North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Steve <sdw12986@aol.com>]

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