North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["kieran or donna" <redherring@tnaccess.com>]

 Has anyone else eaten this apple? Can someone comment on whether L.
Raspberry has
a great intense flavor? This apple purporting to be L. Raspberry that I ate
is the
best flavored early apple I have ever eaten. The descriptions are relatively
the
same, and pictures likewise, but I find no mention of the good flavor in the
references I have. Really could be described as raspberry-like.

Heron,  Yes, I have picked up apples two years running from under a nice big
healthy looking tree that the owner claims is Liveland Raspberry.  Said his
dad planted it nearly 30 years ago.  I was thrilled by the flavor last year,
the crop was smaller this year and I got fewer that were perfectly ripe, but
still it was a better apple than any of the other early types I have
encountered either.  The flavor is intense, with a good bite to it, but
plenty sweet enough, and the texture is good, doesn't go mushy like the
others when ripe, though it cooks soft.  A bit raspberryish, yes.  Really a
good all purpose apple, which is more than I can say for YT or Lodi or
Striped June, (which overbears tiny fruits on it's "on" years), or Red June,
which I quite dislike.  There's another one about the same time, a great
flat yellow apple, local to TN and KY, gets terrible CAR.  Probably followed
shortly by the Horse Apple, which is tarter than LR, but very good.  (Wish
mine would decide to grow.  It started out on some kind of rootstock the
wooly apple aphids adore, I grafted from it to a stock that seems resistant,
but is sure taking it's time.)  Rome probably comes in about the same time,
but it's a really ho-hum, "well it's the only thing coming in right now so I
guess we may as well eat them" sort of apple.  My only worry is that the
lack of cedar trees in town has let none of the telltale yellow spots that
tell me the trees will do poorly out in the sticks where there are cedars
everywhere.  If it rains here next year, my little grafted tree will tell me
whether I need to send it to a nice safe backyard in town.  Donna