]

And my point was simply to refute the proposition that Honeycrisp is inferior
to Macoun "in every way but one."
Richard

>  list@ginda.us wrote:
> >>
> >> Honeycrisp can't be all that hard to grow, because it is way more
> >> popular with growers than its parent, Macoun, despite being the lesser
> >> apple in every way but one.

list@ginda.us wrote:
> 
> That was my point - Honeycrisp is easy enough to grow if you have the
> right climate for it.  It isn't a "difficult" apple, just not a
> foolproof one, and not ideally suited for some of the leading apple
> areas today.
> 
> Ginda
> (who'd be happy to get an explosively crisp apple at this time of year,
> even if it is a little bland.)
> 
> On Wednesday, January 29, 2003, at 01:15  PM, Richard J. Ossolinski
> wrote:
> 
> > Ginda, et. al.,
> > To me a good Macoun is indeed a wonderful apple.  Here, however, they
> > are
> > magnets for scab, never size well despite diligent thinning, and
> > usually drop
> > half their crop prematurely.  Those that are left are small treasures
> > but
> > don't keep worth a
> > damn.  My Honeycrisps, however, set full crops annually, require very
> > little
> > thinning, attain excellent size and color, and rarely drop a good fruit
> > prematurely.  I just ate one that was picked in September and "stored"
> > in
> > temperatures that reached as
> > high as 70 and as low as 32.  Still "explosively crisp" and
> > cosmetically
> > perfect (without any post harvest treatment) it rivaled fruit just off
> > the
> > tree.  To me it's worth sacrificing some flavor and accepting some
> > bronzing of
> > foliage for this kind of mid winter refreshment, though I anxiously
> > await the
> > Honeycrisp crosses (a la Lee Elliot et. al. [see below]) that
> > hopefully will
> > render more flavorful results while still retaining the incredible
> > texture and
> > keeping ability currently unique to Honeycrisp.
> > Richard
> > Gouldsboro, ME Zone 5 (where yesterday at this time it was 10 below
> > zero: now +22)
> >
> > list@ginda.us wrote:
> >>
> >> Honeycrisp can't be all that hard to grow, because it is way more
> >> popular with growers than its parent, Macoun, despite being the lesser
> >> apple in every way but one.  Honeycrisp keeps better than Macoun, and
> >> its texture is nearly as good as the texture of a Macoun, but the
> >> flavor and appearance are both far inferior to a decent Macoun.
> >>
> >> Honeycrisp will do well competing with other sweet bland apples, such
> >> as Red Delicious.  That is a large market, but the market for apples
> >> that taste good (not just sweet with no off flavors) has got to be
> >> nearly as large.  Yet Macoun is a minor regional apple.
> >>
> >> Ginda