North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Doreen Howard" <gardendiva@charter.net>]

Richard Murphy wrote:

I was going to augment my heirloom apple orchard with some 'plain vanilla' variety for kids to pick, but it isn't going to be Honeycrisp. Probably a couple of the disease resistant models; lower spray, and quality is less of an issue in that sense.

 

May I suggest Ed Fackler's favorite, Pixie Crunch.  I have this amongst my antique apples, and it's easy to grow, a reliable cropper and very tasty.  I bag my apples and never spray, but Pixie Crunch is one of those Purdue disease-resistant creations.  The apples taste almost as good as Honeycrisp (same flavors) and are nearly as crunchy.  Apples color an even, brilliant red like Red Delicious.  The only down side is that fruits are small--about 4 oz. on average, but the perfect size for kids.  I usually eat two of them at a time.  They ripen around Labor Day in my Zone 4b region along the IL-WI border.

 

Honeycrisp does very well here, too, but colors aren't picture perfect.  There is a reddish blush and lots of green striping to mine.  But....they taste terrific!

 

My 2 cents worth.

Doreen Howard