Megamav, have you tried any of your Kidds to see how close they are? I picked the last couple of mine a while ago and they were a bit too ripe. I don't have my notes handy, but will post them later tonight.

Nope, they are just starting to get their final color now.
I've tested them, and they dont come off to the touch, so im leaving them until they release with little effort.

I only have 3 this first year of fruiting, so I gotta pick my spots.

I figure, first week of October they should be ready.

My tree is also young- a 2nd leaf tree on G11/MM111 from Cummins. I got 6 apples off it this year.

I picked the first on 8/28, which was a tad early, but it still had very good flavor and 14-17 brix, along with very good crisp/crunch.

All of the Kidds were in the 14-17 range, with a 9/9 sample topping out at 17.5 brix. That was probably the best one, as it had a good crunch, high sugar, and a strong, sharp flavor.

I picked the last one on 9/10 (picture below, after I removed it from the zip lock and washed off the light bloom). It had 14.1-16.7 brix and measured 3.5" x 2.7" (pretty large). It had good flavor and sweetness, but the texture was becoming crumbly and a bit soft. It wasn't bad, but the earlier ones were better.

Nice pictures!

Yup, Kidds can get overripe on you. Based on the last few years Rubinette has passed it in terms of a reliable Cox-class apple. It might be that for me Kidds is ripening in the hotter period (several weeks ago) whereas Rubinette is several weeks later (i.e. now).

Scott

My lone Rubinette apple is just starting to color now- and temperatures are dropping. We're hovering just above the frost point at the moment.

Liberties are starting to ripen- and they are tasty this year. We'll start pulling them in a few days. Not a bad year overall. Fingers crossed ...

Bob,

How easily did the fruit release for you?
Thanks for the anecdotes.
You're at least a full zone ahead of me, so im thinking these here are pretty close to what you picked first week in September.

-Eric

Dupe...

This post was edited by bob_z6 on Fri, Sep 20, 13 at 9:52

Eric, I've harvested 16 types of apples this year (after 3 last year) and how easy it came off wasn't one of the data-points I tracked. So, I have only a vague recollection of the Kidds. I don't think they were the fall-off-at-a-touch type. None of the Kidds dropped, unlike some of my other trees (Priscilla had lots of drops).

I was surprised that Kids was ripe so early, as I too have read early October. I was pretty hesitant to pick the first one, but it looked good and I wanted to make sure I spread my harvest around to find the best time. My tree is still pretty small, so there was good light penetration to the fruit. That may have sped up ripening.

While I didn't have a large sample size, Kidds were one of the best I've had this year, along with Sweet Sixteen.

I did have one which cracked badly (see below), but the others were almost perfect.

{{gwi:124297}}

This would be my first fruit picked ever, from my yard.
Stash this in the memory vault.

The stem has been shrinking on it, so I picked it, it didnt release to the touch, but it did crunch and snap.

Its in my cold store for now, I promised Cristin I would share the first fruit with her.

I tested another one, and it didnt release easy enough, so I left it on.