North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["William C. Garthright" <billg@inebraska.com>]

> If you are going to discuss “best apples” it’s useful to add some 
> context. Do you mean best fresh-picked off your own trees, or best out 
> of your cellar or refrigerator throughout the following winter.


Good point. When I planted my apple trees (which are still too young for 
apples), I made a point of trying to find good keepers, and for taste, 
not cooking. There is no way I'll be able to eat all those apples at 
once, so I hope to store them and enjoy eating them most of the winter. 
We'll see...


> Someone mentioned Honeycrisp as a good storage apple that keeps its 
> crunch- maybe in CO2 storage but not out of my cellar!


This is disappointing, because it's one of the varieties I planted, just 
for that reason (and because I like the taste, at least in grocery store 
apples). I've since discovered that it supposedly tastes best when there 
are cool nights when it ripens, so maybe this was a bad pick for two 
reasons.

Which brings up another question: what's the best way to store apples 
over the winter? I don't have a root cellar. My basement is unfinished, 
and a bit cooler (and damper) than the rest of the house, but not 
extraordinarily so. I was thinking of buying another refrigerator 
(perhaps an older, used one), just for fruit. Would they dry out too 
badly there? Any suggestions? I've got at least a year to worry about 
it. :-)

Thanks,

Bill
Lincoln, NE (zone 5)

--
There is no society in human history that ever suffered because its 
people became too reasonable. - Sam Harris