Introduction – Blueberries – North Apple Bed – Panoramic View – Dwarf – Conclusion
Gene’s Answers – Train a Mini-Dwarf – Favorite Apples – Map of Backyard
In 1997 Gene grew 93 different varieties of apples. Most, but not all his trees have produced fruit which Gene has tasted. Below Gene explains his favorite apple varieties in his own words:
“People always ask me what are my favorite varieties. My first reply is that taste is an individual thing. Certain people like only sweet apples, others only tart. I like all of the apples I’ve grown except for one. I didn’t like the ‘Akane’. By the time I’d pick it off the tree, it was mealy. I ended up pulling it out by the roots.
“My favorite sweet apples are, ‘Pome Gris’, ‘Hudsons Golden Gem’, ‘Golden Russet’, and ‘Mutsu’. There are just so many good apples. All these are better than ‘Red Delicious’. ‘Red Delicious’ is sweet but not much flavor. These are all flavorful apples. Some of them even have a longer aftertaste. Like fine wine, you taste the apple, swallow and the flavor lingers in your mouth.
Oh, I almost forgot ‘Hawaii’, a great sweet apple, lovely. Both ‘Hawaii’ and ‘Pome Gris’ apple have many different flavors in a single apple. The part facing the sun may have a different taste than the other side.
I like an apple called ‘Freyberg’; it tastes like licorice. Another apple I almost forgot is ‘Holstein’, such a shy bearer, but one of my absolute favorite apples. Every season I keep an eye on the tree so that no squirrel gets to it. So at least I have one or two apples each season.
“I refer to apples that are not sweet but not too tart as balanced apples. My favorites in this category are ‘Melrose’, ‘Spy Gold’, and a little bit sweeter but with a tart undertaste, ‘JonaGold’. All three are delicious, just delicious! I think ‘Spy Gold’, a large balanced apple with a tart undertone is just one of the finest eating apples I’ve ever had!
“In the tart apple category I’ll take a tree-ripened ‘Jonathan’. It’s a lovely tasting apple. I also like ‘Ida Red’ which is toward the tart side.
“My earliest ripening apple is ‘Paula Red’ and it’s a good tasting balanced to slightly tart apple, better than average. If you want to grow an early apple, I’d recommend it. It starts ripening here at the end of August. However, like most early apples it doesn’t have an appreciably long storage life. I grow it on a M27 so if I get a couple dozen pieces of fruit before my other apples have ripened, that’s enough for me. I also grow ‘Mantet’, which should be an even earlier good tasting apple; but I haven’t tasted it yet.
“Other varieties of early apples I like are ‘Gala’ and ‘Cox’s Orange Pippin’. Both are sweet apples.