At that price I will not be trying any. I wonder if the grower got 10 cents/apple?

Local growers getting .83 a pound for orchard run in 600 lb bins

Frank,

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.

Honeycrisps at the local farmer market were also $1.25 per. Amazing. You can still get half a bushel of Jonathans or Cortlands for $8.00, or at least last year, and they are not significantly worse.

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.

Good opportunity to pick up some better apples.

So, what are the chill hours for Honeycrisp, and the best pollinator? Doubtful an apple developed in Minnesota will grow in my area, but always worth checking.

Patty S.

Just went to the orchard yesterday. Honeycrisp were $2 per pound, and all the rest were $1.20 per. Our local orchard is cheaper, but didn't have Empires available yet.

I think it's a good deal. People are buying out a local bakery's cup cakes for 3.00 each. Every day!

To me (IMHO) I think that price is outrageous, unless 100% goes to the grower. I am now shocked beyond belief when I cover our two major farmers markets here in southern RI. I do a review for our newspaper every year. I finished the second market this past saturday. The prices for produce where hideously high. Bags of lettuce greens were $7.50(labeled organic), really galling. What isn't organic? Two croissant came to $12.00. The fruit was sky-high. The pints of raspberries were $8.00 each. Apples will be in the green markets next week. I'll check them out. Frank, you are eating really expensive apples! Mrs. G

MrsG - check out the fees that the vendors have to pay to sell at those markets. There's where your prices come from, going to some 3rd-party franchise.

Hoosier, I have heard that Honeycrisp is a really disappointing apple heigher than zone 6 or so. It might grow and fruit in zone 10 (I don't know the chill hours) but I bet it won't taste like a WI, MI, or MN grown apple. Too bad the weird weather wiped out a bunch of apple crops in the northern Midwest!

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.

Patty - According to Kevin Hauser's Kuffel Creek website, Honeycrisp has performed well for him in Riverside and he lists it as a recommended apple for SoCal. I planted one this past winter, so can't speak from personal experience yet.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kuffel Creek favorites

I just got back from WalMart.I saw Honeycrisp for 3.49/pound. Unreal

That's crazy! Somebody must be buying them.

$2.99 lb at Laurel Kroger. Way better tasting than any of the other apples we have had lately. The Jazz apples at Walmart were good but not in the class of Honeycrisp. The Pink Lady apples lately are ok but have tough skins and sprouted seeds inside. I have three Honeycrip trees about two years old and they are taking the Mississippi heat so far.

My brother just saw Honeycrisp in his local grocery store
in WI for $4/lb. Are you kidding? No apple is worth that.

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.

I should mention that already in Fall 2011 (a normal year), there was a guy at the market selling Honeycrisp at $30/half bushel. So it was in the air. The much better Northern Spy were $12/half (this year there are no Northern Spy here). If this does not push you to plant a few trees, I don't know what will.

Here in Seattle I was able to get Honeycrisps for less than $1.50 a pound (I don't remember if it was 1.29 or 1.49) and some fresh Galas that were nice were selling only two weeks ago for $0.79 a pound at an Asian run produce stand.....we used them and juiced them up for our Harvest Fest.

And here I can't give them away from my orchard, organic, not honeycrisp, Norkent, about the same quality, got it advertised for U pick, $8.00 for a 5 gallon pail around 20lb.
or $10.00 picked,..had no interest so far in two weeks.

We can not buy them here as the local store won't carry them, says they cost too much. Of course he is right, but that is true of many other foods he does sell. Al

Just think, literally a few weeks ago I could have bought all the ground beef I wanted at Wegmans for $2 a pound. Is this the 'bizzaro world' in the Seinfeld episode where everything is reversed??

I was going to say that $1.25 an apple is way over priced. I can get it from my local grocery cheaper. However, I stopped by my local grocery last night, guess what , it sale $2.49 a pound. The honeycrispy is large, I estimated about $2.00 an apple. So your $1.25 an apple is not a bad price...
But I will never buy an apple for $1.25 each, not matter what kind. There are a lot high quality apples out there that you can buy for far less.

I was going to say that $1.25 an apple is way over priced. I can get it from my local grocery cheaper. However, I stopped by my local grocery last night, guess what , it sale $2.49 a pound. The honeycrispy is large, I estimated about $2.00 an apple. So your $1.25 an apple is not a bad price...
But I will never buy an apple for $1.25 each, not matter what kind. There are a lot high quality apples out there that you can buy for far less.

I was going to say that $1.25 an apple is way over priced. I can get it from my local grocery cheaper. However, I stopped by my local grocery last night, guess what , it sale $2.49 a pound. The honeycrispy is large, I estimated about $2.00 an apple. So your $1.25 an apple is not a bad price...
But I will never buy an apple for $1.25 each, not matter what kind. There are a lot high quality apples out there that you can buy for far less.

Thanks, pasadenagardener, I should have checked over at Kuffel Creek Farms' site, didn't think about that. I may just give this apple a try. I've go to find a spot for it though, near the Pink Lady. It's pretty crowded at this point in my walk & pick orchard, so I'll have to see if I can figure a way to squeeze it in. I could always just plant it wherever, and graft a branch of Pink Lady in the Honeycrisp, so that's always an option to get cross pollination going.

Patty S.

Patty S.

I have a bit of a contrarian opinion on this topic.

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.

Olpea, you are right about how people drop $ at the 'drop of a hat'. If you build the cost of your 'spray and time' into each apple, its worth $1.25. I know the 13 jars of peach jam I just put up are 'priceless'! I also went to honeycrisp.com and they are selling 12 'FANCY' honeycrisp apples at $30.00 a box of 12 not including shipping. Mrs. G

Olpea:

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.

Dspite the bad season, I'm glad I had enough apples to donate some to the food pantry after all.

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.

I'm with Fruitnut and Olpea.

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.

"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."

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.

One other thought. I hope I didn't come across as judgmental in how folks spend their hard earned dollars. Most folks are very price sensitive of their groceries. Nothing wrong with that.

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.

We all appreciate the energy you put into this discipline, Olpea. But Honeycrisp cost almost four times as much as apples which are similar in quality. They cost 2.5 times as the much better (here) Northern Spy, and twice as much as the much much better Spigold.

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.

If I put a value on all my time and resources I put into growing all the stuff I have here, I think my honey crisp apples are probably a lot more expensive than $1.25 each!I can still remember when gas and diesel were aroung $1.25 a gallon a few years ago....AHHH the good old days.

Ok, had to do it! Went to the supermarket yesterday and bought one Honey Crisp apple! $1.69. each. Mrs. G I hope I like it!

"But Honeycrisp cost almost four times as much as apples which are similar in quality."

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.

Last time I bought Honeycrisp it was 10 brix trash. To take any more they'd have to pay me. And this was the second straight time I'd had that experience with Honeycrisp.

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

Exactly. Honeycrisp is a fad, taking advantage of general consumer cluelessness about apples.

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.

In defense of Honeycrisp, it is one of the better Zone 4 apples, good for Minnesota or the Upper Peninsula. Once you get into Zone 6 and higher, there are so many better options.

We have all the standard apples here at the store but Honeycrisp beats them all. $2.99lb. I bought some fuji on sale and they don't compare. Apple crisp for those. We have to get what the grocery store carries no other choice. I hate mealy apples and HC is nicely crisp. Do you ever notice when somelthing gets popular people start hating? Walmart, AT&T, Microsoft and others fall into this catagory but they seem to be doing well, so the masses don't mind. And the masses control the market. If people don't like the product the market will take care of it. Then again the masses are pretty much mentally impoverished hence popular TV programs. Such is the world we live in.

So, the April 29 freeze wiped out the Midwest crop. I called and called, and there are apples only below or right at Cincinnati (too far). BUT, I figured that the lake effect must have spared orchards near the Great lakes, and I did in fact find some with full crops, In fact, after I found one, I called a guy in the same city with better selection and got what I wanted.

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.

I gave 23$ per bushel last year at my local U-pick. This year is 37$

Apple prices have been scary for weeks and weeks, but this week we have Washington Fuji @ $.89, Gala @ $.99, Honeycrisp @ $1.29, and local Mac Intosh up to $1.99 (but easily available in bulk at under a buck.)

Decent Anjou and Bartlett at about a dollar too.

Wow, those prices are pretty good! Last week I saw organic HC in Wegmans for $3.49. Really?

This hype around the Honeycrisp reminds me of all the marketing hype around the Dekopon (Sumo) mandarin that was introduced this season. Huge, huge mandarins, seedless, and easy to peel. Taste-wise? Okay. Not exceptional from store-bought mandarins. Off the tree they were much better, but still not as good, in my opinion, as two other commercial varieties, the USDA 88-2 (Lee x Nova cross), or the Gold Nugget. Or, nothing near as good as the non-commercial Seedless Kishu variety. It really is all about trying to support growers who have made a significant investment in buying the trees and growing them for that first commercial crop. I'm sure there is something similar going on with the Honeycrisp. We are supposed to now have them in our local supermarkets, so I'll buy one or two, just to see what all the hype is about. I am going to try to grow my own Honeycrisp, so we'll see if it sets fruit, and if so, what the quality will be here in my lower chill hours area.

Patty S.

Okay, back from the store. $2.59 a pound. These are big apples. My wonderful hubby picked up two for us to try. Said they were "all different shapes, and large". Here's what they look like:
{{gwi:124446}}

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.

In fairness to the growers, the apples do require several sprays of calcium every year to avoid bitter pit. Then there's that pesky lack of pickers problem as well this year in E Washington.

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.

Hoosierquilt will be disappointed. HC is a northern apple, a good one, but it will not make good apples in San Diego. Pink Lady is better anyway, and surely will do well there.

Glib, here's why I went ahead and ordered a tree:

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.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kuffel Creek: 20 Favorites