Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Top 10 Favorite apple and pear varieties

nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Steve <sdw12986@aol.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Top 10 Favorite apple and pear varieties
  • Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:34:34 -0500


Hi Wynne,
My climate is probably quite different from yours so my favorites would not be your favorites, most likely. I have mostly cool summers and a short growing season.
Some of my favorites (I don't have 10 favorites) of the apple cultivars I have grown would include Honeygold, Honeycrisp, Sunrise, and Chestnut Crab. I think that's about it so far. Our season is nearly too short for Honeygold, but when we have a good (warmer) season, I find the flavor to be very rich and sweet. Most people know Honeycrisp these days. Very crisp and juicy with a nice flavor. Sunrise was a surprise to me. I didn't expect all that much from it. I got my first large crop 2 seasons ago and they ripened in late August with a very good flavor. Last season, they ripened much later and were nothing special. Chestnut Crab is, of course, a small apple but it has a very powerful and sweet flavor. I have liked them every year except the last one when they, too, ripened later than usual and the flavor wasn't as good as all the other years.
Some of the disappointments were Red Baron, Lodi, Mantet, Norland, and maybe Sweet 16. Red Baron is a nice big apple with decent flavor but I find the skin to be a bit astringent, keeping it off my favorite list. Lodi is too sour for my taste, then 2 days later it is too soft. We don't often bother to make apple sauce so I don't find it useful. Mantet is pretty and it is sweet but it goes soft so fast, I usually end up wasting most of them. Norland is very pretty but small. It also goes soft very fast (early apples tend to do that) and I don't enjoy it much before that. Lots of people love Sweet 16 but I find the skin to be a bit tough and the flavor only average.
I have others that produce for me but don't get me excited. I also have several new cultivars grafted here and there on my existing trees. I hope the first 2 or 3 of those will start producing this coming summer.

Steve in the Adirondacks. Zone 4 on the map. Zone 3 in real life.

Webmail wynne wrote:
well i just dont like the darn macintosh apple or its crosses they
are soft when
you pick em and i dont like soft apples
hoping you all might share your apple and pear 10 best picks

my first criterion is taste, then keeping ability
you all are the most knowledgable and experienced of critics
please help me out, the apple market is in the water closet
wynne in n.c. washington state




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page