Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

nafex - Re: [NAFEX] apple varieties

nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Scott Weber and Muffy Barrett" <bluestem_farm@juno.com>
  • To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] apple varieties
  • Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2011 02:17:39 GMT

Hi Deb,This may be more of an answer than you were bargaining for.Most of my
apples haven't started bearing yet, but my taste in apples is pretty catholic
so of the ones I've tasted so far most are my favorite for one thing or
another. Of the ones that are bearing, Akero is a nice early one, although
it's a shy bearer so far (at least where it is). The seedling we brought
with us from Blue Hill, ME and Cortland are similar, and we love them both
but probably the Blue Hill a little better for flavor and the Cort a bit
better for productiveness. Burgundy is gorgeous, precocious, and good but
not fantastic. Calville Blanc we've had once, but I don't remember it. I
know that I didn't DISlike it. Chestnut crab I wasn't impressed with, but it
won kudos at a taste testing that I had last fall. Connell Red we get one or
two apples a year. Fresh they are good, but I haven't had a chance to test
them for storage or cooking. I got my first decent Esopus Spitz last year,
and was blown away by the flavor. Our Gravenstein is a great apple for
eating as it ripens, and for cooking but not for storing. Good cider, too.
I had a commercial Golden Russet once and loved it, but my soon-to-be 8th
leaf G.R. has so far stubbornly refused to bloom. Maybe this year. Haralson
is a good all purpose hardy apple. Honeygold keeps better than Cortland, but
maybe isn't quite as good to my mind... except when it's better. Idagold I
was ready to rework as flavorless until I made a crisp to get rid of the rest
of them this year, and it was fantastic. Idared is tangy and keeps well, but
maybe not as rich a flavor as some. Jonathan's pretty good. We are just
starting to get them, and I may come out stronger on them later (my brother
was named for the Jonathan apple). Keepsake came with the property. I
didn't llike it for a few years, but this past year it was my main harvest so
I'm learning to love it. It can shrivel and still keep its crunch, but I
prefer an apple with more tartness. Usually. But the next two bearing ones
on my list -- Late Blush (Vanilla Creme) and Late Raspberry -- are sweet
apples, but so complex that I don't mind. They are wild apples from the
farm. I dried some of the Late Raspberries this year, and they are very
different from most dried apples, but still very good. Late Blush is sort of
nutty tasting. Maiden Blush I think I like, but we've only gotten a few of
them yet. McIntosh is good, but some of the others are probably better. I
really like the fruit of the Muff's Orange Winter (another wild apple),
although the tree has its disease problems. Newell's Winter is good some
years, so-so other years. Prairie Spy is great, although it's not a
fantastic keeper under less than ideal conditions. Snow yields abundantly
but only has great flavor some years. I got my first fruits off a graft from
my parents' 1948 Staymared Winesap this year, and love that one, too. I
don't care much for the Thornton Winesap that we bought from Stark Bros. in
1991; it oversets fruit, and without thinning (the tree is too tall to thin)
the fruits don't ripen in our season. Even when we have an unusually long
warm fall they don't attain full winesap richness. Williams Pride is a very
good late summer apple, and Zabergau Reinette is a very fine mid-fall russet.
The only ones I don't like so much are the Duchess (too tart for eating out
of hand, and hit hard by insect damage every year--possibly because it's
nestled up to the woods?), Florina (not much flavor, but I'm giving it
another year because it was showing signs of nutrient deficiency and I'm
hoping to get that under control), Pound Sweet (hated it fresh and no flavor
dried, and couldn't imagine it in a pie--but it also had nutrient
deficiencies, so I'm not completely top-working it just yet), and Wolf River
(large, but almost always hit by rots and the dried fruits are passable but
other varieties are better).My husband says that I ought to limit myself to
10 or twelve varieties, that that should be enough for anyone. But he keeps
changing his mind about what those 12 ought to be. I say--plant 'til you run
out of space, or time to manage the trees. We haven't run out of space but
may be maxing out on time. I have more scionwood in the fridge, too.
MuffySouthern WisconsinI wasn't going to tap any maples this year, but broke
down and put out just 1 tap today, a month late but I should still get a tiny
bit.

---------- Original Message ----------
Hey Muffy

What are your favorite apple cultivars? I am just getting started
with my orchard. I only have a Queen Cox apple so far along with
cherries, pluot, peach, and lots of berry bushes (I am better at
berries than trees :). I received some scionwood from some NAFEXers
and have rootstock coming so am diving in with both feet!

deb


____________________________________________________________
Groupon&#8482 Official Site
1 ridiculously huge coupon a day. Get 50-90% off your city&#39;s best!
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3131/4d8d4d29eb4e1373dbbst06duc
>From list@ginda.us Fri Mar 25 22:38:18 2011
Return-Path: <list@ginda.us>
X-Original-To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Delivered-To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Received: by lists.ibiblio.org (Postfix, from userid 3002)
id 6A64F4C07D; Fri, 25 Mar 2011 22:38:17 -0400 (EDT)
X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.3.1 (2010-03-16) on malecky
X-Spam-Level:
X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.7 required=5.0 tests=DKIM_SIGNED,DKIM_VALID,
RCVD_IN_DNSWL_LOW autolearn=disabled version=3.3.1
Received: from out3.smtp.messagingengine.com (out3.smtp.messagingengine.com
[66.111.4.27])
by lists.ibiblio.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7073B4C06B
for <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>; Fri, 25 Mar 2011 22:38:15 -0400 (EDT)
Received: from compute2.internal (compute2.nyi.mail.srv.osa [10.202.2.42])
by gateway1.messagingengine.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 149D4205E5
for <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>; Fri, 25 Mar 2011 22:38:15 -0400 (EDT)
Received: from frontend1.messagingengine.com ([10.202.2.160])
by compute2.internal (MEProxy); Fri, 25 Mar 2011 22:38:15 -0400
DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha1; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=messagingengine.com;

h=subject:mime-version:content-type:from:in-reply-to:date:content-transfer-encoding:message-id:references:to;
s=smtpout; bh
egjtT0AM/3U9nQufEt6T+uBUE=;

b=HUtpNZpaXBxlClAeH2V5IfCUhXIPq/7XsS4UIsJ6BAAvvJsUa9aZ2Ww0dSvt+ie9XW0eSqsG5KKHHVUyZTX11VxKR347VJ2aRiy4D6pwO2cbtGvZ8qcs8da7EzaCyJJptPFQDCjkTT4mweazakgKlU13bzWnepJHjalCZ8TQD0wX-Sasl-enc:
deNSEdwBkD9xu3sKv4MQr7Un3Dg/5iaBHlOBVIBh7U4A 1301107094
Received: from [192.168.1.101] (c-24-91-20-224.hsd1.ma.comcast.net
[24.91.20.224])
by mail.messagingengine.com (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id C1D5A4025EB;
Fri, 25 Mar 2011 22:38:14 -0400 (EDT)
Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v1082)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
From: Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>
In-Reply-To: <20110325.211739.6791.0@webmail19.dca.untd.com>
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2011 22:38:14 -0400
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Message-Id: <F6374176-3A98-4B85-B6E0-B7EFC964F342@ginda.us>
References: <20110325.211739.6791.0@webmail19.dca.untd.com>
To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.1082)
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] apple varieties
X-BeenThere: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.13
Precedence: list
Reply-To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
List-Id: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex.lists.ibiblio.org>
List-Unsubscribe: <http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/options/nafex>,
<mailto:nafex-request@lists.ibiblio.org?subject=unsubscribe>
List-Archive: <https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/nafex>
List-Post: <mailto:nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
List-Help: <mailto:sympa@lists.ibiblio.org?subject=HELP>
List-Subscribe: <http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex>,
<mailto:nafex-request@lists.ibiblio.org?subject=subscribe>
X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2011 02:38:18 -0000


On Mar 25, 2011, at 10:17 PM, Scott Weber and Muffy Barrett wrote:

> Calville Blanc we've had once, but I don't remember it. I know that I
> didn't DISlike it.

I bought some Caville Blanc a year and a half ago, from a local archard.
It's a cooking apple. It's a little hard to peel because of the funny shape,
but it's worth it. It is very hard, and you can slice it into very regular,
thin slices. I made a tart out of a couple of them, and my guests talked
about it for weeks. It holds its shape well when cooked (even those very
thin slices) and has a rich, complex, yet refined flavor.

I ate some of it raw (I always nibble when I'm cutting up apple) and except
for being unusually hard and fine-grained, it wasn't very memorable fresh. A
perfectly good, somewhat tart apple, I think. I've been looking for more of
them ever since to cook with, though.

Ginda
eastern MA, zone 6


  • Re: [NAFEX] apple varieties, Scott Weber and Muffy Barrett, 03/25/2011

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page