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nafex - [NAFEX] Liberty apple

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  • From: "Alan Haigh" <alandhaigh@gmail.com>
  • To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [NAFEX] Liberty apple
  • Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2008 14:47:12 -0400

When Cornell developed their D R varieties they tried to keep them pretty close Macintosh because it was the most important commercial NY variety at the time.  Because Macs loose their texture in storage so quickly they bred harder apples (what breeder doesn't these days)  while going for scab and other disease resistance.
 
Commercial growers here did plant some Libertys a few years back, but most have been pulled out since.  They are a good growers apple like Macintosh- they keep the apples coming annually if you manage for lots of healthy 2-year wood.  They have a beautiful color and a pleasing texture with a nice acid sugar balance.  Macintosh has a much more distinctive aroma, however and a special crunch which when hardened through breeding, became Macoun and then Honeycrisp, 2 apples the public generally finds vastly superior to Liberty.
 
When I criticize Liberty, I do so in the context of its failure as a commercial apple here as it is rarely planted in the Hudson Valley any more except by a few small organic growers.  Because it is a mediocre storer (by Fuji, Pink Lady, and even Braeburn standards) lousey cooker and generally unexciting apple my customers usually don't make use of the majority of their crop so I have reduced its numbers in my nursery in the last 15 years.
 
When you talk about educating your customers to enjoy Liberty, I have to wonder.  I've never known an apple snob who put liberty in their top 10 list though I don't doubt that there are many who love it.  Nobody has the same taste buds and if you tell them the apple is good for the environment their appraisal may be generous.  Also, in parts of the country with a more intense sun, Liberty may be more interesting, I only know how it performs in southern NYand CT.



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