Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Liveland Raspberry and Vista Bella

nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "loneroc" <loneroc@mwt.net>
  • To: <breen@fedcoseeds.com>, "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Liveland Raspberry and Vista Bella
  • Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 07:28:06 -0500

Heron and Donna,

Livland (Lowland) Raspberry is a very good early apple here in Wisconsin,
although I wouldn't call the flavour intense. It is pleasant and at least
edible in a way that the other really early apples are not. If I were going
to plant an early cultivar here it would be Livy, but apparently I don't
need the taste enough to have planted one. The only praise that I hear for
most earlies is that they make the best applesauce, especially Yellow
Transparent. No thanks--I'll pass on that. I'm not sure what others see in
the stuff tho' if my kids were still young I might make a batch.

I get my first apple fix from Vista Bella--its flavour is mild though
appley, and it's actually crisp. Takes some practice to pick it at the
right stage and it's somewhat susceptible to scab here (no more so than
McIntosh). It makes a decent pie and keeps its shape quite well if not
picked too late. The fruits ripen over several weeks. It is also one of
two apples that put on a full crop here after a series of severe spring
freezes. I suspect its resistance to Spring cold results from a
characteristic I've observed in the Central American highlands (I used to
eat it as a kid in Costa Rica). The tree blossoms and fruits nearly year
around. No doubt this characteristic of prolonged bloom allows it to form
later buds if the first ones are damaged. So far I've experienced no
hardiness problems--my tree survived -40F/C with no damage. I'm not sure
that VB is immune to cold--Dave Bedford, the University of Minnesota apple
breeder responsible for Honeycrisp, told me years ago that he had taken his
tree out. I don't recall the reason for this, but cold is always an issue
in the Far North. Perhaps Bernie Ni(c?)kolai can report on his experience.

Steve Herje, Lone Rock, WI USDA zone 3(/4)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Heron Breen" <breen@fedcoseeds.com>
To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, September 09, 2005 9:07 AM
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Liveland Raspberry


> Thanks Donna!
> Just the confirmation I needed. For the life of my I can't figure out why
Liveland
> Raspberry is not more planted or touted. I always find grafting to be a
much more
> pleasant and nearly magical experience when I am grafting a variety that
is really
> good. After tasting L. Raspberry, any thought of grafting drudgery has
been
> banished.
> Hands itchy for my knife and parafilm,
> Heron Breen
> zone 4, Maine
>
> On Thu Sep 8 18:58 , 'kieran or donna' <redherring@tnaccess.com> sent:
>
> >
> > 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
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >nafex mailing list
> >nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
> >
> >All other messages are discarded.
> >No exceptions.
> >----
> >To subscribe or unsubscribe, go to the bottom of this page (also can be
used to
> change other email options):
> >http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex
> >
> >File attachments are NOT stripped by this list
> >TAKE STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM COMPUTER VIRUSES!
> >Please do not send binary files.
> >Use plain text ONLY in emails!
> >
> >Message archives are here:
> >https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/nafex
> >
> >NAFEX web site: http://www.nafex.org/
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nafex mailing list
> nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
>
> **YOU MUST BE SUBSCRIBED TO POST!**
> All other messages are discarded.
> No exceptions.
> ----
> To subscribe or unsubscribe, go to the bottom of this page (also can be
used to change other email options):
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex
>
> File attachments are NOT stripped by this list
> TAKE STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM COMPUTER VIRUSES!
> Please do not send binary files.
> Use plain text ONLY in emails!
>
> Message archives are here:
> https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/nafex
>
> NAFEX web site: http://www.nafex.org/
>





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page