Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
clarkinks

Keeping varities of apples

clarkinks
9 years ago

This year I have grafted some Ben Davis and Arkansas Blacks on wild apple root stock for the purpose of raising good keeping apples. Ben Davis grafts are already leafing out. The plan is to produce an apple to store for winter for my own purposes and to sell. Do you know of any other similar apple varieties. I was impressed at the similarities of bark color and general appearance does anyone know much about these varieties. Arkansas black is well known to us for its yellow flesh and rock hard fruit and black colored bark but what else does anyone know about these? Thanks in advance!

Comments (16)

  • alan haigh
    9 years ago

    Ark Black is indeed hard and tart- a lot like Winesap, a close relative.

    You should probably try some Honeycrisp if you are grafting on wild apples in Z5. You may be cool enough to produce them at high quality and late enough for good keeping. The best Honeycrisp I grow here are growing on ancient apple trees- they somehow get no rot (bitterpit) without any calcium sprays- older trees are calmer and provide more calcium for their fruit, I think.

    How long do you need to keep them to consider them good keepers? There's plenty of apples that will keep into January in a good root cellar. Ark Black should still have crunch in Spring. I am still eating tasty Goldrush, but it can some years be hard to ripen in a Z5.

  • clarkinks
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Honey crisp is great advice and I have 2 producing trees already but in this case I'm looking for really long keepers like ark blacks. Ones that keep several months. Granny Smith is a long keeper here as well but nothing I know of keeps better than Ben Davis or ark black. I would like to find a few others like those two. Thank you!

  • alan haigh
    9 years ago

    You can experiment with Pink Lady (there has been some word that it ripens quicker in shorter seasons- I grow it here) and any of the other relatively recent late apples such as Braebern, but I get the feeling you are looking for more unusual types. One that might work is Brambley's Seedling- it is rock hard at harvest and a great cooking apple. I like it for fresh eating also. Tart.

    Did you graft the Honeycrisps or purchase trees?

  • bob_z6
    9 years ago

    I've read that Coconut Crunch keeps for over a year.

    I took a look and found a very interesting Gardenweb discussion. In it, Axel mentions several possibilities and Harvestman brought up Newton Pippin. I've stored this one from farmer's markets for a while and it really does get better with age.

  • alan haigh
    9 years ago

    Newtown is a fine apple but it does lose its texture after about 3 months in storage- or did for me this year. It is the best apple and cheese apple ever, in my book. Not that there aren't thousands I've never tried.

  • clarkinks
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Coconut crunch looks like just what I'm after! Thanks for the link!

  • alan haigh
    9 years ago

    This might give you some further ideas although it is not nearly specific enough about just how long each of these keepers keep and many probably are not available in this country.

    They do mention Mutsu which does well in NY and probably would there. Keeps a long time but to me loses flavor after 3 months, but would still be easy to sell as a "sweet granny smith".

    Here is a link that might be useful: keeping apples

  • clarkinks
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Great link and info harvestman thank you very much!

  • ltilton
    9 years ago

    I'm still eating Enterprise out of my refrigerator.

  • alan haigh
    9 years ago

    How do the Enterprise taste and what's the texture at this point?

  • milehighgirl
    9 years ago

    Here's a link on this same subject.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Apple storage - the final winner

  • marknmt
    9 years ago

    Here's a copy of a post I just stuck onto the linked thread from above! I think I merged the two threads in my mind- but here it is:

    I am down to my last two Liberty apples, and one has a brown spot on it. But I have been eating them daily since the first of October. They were stored at below 40 F in tightly sealed polyethelene (bread) bags. So they have remained useful, if not prime, for virtually seven months. And they are not known for being good keepers, quite the contrary.

    They still have crunch and snap and are juicy and flavorful, but have lost their acidity and have become mealy. Not shriveled- in fact, a few seemed to burst their skins, as if they were slowly fermenting inside ... ? I don't know what to make of that. Also, some of them got brown around the core, but that was easy to avoid.
    Carousel and Yellow Delicious kept easily until January, but there were only a few of those and they got eaten.

    My only exposure to Arkansas Black was when a neighbor gave me one in the spring of 1965, so it's been a while, but I remember him touting its storage qualities. (That was in Arkansas, for what it's worth.)

  • ltilton
    9 years ago

    Enterprise isn't the best tasting apple. They've lost some crunch by now but haven't gone all the way to soft or mealy. There was very little rot in them.

  • clarkinks
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I purchased my honeycrisp trees from Gurneys and they are fantastic trees! I grafted some bramleys this year and got the scions from

    Carla@agbizcenter.org
    Northwest Agriculture Business Center & Northwest Cider Association
    www.agbizcenter.org
    tel: (360) 336-3727
    fax: (360) 336-3751

  • bennylafleur
    9 years ago

    Hman,

    Is there a difference between the Green Newtown Pippin and the yelIow? I found a tree of the green in the mountains at an old homesite, it made excellent pie. And I have have grafted the yellow, but not tasted it yet

    Benny

  • alan haigh
    9 years ago

    Apparently they are slightly different. I have not recently tasted yellow although I have some young ones in my nursery. I'm guessing it is mostly a visual difference. Commercial suppliers on the west coast make a point of differentiating between the two.