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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Frozen (?) apples

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  • From: Steve <sdw12986@aol.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Frozen (?) apples
  • Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:53:24 -0500



kelly@theravenrocks.com wrote:
My experience is that the varieties that survive frost, freezing, disease, drought, etc. are always the least desirable ones.
Kelly Coffey
western North Carolina


I know what you mean. Since I live too far north for many good fruits, I sometimes have to settle for a variety based on hardiness rather than great quality.
These Honeygold apples though will be excellent most years when they ripen properly. They are very desirable in spite of their good hardiness BUT then there are the other problems on your list such as disease.
Honeygold was affected worse by scab this year (when I wasn't able to spray a fungicide) than other less desirable apples. Close behind in scab damage were the Sunrise and Honey Crisp apples which are also pretty good otherwise.
I was just now eating one of the 15 degree exposed Honeygolds before I started typing this. I wish I had picked a few on Saturday afternoon just before that cold dip, so I could compare. The one I just ate was still crisp and good with no problems. I do have some stored away that were picked about 2 weeks ago. I could do a taste comparison with those.

Back to disease resistance once more... the one apple that was completely disease free this year was Red Baron. Off hand, I don't recall them being considered disease resistant but they were virtually scab free this very bad year. I've never been thrilled by their quality. I find them to have a tough skin and a trace of astringency. They are a big nice looking apple but I have been grafting most of the branches to other cultivars. This year they could have been called Yellow Baron because there surely wasn't much red on them!

Steve in the Adirondacks




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