it apple season, whats your favorite

[OnHoPr]

Just a bit of thread drift; if you don't mind: Who besides me likes to sample ancient orchard apples when Fall small game season is in session. Man those forgotten apples are great! Most times have no idea what i'm tasting but they have no bugs or blight...maybe not store bought size but TASTE! exceptional !

Yepper, when 10 or 11 am rolls around after a morning of brush busting or squirrel hunting on a beautiful fall day the "there's an apple tree apple" is the best apple and you can put a few in your pocket. There was a neighbor that had an apple tree back about 30 years ago, I don't know what kind it was, but it was good enough to get the $hitzzz for a week or two in the fall, so they must of been $hitzzzz apples. Those store bought Red Delicious apples are like mush. I like a sweeter tart apple. But, any apple that cuts up and goes into pie, cobbler, brown betty's, butter, sauce, or whatever is good if you put the right amount of lemon juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and whatever you like is good. If fact I just had sour dough apple cinnamon flapjacks last night for supper, not bad. It must of been this thread.

[Wayne Smith]

Years ago living in New Hampshire we had a Red Northern Spy and an Ida Red in the front yard. Those and a sour cherry. Here we have Blueberries and a fig. I still think the McIntosh is the best eating apple, though. Tough skin and cooks to mush, but great eating.

Houndog, be aware that apples do not breed true. Every apple seed is a new variety. All of the named varietys are grafts from an original tree. Trying to replicate that old orchard without a sprig is probably hopeless.

[rmatchell]

My kids and I are kot picky about apples. I am looking forward to this years batch of apple sause, we are down to the last few pints of last years.

This year im thinking of trying apple butter and carmel apple gelly

[downunderrunner]

i have access to several apple-crab trees near my property, some are the original granny smiths, that blush pink when ripe, some as a pippin, one is a red delicious type, and there's something that could be a fuji type! with the addition of some pure crab apples, they make incredible hard cider!

[woody1]

Woody,

Your location is somewhat cryptic to me (NY ? or Oregon? - think I might get it now!), but it doesn't matter. I googled your apple and came up with a website that shows local orchards growing particular apples, including your Newtown Pippin Apple. You can search by state.

Good luck finding them.

http://www.localharvest.org/ark-prod...p?id=254&st=34

40-82, Thanks for the link. I live just north of the Peoples Republik of Kalifornia.
Regards, Woody

[Houndog]

Thanks again Square Butte for the references, and Wayne, thanks for the reminder about Apple strains not staying true. I've been searching for this particular Apple variety for about 10 years and so far i've came up with nothing. It may well be a variety that was started right here, maybe from a strain brought from Scotland by some of my earlier ancestors or something raised by the Cherokee Indians that used to live in this area. I'm beginning to think this one is lost forever.

[MaryB]

Anyone have a good source for apples that are best for canning? I love to can apple slices for use all winter until the rhubarb and raspberries start the next spring...

[Houndog]

Mary B, I can't help you directly but I DO know the owner of Carver Apple Orchards in Cosby TN. that is extremely knowledgeable in most things regarding Apples. He's a second generation Apple farmer and will readily help you with anything Apple. He went far beyond just being helpful in my quest for a particular Apple. You will have to go to directory assistance to get his number and be ready to talk for awhile. If you are ever in the Gatlinburg area of the Smokey Mountains it's worth the short drive to visit his orchard and have a meal in the onsite restaurant which can best be described as awesome!

[downunderrunner]

sounds like a species of pippin, also possibly an apple-crab decended from the "red rusett" strain popular in the borders and marches of england in the 15th century

you may have better results trying to breed a cultivar to emulate your memories, if you could describe the flavours and appearance, i'm sure someone could chase down a mixture of varieties to cross and breed with to create your ideal apple

[40-82 hiker]

...

Houndog, be aware that apples do not breed true. Every apple seed is a new variety. All of the named varietys are grafts from an original tree. Trying to replicate that old orchard without a sprig is probably hopeless.

I did not know this. Thanks Wayne! This has a relevance to me, as I used to eat (raw and/or cooked) apples from old, abandoned home sites in the Blue Ridge mountains in my youth and think that someone should be growing trees from the seeds to preserve the genes of those trees, as some I found were largely different from others, but all were great! I know now, after Wayne's post, this is not true, but very fascinating.

Great article here on Wikipedia, and it addresses this genetic issue with apples in detail:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple

[Houndog]

sounds like a species of pippin, also possibly an apple-crab decended from the "red rusett" strain popular in the borders and marches of england in the 15th century

you may have better results trying to breed a cultivar to emulate your memories, if you could describe the flavours and appearance, i'm sure someone could chase down a mixture of varieties to cross and breed with to create your ideal apple

You may be onto something there! A Pippin/ crabapple cross would have the potential for the coloring! This particular Apple never gets bigger than Baseball size at best, is red on the bottom and has a rust colored top that looks like caramel has been poured over the top. It has a taste sort of like a strong Winesap and crispy. It's biggest plus was it kept a very long time. We used to put Hay on the barn loft floor about a foot thick, pile the Apples on it and cover them a couple of feet deep with loose hay. They were good way up into Spring.

[MaryB]

Should have mentioned Minnesota apples... local orchard is clueless about canning them. Right now they have Zestar, Honeycrisp(eating only, do not cook and hold texture), Wealthy and one other I forget... Zestar cans okay, gets a bit soft though. Can't beat having pints of apples all winter long just to eat or make apple crisp or pie!

[USMC87]

I canned 21 quarts of grimes golden with cinnamon syrup, We use Pearmain for apple butter and any firm tart apple for snacks will work good for me.