North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>]

On May 2, 2011, at 4:41 PM, Jackie wrote:

> Anyone have experience with these disease-resistant apples? Taste? 
> Resistance? Difficulties?  Thanks so much.
> 
> Jackie Kuehn

I haven't grown any of them, but I have eaten purchased ones that grew 
locally (zone 6, eastern MA, and zone 5, other parts of New England)  

Liberty is a very tasty apple, similar to a Mac.  I'm told it has a 
relatively narrow picking window.  I've never had a seriously over-ripe one 
grown here, but I used to buy them from an orchard in Princeton, NJ, and they 
got quite soft and mealy and developed all sorts of interesting flavors.  I 
thought it might still be a good addition to cider, but your tastes may vary. 
 Liberty is a little smaller than a Mac, keeps better (but still isn't a 
great keeper) and like a Mac it cooks up soft, so it makes better apple sauce 
than apple pie.  It has a nice crunch when fresh.  I buy a few every fall.

I haven't been impressed with Macfree or Freedom.  They are fine, but other 
stuff tastes better.

I've probably tasted Jonafree but it didn't make any impression on me.

On May 3, 2011, at 11:06 PM, Applesrgoodforu@aol.com wrote:

> Jackie. Liberty is one of my favorite apples. You might think about  
> Williams Pride, Sir Prize, and Golodrush. They are all from PRI breading  
> program. 
> Dan
> 
> Dan Ester
> Eugene, Oregon

Goldrush is a nice apple, too.

Ginda