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| What color should ginger gold apples be when they are harvested? Some of mine are pure yellow, while others are yellow with a reddish blush in one spot. I tasted one of each and I couldn't tell the difference. I'm not sure if ones with red on them are past peak or not yet peaking. Thanks! |
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| Down here in Texas heat there's nothing red. But I find them easy to pick at the right time for fresh eating. They change from green to yellow. When about half green and half yellow they have a very nice sweet/tart flavor. For baking they might be best mostly green. If fully yellow they soon lose their firmness. Still taste good but are soon mealy. I like this apple much better for fresh eating than Gala that matures about the same time. |
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- Posted by scottfsmith 6B-7A-MD (My Page) on Sun, Aug 17, 14 at 20:33
| Bart, the red doesn't matter, that depends on sun exposure. I picked at various stages of yellow, I found you want to get to full yellow without any green and then they kept for at least a week on the counter. I was pleasantly surprised not to get any mealiness at all on them. My graft isn't very big and I wished it was bigger. Scott |
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- Posted by Chris-7b-GA 7b (My Page) on Sun, Aug 17, 14 at 21:47
| I have read that Ginger Gold is a good tasting early apple but I have resisted growing it because it always seems to show up on those online lists of varieties that are highly susceptible to fireblight. Scott, have you or any other growers out there with hot, humid conditions grow Ginger Gold without a lot of fireblight issues? |
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- Posted by harvestman 6 (My Page) on Mon, Aug 18, 14 at 6:05
| Ginger Gold has a very long useful picking period. It is good well before it meets traditional measures of ripeness and commercial growers sell it as both a green and yellow apple. Start picking it when it tastes good to you and finish when the ripest apple becomes mealy if you like. If you want to store a large quantity in the fridge, pick them a couple weeks after they become palatable. |
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| Thanks folks!!!! Great stuff as usual. |
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- Posted by spartan-apple (My Page) on Mon, Aug 18, 14 at 11:12
| I usually pick Ginger gold early September here is SE WI. One of our favorite early apples. I too prefer to leave them until they have the orange blush on the skin as long as not over ripe. Great for cooking and fresh eating. They keep about two weeks for me in the refrigerator. I suppose they would keep longer if I did not wait so long to |
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- Posted by scottfsmith 6B-7A-MD (My Page) on Tue, Aug 19, 14 at 18:18
| Chris, once I removed my quince and straggler late blooming apples I have had very little fireblight on anything. Ginger Gold was added more recently so it missed the "bad years". It is not a late straggler bloomer itself so for my orchard its not a problem variety. I don't know how this will apply to your orchard. My main advice in general for FB is any apple you see with a few (or many) blooms hanging on well past the main apple bloom period should either have all those late blooms removed by hand every year, or remove the tree. Really late bloom overlaps with higher temperatures for the perfect fireblight storm and a buildup of bacteria to keep you busy pruning out tip strikes all summer long. Scott |
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| In TX I had major bloom on Ginger Gold into July this yr. Only a month before harvest began. This is due to lack of adequate chilling. So down here it blooms for almost 3 months. It also leafs out in staggered fashion and is a very ugly looking tree. But the fruit tastes good and has been a dependable bearer of at least a few fruit despite late freezes because of the staggered bloom. Amazing how differently an apple can behave depending on climate. Fortunately I've never had fire blight due to our very dry spring weather. |
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- Posted by Chris-7b-GA 7b (My Page) on Tue, Aug 19, 14 at 20:27
| Thanks for the replies and helpful info, I am going to add Ginger Gold to my fall order with Mutsu, another variety that shows up on those fireblight lists and hope for the best. |
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