Best tasting apples

Thank you for finding this information out for me/us. I have seen those bugs before. I just did not know if it is a good bug or a bad bug.
Sometimes you only see then for a few seconds. Usually not enough time to get your phone out to take an actual pictures, my yard bugs are all camera shy. Or so it seems for me. I will try and remember what they look like WHEN and if I find a book with the bugs listed. I think I’ll go right in and look for the picture then something else gets to be more important. Then I forget what the bug actually looks like when I start looking at all the pictures.

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Mine are not ripe yet but are getting there. I look for a yellow a bit stronger than “opaque yellow”. Don’t look at the stripes, they vary a lot in terms of how much they stripe both by season and by position on the tree.

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Back on the topic of best tasting apples, my Blenheim Orange are coming in now. I really don’t understand why that apple is not more popular, it is very rich and aromatic plus it has a rough skin which fares well as far as rots go. Plus it sets extremely well every single year and produces very large apples. Different apples from the tree have different tastes also based on when they are harvested, but all are fantastic. My guess is its not as good fresh when grown in its home country, UK, and the UK reputation as a cooker made it across the Atlantic and stuck. Yes its a great for cooking but its not a “cooker”, its an excellent apple for all purposes.

Adam’s Pearmain is another British apple I really like that is also coming in now. Its much more finicky with generally light set and plenty of rots. But the ones that ripen well are awesome nutty-sour richness.

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I had looked at planting a Blenheim Orange but held off until I heard from someone that actually has them in their orchard. They sounded really good. I like larger apples as well so that also caught my interest as well.

I was interested in the Claygate Pearmain. Still, no one that I know of has this variety to let me know how it actually does here in the US.

When the UK labels an apple a cooker that means it usually cooks down to a puree like consistency. That is what they are used to so to them that is fine. I like some liquid in my cooked apples but I prefer more solid pieces than a puree.

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Thanks

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I have two very young Claygate Pearmain trees. They both bloomed all over this spring and I stripped them. This cv has a reputation for smaller vigor, so I am determined to get some size before even the first samples. Neil in Reno, Nevada (HIghandDry) speaks highly of it - sounds to me as though it might form the backbone of his orchard: oddly shaped and colored, but prolific and GOOD.
I’ll report as soon as I can, but it may be another two years.

As for Blenheim Orange, I’ve never had the pleasure – another fine apple I cannot find in eastern WA state.

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I appreciate any updates when you think about it. That is the trouble with having fruit tree. You want to fruit the next year once you plant them. I guess it is all about patience.
I agree with you. I strip my tree of any fruit the first three or four years. I want the tree to be bigger and have a better root system before I stress them to produce any fruit. I think it helps to make a more healthy tree.

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Mike, in my warm and humid climate it was not happy at all - it was one of the worst rotters and it didn’t last many years in my orchard. Other than that it is excellent, so if your climate is not too bad for apple rots then I would go for it.

Also my memory of Blenheim is its not like Bramley, it doesn’t cook down to mush. But I haven’t cooked with them in awhile. There could be an opportunity this year if the deer don’t steal the crop. I have had a problem with the tree growing high enough, it can hold a huge load and the limbs get bent too low. I am re-training the center of the tree up and plan on removing most of the current fruiting limbs in a few years once I get some higher-up ones going.

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We do get some hot and humid conditions in July and August here. When we get a rain it makes the humidity even worse. Like walking into a wet wall. So maybe the CP is not a good choice here.
I like the sound of the Blenheim more now that it probably does not cook down to a puree. If your deer do not eat them all hopefully you can have some cooked up. Just the description of the Blenheim in the books I have read makes it sound like a good variety to try out.
Thank you for the information on each one here.

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Scott,
When does your White Winter Pearmain ripen, please?

I have one hanging on the first year’s graft.

Its a late apple, for you it might be about at the end of the season. Its after Winesap and around Newtown Pippin time.

Scott,
I looked up a few pics of White Winter Pearmain on a few site. They don’t look much like mine. Yikes!!!

I also saw an old tread on GW about if White Winter Pearmain the same apple as Winter Banana. You responded to that question with detail info.

I know WB and have eaten them a few times. As I recall, my lone WWP looks more like a WB ( but smaller) ) than a WWP.

Anyone has pics of his/ her WWP to share here, please.

If you look at Google images you will see many pictures of it. It looks a lot like Golden Delicious, not quite as conical and more green. Some of the pictures there show some color, but I never saw any on mine.

Its interesting that WWP is a parent of Indo (that was mentioned in one of the images that showed up), Indo is in turn a parent of many of the popular Japanese apples today such as Mutsu.

I googled pics of WWP. That’s why I think mine is mislabeled. The mistake could be mine. I grafted 50+ apples in the spring. I could get them mixed up during grafting :frowning:

I hope the WWP was grafted somewhere on the tree. Oh, well.

I am quite certain that mine is mislabeled. It could be anything. My bet is on Winter Banana.

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@SkillCult is at it again… eating his way through the yummy apples at his NorCal homestead… letting you join him for the ride:

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Very interesting. Love the end where the chickens eat the apples he doesn’t like, lol.

I like the part where he gives a shout out to @scottfsmith and this forum!

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“We’re all traumatized by growing up with Red Delicious” haha!

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Kind of looks like Ontario apple my neighbor has. I haven’t seen anyone talking about it here so I doubt it is that one (not popular in US), but similar look.
screenshot-ontario

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