October/November 1996
By the Mother Earth News editors
We all know of McIntosh apples, Bartlett pears, and Elberta peaches. Following is a selection of new or little-publicized apple varieties for all climates, plus a selection of (normally sub-zero-winter-intolerant) pears and stone fruit for the north country.
RELATED CONTENT
Start with a mix, end with homemade taste: Recipe for sausage stuffing with apples and sage...
Let Thanksgiving be your melting pot: Recipe for Oaxacan stuffing from Mexico...
You can protect your apples from coddling moths and apple maggots by covering the ripening apples w...
Nick Botner, an Oregon orchardist, grows 3,000 varieties of apples on grafted trees....
Tom and Jill Vorbeck offer samples of their conventionally grown apple varieties from their Chapin,...
Apples
Adina(Stark Brothers Nursery) A high-quality, low-chill apple from subtropical Australia that will produce from zone 6 to 9—Midwest south to Brownsville, Texas, or St. Petersburg, Florida. Ripens August.
Empire combines the color and tang of Macs with the sweetness of Red Delicious. Widely adapted; produces from zone 4 through 7, from Maine to the Carolinas, from Minnesota to Texas and Florida.
Enterprise is a late (October) red apple that is also good into zone 7. Best in overall quality of the new disease-resistant apples from Purdue U. Resists rust and blight.
New Zealand Apples
Gala An elegant apple with the semi-heart shape, mealy texture, and low acid of Red Delicious, but with a dramatic yellow/red flame-striped skin, golden flesh, and a special tang.
Braebum A heart-shaped, red/green apple with a tart/sweet flavor that is a tad milder than Granny Smith. Superproductive.
Japanese Apples
Fuji Squat Unremarkable color with little aroma, but crisp with a perfectly balanced mix of tart and sweet and a sophistication all its own. Unlike many apples, leaves a pleasant (nonsour) aftertaste. Keeps a year in ordinary refrigeration. More character than Red Delicious, and replacing it in some markets as it is productive and bears young.
Mutsu (Crispin) A Japanese-bred variant of Golden Delicious; larger, better color, unique spicy flavor suggestive of licorice. Very hardy. September ripener.
Heirloom Apples for the North
Lodi A green pie apple that will thrive into zone 4—north to mid-Montana, the Sault St. Marie in Michigan, and southern Ontario.
Pound Sweet easily weighs 16 oz. and more if tree is kept watered. Unusual dark golden color, good sweet flavor. A great baking apple.
Seek-No-Further Ugly, no good for cooking, and doesn't keep. But a truly superior eating apple with a novel, stand-out flavor.
Page: 1 |
2 |
3 |
Next >>
