Flavor is pretty good, at least these latest ones i've bought.

Just bought them from a local supermarket, too @ $2.99/lb. They are also from WA. It's kind of medium to small size. It's crunchy but a bit too sour/tart to my liking.

I have this apple tree. It's in the ground since 2008. It's a potted tree from a nursery and must have been 2-3 yrs old when I planted it. I don't know its rootstock. I'd say it is at least 6 yrs old now. Don't know how much longer I have to wait.

This year a peck of #1 Flaming Fury was $18. I trust them (ha) to take the prices down next year when we will be swimming in fruits.

Patty S.

I got 3 apples off my Honeycrisp this year, it's only been in the ground since September 2010, potted tree from a good local nursery. It's a semi-dwarf, so early to fruit. Lovely flavor, but best if it's been in the fridge a few days. It's a weak growing tree and somewhat susceptible to diseases, but still a favorite for flavor.

I just picked up some at my buddy's orchard near Srping Valley WI. He has them for $2.50/lb. Good news is that he
has a 40% crop this year after all the spring frosts. Far
better than what we have here in SE WI.

I have two young honeycrisp trees planted so hopefully in a
couple of years I won't have to worry about what outrageous
prices honeycrisp sells for.

Patty S.

Patty S.

I used to think a lot of fruit was too expensive, but not so much anymore. I'm not referring to $4/lb. apples, or $8/pint raspberries, those prices are ridiculous.

But I think $1.25 per apple is not so bad, if the apple is excellent quality and good sized. I sell my peaches for $2/lb. A very large peach can weigh 1/2 lb. which would equate to one dollar per peach. This sounds like a lot, but around here Walmart and Price Chopper sometimes sell their peaches for $2/lb. More frequently they sell them for $1.50/lb. Occasionally they sell them for $1/lb., but they have to be selling them as loss leaders for that price.

At $2/lb. I still don't make much money. If I totaled up all the hours I put into it, I'm certain I'd be making less than minimum wage.

What amazes me is how much people pay for other things. People will drop $20 or $30 for 2 hours entertainment at a movie or going out to eat and not think much of it. They could buy a whole lot of peaches for that money. Likewise cable/satellite TV tends to be pretty expensive and people readily accept it.

Lastly, I think in many cases $1.25 per apples are probably cheaper than most folks could grow themselves. I see a lot of people plant fruit trees around here and never harvest fruit because the trees either die, the fruit is too damaged from insects/disease, or squirrels and deer eat all the fruit. It generally takes a fair amount of time and effort to learn to raise fruit (at least in my climate). If people counted all that time and expense in learning to do it, I think in most cases it would be cheaper to purchase the small amount of fresh fruit they eat, rather than trying to grow it.

Of course for someone who eats a lot of fresh fruit, or processes a lot (i.e. canning, cider, etc.) then it's cheaper to grow your own tree fruit in the long run.

I'm with you probably because we both sell fruit. I'm mostly selling mine at $2 per pound as well. And it's by far the cheapest deal at our local farmers market. Small eggs sell for $4 per dozen, tomatoes $4 per lb. My cost of production is at least $4 per pound if I charge nothing for labor or my expertise.

I had a few nectarines that went one lb each so that's $2 each. But they were 22-24 brix and there was nothing else for sale in this town that came close on quality. Just my 2 cents worth.

They were kind of small and mostly blemished, but the pantry was glad to get them. It's been a hard year, and with apples going so high, a lot of people just can't afford any varieties at all.

Had I lived near either one of you, I'd not grow the fruit you grow. I'd gladly buy the quality fruits from you.

Most of my friend think I am crazy to grow my own fruit knowing all the trouble I have to deal with from spring to fall. (and squirrels took the fruit). I've questioned my own sanity at times, too.

If the quality is there I don't mind paying for it. Personally, I would pay $2 for a 24 brix fruit. Hell, I pay a lot more for that for snack food.

Likewise I think the fruit from my orchard is better than other orchards who irrigate (based upon comments from my customers) and certainly better from the grocers.

I'm on another fruit group for commercial growers and one of the posts made me laugh, "Remember if you have won the lottery and want to spend your money on an apple orchard, you will find out that your lottery winnings will soon run out." I think I agree with that.

With the high grain prices from the drought, I suspect $2/lb. hamburger won't stay there for long, but I suppose we'll see.

My thoughts largely come from experiencing my own hardship in farming, which is my own choice. That said, I've enjoyed the lifestyle (outdoors, watch things grow, ect.) which is why I've pursued it. But I'll note, unless one is a megafarmer, there are easier ways to make a living.

There are wise farmer market sellers exploiting a fad, but in a relative sense I find them terribly overpriced. I'd pay $1.25, but only for Spigold (and they are typically 3/4 lb.). For most of my apples (we eat about 1200 apples a year) I get Northern Spy seconds.

Glib,

If that's the case, I'd buy the cheaper apples too. I agree there is a lot of exploitation that goes on at some farmer's markets. I spoke with an individual this summer who sells 900 lbs. of peaches at a time at a farmer's market. He doesn't grow any, strictly a reseller. He said he tries to be the most expensive retailer at the market and if he's not, he raises his prices.

So to me it all depends on the quality of the fruit in question.

The growers benefit, and that's fine, but I'm hoping they don't go tearing out good varieties to grow nothing but HC. Oversupply will ruin that game.

Current bushel prices are $28/bushel, or about $0.6-0.67/lb, $0.40-0.50 per apple. This is up $4/bushel w.r.t. last year (NS were $24 per), but we are talking Goldrush and Northern Spy, much better than HC IMHO. Even this year, that HC price is out of proportion.

Decent Anjou and Bartlett at about a dollar too.

Patty S.

From "Conrad & Adams Fruit, LLC", which appears to be located in Washington.

Will be conducting our own little taste test, shortly. With continued cat supervision, no doubt (could not get the cat out of the photo).

Patty S.

HCs are a great apple for people that want that fresh-off-the-tree sensation. I have a tree and haven't regrafted it yet. I'm on the fence as they are fairly good keepers when they don't have bitter pit. It is fairly tolerant of pests and scab. I would graft it over to a Spitzenberg in a heartbeat if Spitz wasn't so hard to grow here.

http://www.kuffelcreek.com/favorites.htm

I have Pink Lady. I also have much higher chill hours than my down-at-the-coast San Diego county neighbors. We have many, many microclimates here in San Diego county, cannot lump us all together. I get at least 500 to 600 chill hours where I live. Rarely below 32, but a significant amount of temps between 36 and 46 degrees.

Patty S.