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  • From: "Ed Fackler" <efackler@woh.rr.com>
  • To: <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: RE: [NAFEX] Late-keeping apples
  • Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2003 12:33:46 -0500

David:
 
     My guess is that you are picking them a tad late for longterm storage.  Am astounded by some of the comments alluding to GR being bland or I can't imagine this with a legit GoldRush.
Also, I'm fairly certain that GR will develop more sugars when grown in a longer district due simply to more phytosynate accumulation during the last days on the tree.  Even in zone 6, they'd brix higher than Fuji or any other apple, but taste extremely tart when picked.
     The shriveling that quick under described conditions again leads me to think they were picked a few days late under your warmer or more sunlight conditions.
     Also I just ate one and really can't describe its texture as "crisp".  Here they are hard and perhaps chewy (need a decent set of teeth to eat one!!), but not what I'd call crisp.  The flesh is very dense and of course, they are the heaviest apple per size I'm aware of.
     I still think it is the easiest apple to manage of any that I've ever grown.  Allowing of course that it requires annual heavy thinning best done at petal fall.
 
    Just a few thoughts.  I hope all is well.  Tell Jana hello.
 
ed---50 degrees today for the first time--makes me think of heaven.
-----Original Message-----
From: nafex-admin@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:nafex-admin@lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of David Ulmer
Sent: Saturday, February 01, 2003 10:25 AM
To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: RE: [NAFEX] Late-keeping apples

On Sat, 1 Feb 2003 08:19:06 -0500, Vintage Virginia Apples LLC wrote:
>Goldrush here in Central Virginia is anything but bland. I can only
>wonder
>if the bland "Goldrushes" aren't something else, maybe a nursery
>mixup. It
>is tart/sweet off the tree and mellows to a more complex flavor in
>storage.
 
I have to agree 100% with Charlotte.  I have a small GoldRush on P22. This last season was the first that I let it bear.  Although the tree has been in place for 4 years,  I was trying to get the espalier formed.  I thinned two thirds of the apples and should have thinned more.
 
We had a very cool season with only one spell over 100 (that resulted in some sunburn).  I waited until about Nov. 10th to pick.  The flavor was very intense with a wonderful balance to me of sweet/tart. My daughter, who eats at least an apple a day, thought that the flavor was"too strong" at first but by Thanksgiving she asked for that variety first.
 
Here in Sebastopol, the good apple season starts with Gravenstein around the last week in August.  I picked Pink Lady Dec. 1 and Splendour at Christmas.  Although we are on the border of zone 8/9, most years we have mid to high 20 lows for a few nights.  Here in my micro-climate, a late frost can occur up to Memorial day.  That has made the apricot growing a real challenge.
 
Another question for you GoldRush growers - I kept my fruit in an insulated and unheated storage area that stays between 45 and 50 degrees most of the fall and winter.  The GoldRush apples shriveled and lost texture after a few weeks.  Should I have refrigerated them?
 
Unfortunately we are beginning to break buds here due to a very mild winter and warm days recently.  I wonder if we have had enough chill for some of the apples. 
 
David Ulmer
Sebastopol, CA
Home of Luther Burbank's Experimental Farm
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