North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Mark or Helen Angermayer" <hangermayer@isp.com>]

A few nights ago my wife, kids, and I had a taste test of some apples I got
from the store.  We originally did it just as something fun, but as an
afterthought I decided to pass the results on.  I know many would rate
commercial apples inferior to non-commercial varieties, as may well be the
case, but we tested what we have easy access to, and for us right now, it's
the grocer.(My new apple trees are still several  years from bearing.)

Anyhow, I bought the following apples-Fuji, Gala, MacIntosh, Honeycrisp,
Braeburn, and Pink Lady.  They were all grown in the U.S.  It was a blind
taste test(except for me, since I set it up).  All of us independently rated
the apples from best to worst.

Every one of us rated the Honeycrisp at the top.  And three out of four of
us rated Mac at the bottom.  However in defense of the McIntosh, it was
mushy and that might have contributed to it's low ranking.  As for the rest
of the apples, their rankings were fairly scattered.  Personally, except for
the best and worst apple, I had trouble ranking the others which were all
good.

I know it's all anectdotal anyway, since so many factors can affect taste,
i.e. picking, soil, rootstock, local climate, etc.  Still, I wonder if we'll
see more of those Honeycrisps on the shelves?

Mark Angermayer
Zone 5 Kansas

P.S. Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions for mulching strawberries.
Athough the suggestions were across the board, maybe a very light covering
of winter mulch will offer a bit of freeze protection without rotting the
plants.  Thanks.