Apples
All varieties we grow are listed in a rough order of ripening. Many varieties overlap. Start dates vary with the seasons.
Fresh eating, culinary and/or cider varieties
Sansa: 1988 Morioka Research Station Japan. Gala x Akane cross. Mid to late August ripening. Great early season dessert apple with a surprising sweet/tart flavor. Looks a bit like it’s parent Gala in appearance. Good keeper for an early variety. Small tree with some scab resistance.
Summer Rambo: 1535 France. Unknown parents. Also known as Rambour Franc, Lorraine and Rombour d’ete. Harvest late August – early September. Large striped carmine red fruit with green ground color. Exceptionally juicy, crisp and sub-acid. Fresh eating, culinary and cider.
Ellison’s Orange: 1905 England. Cox’s Orange Pippin x Calville Blanc cross. Ripens early September. Softer juicy flesh with a rich taste and a subtle anise flavor. They do not keep and should be eaten right away. Great in cider.
St. Edmund’s Russet: 1870 England. Unknown parentage. Also known as: St. Edmund’s Pippin. Early to mid September. Great full russet with rich pear like flavor. My favorite early russet. Not a keeper so eat them quickly. Delicious fresh eating and excellent cider fruit.
Major: 1880’s Devon, England. Mid. Sept. ripening. Very early bittersweet to start the cider season. Great yields every year in our orchard. Soft tannins needs some early sharp apples to balance.
Kerry Irish Pippin: 1802 Ireland. Unknown parents. Mid to late Sept. ripening. Small yellow fruit striped red. Crisp hard flesh with a unique taste best described as boysenberry.
Freiherr von Berlepsch: 1880 Germany. Ananas Reinette x Ribston Pippin. Ripens middle to late September. Very high in Vitamin C. Juicy with a hint of pineapple flavor in a medium size apple. White crisp flesh with nice aromatics. Moderate storage.
Honeycrisp: 1974 U. of Minnesota. Also known as MN 1711. Keepsake x unknown parents. Ripens mid.- end of Sept. Extremely crisp and juicy. Always draws a crowd. Good storage qualities. Nice fruity flavor addition to cider.
Crimson Crisp: 1979 selected by Purdue, Rutgers, Illinois Universities (PRI). Rome cross. Also known as: Co-op 39. Ripens in mid to late September. Trees tend to “runt out”. Medium apple with crimson color covering 95% of the surface. Great tart and spicy flavor with a crisp texture. Stores well and has disease resistance. An excellent modern apple.
Crimson Gold: Czech Republic. Also known as Svatava. Mid to late Sept. ripening. Red/orange blush on a yellow background with white firm juicy flesh. Great sweet/tart flavor. Very scab resistant and an excellent keeper.
Grimes Golden: West Virginia. Unknown parents. Late Sept. ripening. Strong aroma with a spicy flavor. Great eating and cider. One of the parents of Golden Delicious.
Cox’s Orange Pippin: 1825 England. Ribston Pippin x unknown. Ripens in late September. Trees are a weak grower. Small size fruit with excellent taste. Highly aromatic with a rich complex taste. Moderate storage. Great in cider additions for flavor and aromatics. Many great crosses using Cox’s Orange have been named.
Queen Cox: England. Late Sept. ripening. Triploid version of Cox’s Orange Pippin. Possibly self-fertile. Very similar to original Cox’s Orange except for size.
Macoun: 1920’s NY State Agricultural Station at Geneva, NY. McIntosh x Jersey Black parents. Mid. Sept. ripening. McIntosh type fruit. White flesh and nice aromatics. Excellent winter hardiness.
Somerset Redstreak: England. Unknown parents. Mid to late Sept. ripening. Striped red bittersweet fruit. Single varietal on good years, but an excellent early cider blender. Nice soft tannins and aroma. Good yields can be biennial.
Sweet Sixteen: 1977 U. of Minnesota. MN447 x Northern Spy cross. Mid to late Sept. ripening. Red apple with juicy yellow flesh. Interesting cherry candy flavor with a hint of vanilla. Very hardy tree.
Belle de Boskoop: 1850’s Netherlands. Unknown parents. Mid. to late Sept. ripening. Large russeted red blushed apple. Excellent culinary and dessert apple on the tart side. Still grown commercially in Europe. Firm dense flesh with wonderful aromatics.
Ribston Pippin: 1708 England. From pips (seeds) from Normandy. Also known as: Glory of York. Ripens at the end of September. Red apple with orange blush. Highly aromatic with firm flesh. Rich full flavor with a tart edge. Great for eating, culinary or cider. Parent and grandparent to many great varieties.
Bramley’s Seedling: 1809 England. Planted as a seedling by a young girl named Mary Ann Brailsford. Late Sept. ripening. Big stiff upright growing triploid so spread limbs early. Outstanding English culinary apple and high in vitamin C. Good fresh eating for tartaholics. Good acid source for cider.
Holstein: 1918 Germany. Also known as Holstein Pippin. Cox’s Orange x unknown cross. Late Sept. ripening. Big triploid apple with excellent flavor and golden juice. Hint of pineapple. Great all around with disease resistance.
Karmijn de Sonnaville: Netherlands. Cox’s Orange Pippin x Jonathan cross. Late Sept. ripening. Triploid apple. Intense full flavored apple! Hold on to something before biting. Mellows in storage. Great rich flavor for cider.
Firecracker: Oregon. Unknown parents. Also called Bill’s Red Flesh and Scarlet Surprise. Late Sept. ripening. Small red apples look like a miniature Red Delicious. The flesh is a dark red color. Very tart with some astringency. Great red applesauce. Good for culinary use, but probably not most people’s idea of fresh eating. Large crop with a biennial nature. Susceptible to scab.
Blenheim Orange: 1740 England. Unknown parents. Late Sept. to early. Oct. ripening. Large triploid apple high in vitamin C. An excellent culinary apple. Apples have an extreme tendency to drop in our orchard. We turn most into cider. Very vigorous tree.
Ashmead’ Kernel: Early 1700’s England. Early Oct. ripening. Russet apple over red skin w/ full flavor assault. Very tart fresh off the tree. A couple weeks start to mellow the acid. A great heirloom with reliable crops in our orchard. An excellent cider apple too.
Sweet Coppin: Early 1700’s Devon England. Unknown parents. Early Oct. ripening. Small yellow sweet cider apple. Very mild tannins. Great cropper with a biennial tendency. Great flavor addition in cider.
Hudson’s Golden Gem: 1931 Oregon. Discovered as a wild fencerow seedling. Early Oct. ripening. Great russet with pear like taste. Small crops.
Shizuka: 1930’s Japan. Golden Delicious x Indo parents. Early Oct. ripening. Big vigorous triploid tree. Sister to the more famous variety Mutsu. Large Yellow apple with sweeter flavor than it’s sister and better bud hardiness. Good sweet addition to cider.
Melrose: 1944 Ohio State University. Red Delicious x Jonathan cross. Early Oct. ripening. Easy tree in orchard. Nice sweet/tart apple leaning towards the sweet side. Kids really like this variety. Good keeper.
Egremont Russet: 1872 England. Unknown parents. Early Oct. ripening. Full russet with drab yellow green under color. Interesting nutty flavor with firm dry flesh. Has a rich taste in a small package. Shy bearer in our orchard. Great cider addition.
Muscat de Barnay: Normandy, France. Unknown parents. Early Oct. ripening. Large fruit for a bittersweet cider apple. We’re still learning about this variety in our orchard.
Kingston Black: 1820 England. Unknown parents. Early to mid. Oct. ripening. Small dark mahogany bittersharp apple. Acceptable eating qualities for a cider fruit. Considered one of the best apples for a single variety cider. Good consistent crops in our orchard.
Northern Spy: Early 1800’s upstate New York. Unknown parents. Early-mid. Oct. ripening. Trees are slow to come into bearing. Great all around apple for eating, culinary and cider.
Michelin: 1700’s Normandy, France. Early to mid. Oct. ripening. Small yellow bittersweet fruit. Useful for blending. Not a lot of personality in cider. Consistent yields in our orchard on an annual basis.
Splendour: 1950’s New Zealand. Early to mid. Oct. ripening. Fireblight resistance with possible immunity. Big red apple low acid and very sweet. Crisp and juicy flesh. Great keeper.
Brown’s Apple: Early 1900’s Devon, England. Mid. Oct. ripening. Dark red fruit of large size for a cider apple. Red flecks throughout the flesh. This sharp (to very mildly bittersharp) apple adds a fruity flavor to cider as well as acid. Vigorous growing tree with good yields, although it can go biennial. One of our favorite cider apples.
Spigold: 1962 NY State Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva, NY. Golden Delicious x Northern Spy cross. Mid Oct. ripening. Big triploid with stiff upward growing limbs. Spread early for good tree form. Some biennial tendencies, so thin well the “on year”. The BEST apple from the NY state breeding program. Great sweet/tart taste with crisp yellow flesh. Delicious cider and sauce.
Mutsu: 1930’s Japan. Also called Crispin. Golden Delicious x Indo parents. Mid Oct. ripening. Another of the triploid varieties. Huge yellow/green apple with an occasional orange blush. Honey sweet taste with crisp flesh. Great sweet base for cider.
Fenoulette Gris: France.
Newtown Pippin: 1700’s Long Island, New York. Also known as Albemarle Pippin. Unknown parents. Mid Oct. ripening. One of Thomas Jefferson’s favorite apples. Yellow/green apple. Excellent flavor! Firm apple with great aromatics. Easily develops watercore.
Harry Master’s Jersey: Late 1800’s Somerset, England. Yarlington Mills (possible) x unknown parents. Mid Oct. ripening. Heavy yielding bittersweet on a low vigor tree. Nice soft tannins. Good single variety some years.
Roxbury Russet: Early to mid 1700’s Massachusetts. Unknown parents. Mid Oct. ripening. One of the earliest American apples still grown commercially today. Greyish-green russet apple. Course textured flesh with a sweet/tart flavor. Good keeper. Used to make a lot of cider in the North East for centuries.
Keepsake: 1979 University of Minnesota. Malinda x Northern Spy. Early to mid Oct. ripening. Fine grained and crisp flesh. Great hammered finish on the red skin. Very aromatic with sweet juicy light yellow flesh. Unique flavor! Good storage and Keepsake is one of the parents of Honeycrisp.
Muscat de Dieppe: 1750 Normandy, France. Unknown parents. Mid. Oct. ripening. Small orange/red bittersweet. Great aromatics and soft tannins. One of my favorites for cider. Good yields in our orchard. Sometimes hard to keep a central leader.
Baldwin: 1740 Lowell, Massachusetts. Unknown parents. Also called the Woodpecker apple. Mid to late Oct. ripening. Tender skin with moderately crisp yellow flesh. Sweet/ tart flavor that excels in desert, culinary and cider. A great New England pomology treasure.
Golden Russet: Prior to 1845 New York. Unknown parents. Mid-late Oct. ripening. Small russet apple with full flavor. Good keeper. Called the “Champagne apple” for it’s excellent cider qualities.
Medaille d’ Or: 1800’s Rouen, France. Unknown parents. Means Gold medal in English. Mid. to late Oct. ripening. Small yellow with some russeting, full bittersweet apple. Tend to be biennial. Very susceptible to fireblight. The only blight we have ever had in our orchard was on these trees.
Hidden Rose: 1960’s Airlie, Oregon. Unknown parents. Also called Airlie Red Fleshed. Late Oct. ripening. Medium size yellow/green apple looks plain on the outside. Beautiful red streaked flesh with a good sweet/tart flavor. Shy bearer in our orchard and very susceptible to scab. Even with all the faults a fun tree to grow.
Calville Blanc d’Hiver: 1590’s France. Unknown parents. Late Oct. ripening. Large yellow apple with unique shape. High vitamin C. Great tart taste. Nice aroma and great culinary apple.
Old Nonpareil: Pre16th century France to England (from Robert Hogg British pomologist). Unknown parents. One of the oldest apple varieties still propagated. Late Oct. ripening. Small russet apple with orange blush. Aromatic rich sharp flavor right off the tree. Mellows in storage. Possible parent of Ashmead’s Kernel. Excellent cider variety.
Reinette Franche: 1500’s France. Reinette means “Little Queen” in French. Unknown parents. Late Oct. ripening. Small yellow russet apple. Citrusy flavor with tart edge. Juicy and crisp. Good cider blender.
Stayman: 1866 Leavenworth, Kansas. Also known as Stayman Winesap. Late Oct. ripening. Triploid tree. Minimal fruit cracking. Great spicy tart flavor. Good keeper and excellent in cider.
Yarlington Mills: 1898 Somerset, England. Unknown parents. Late Oct. ripening. Excellent late season bittersweet. Single variety potential. Slow fermentation with great aromatics and fruity cider. Tends to be biennial and produces blind wood.
Dabinette: Early 1900’s Somerset, England. Chisel Jersey (probably) x unknown parents. Late. Oct. ripening. Small red apple on a weak growing tree. Excellent late season bittersweet with nice tannins. Useful for late season cider blends. Great crops every year.
Goldrush: Released in 1990’s by the PRI breeding program (Purdue, Rutgers and Illinois Universities). Originally known as Co-op 38. Golden Delicious x Co-op 17 parents. Late Oct. to early Nov. ripening. Yellow apple with spicy sweet/tart taste. Amazing keeper through summer. Mellows in storage. Disease resistance and consistent yields here in our orchard. One of the best of the modern apples.
Stumer Pippin: 1800’s England. Ribston Pippin x Nonpareil parents. Late Oct. to early Nov. ripening. Great keeper. Green apple flushed with red. Strong sharp flavor fresh from tree. Firm flesh. Sweetens and matures in storage, wait to eat till December or later. Great for late season cider.