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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] What's your opinion on these?

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  • From: Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] What's your opinion on these?
  • Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2005 17:37:38 -0400


On Aug 22, 2005, at 12:18 PM, bruce wrote:

Hello,

Do any of you have good or bad opinions of these apple & pear varieties:

Queen Cox
Bramley
Fiesta
Greensleeves
Honeycrisp
MacFree

I've eaten Bramley, Honeycrisp, and MacFree.  

Bramley is sour and not especially interesting to eat raw, but is supposed to taste good cooked.  I enjoyed it fresh as a sour apple, though.  It's supposed to be highly resistant to scab, but my one graft succumbed to some other problem and died.  It was on a multi-grafted tree, and the whole tree died, so I wouldn't interpret the bad result as implying anything at all about Bramley.  The twigs were thick and had interesting bark - they were the most distinctive of all my budwood.

MacFree is one of the many disease resistant apples that have been released recently.  This one tastes somewhat like a mac, but the flavor isn't as rich or distinctive.  Personally, I think Liberty has better flavor and is supposed to be at least as easy to grow.  A good Liberty can taste better than a Mac in the same sort of way.  Liberty apples tend to be a little small, though, and the optimal picking window isn't very long.

Honeycrisp was well named.  It is one of the sweetest apples I've ever had, and it is easily the crispest.  The flavor is okay - mild, rather than assertive, but certainly pleasant and apple-y.  The sensation of eating it is terrific, though, because of that great crunch.  I don't think it is as fussy about climate as a Mac, but it certainly needs to be grown in the north, probably zone 4-5 is best, although it might be okay in zone 6.  In warmer weather the flavor doesn't develop as well, and it seems to be a troublesome apple to grow, getting all sorts of minor diseases as well as watercore, sunscald, etc.   I don't think it is as good as Macoun, which is nearly as crunchy, just as sweet, not quite so firm (Macoun goes "snap" more than "crunch") juicier, and has a richer flavor.  But Macoun seems only to grow in northern New England and doesn't keep more than a couple of weeks.  Honeycrisp grows across the country and keeps quite well.  It seems to keep very nicely for a couple of months in my fridge, with other ripening fruits, access to air, and all the other things that are supposed to be bad for storage.

If you live in the right climate, the only reason not to grow honeycrisp is that I expect your supermarket will be carrying it in a few more years.  It is being widely planted by commercial growers.  On the other hand, almost everyone enjoys eating it, so you probably will, too.

Ginda



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