North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Dennis Norton" <dmnorton@royaloakfarmorchard.com>]

Regarding store bought apples:

According to the U.S. Apple Association's survey of apple storage 
facilities, total U.S. holdings of fresh and processing apples from the 2005 
crop on July 1 were 15.4 million bushels.  Before the 2006 crop can go into 
storage, the remaining millions of bushels will be moved out.  Since the 
average movement per month in the U. S. is around 5 million bushels,  odds 
are the apples purchased in a store in September are still last years 
apples!  Since Honeycrisp are known as the best storing apple (up to 6 
months in regular refrigerated storage) it has become quite popular because 
it usually the only crisp apple on store shelves throughout the year.  Just 
some food for thought!

Dennis Norton
Royal Oak Farm Orchard
http://www.royaloakfarmorchard.com
http://www.theorchardkeeper.blogspot.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark or Helen Angermayer" <hangermayer@isp.com>
To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Sunday, November 05, 2006 10:51 PM
Subject: [NAFEX] taste test-grocery apples


> 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.