To: "'nafex mailing list at ibiblio'" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [nafex] Sops of Wine
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:11:05 -0600
Apples of New York by Beach recommended "Swaar" as a great apple. I grew
it here in SW Iowa (zone 5) and it was a terrible apple with no flavor. It
would hang on the tree all winter and the birds wouldn't even eat it. One
thing I love about old fashioned apples are the way that the region that
they are grown makes such a difference. Here it seems most summer apples
are tasteless if we get our usual summer heat but the later fall apples like
Chieftain and Golden Russet do well. Judson L. Frisk
-----Original Message-----
From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Claude Jolicoeur
Sent: Monday, January 30, 2012 8:01 PM
To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [nafex] Sops of Wine
Le 20:29 12.01.30, vous avez écrit:
>Gene Wild active NAFEX member for years has a collection of around 800
>apple varieties. I asked him if he had Sops of Wine. Here was his reply:
>
>I have Sops of Wine, however I would not recommend it. Maybe it is an
>apple for a colder climate. It has never had any red coloring inside,
>and has a nondescript flavor. Ken Dooley [deceased member of NAFEX] and I
>agreed it was our poorest heirloom.
However, let's not forget that old varieties like
that were not spreaded all over like modern
varieties are. They were generally great in the
area where they were initially grown, and were
often poor in locations where climate or soil was
different. So there is surely some combination of
climate and soil where Sops of Wine does great -
it's only a question of finding if your orchard will be such!
Claude Jolicoeur
in Quebec