If you are going to plant an orchard you better know your apples
 (Read 250+ times)
By Arlene Wright Correll
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If you are going to plant an orchard you better know your apples
Apples are the 2nd largest crop production in the United States with oranges being the first. When you decide to plant an orchard you must decide if you want a few for your property or are going into the apple business.
Wherever apples grow you can be sure some critter will be enjoying their goodness and flavor. From raccoons and bears, to horses and insects, as they love apples as much as humans do and we do love apples since the apple tree is the most widely cultivated of all the fruit trees.
This is proved by the world apple production statistics. In 1997, an amazing 44.7 million metric tons of apples were produced for human consumption. Of those, more than 84% were bought and used commercially (by a company).
In the United States, 4.6 million metric tons of apples were produced in 1997, with a wholesale value of more than $1 billion (U.S.). Of those apples, roughly:
• 50% were enjoyed as fresh fruit.
• 20% were used to make vinegar, cider, wine, juice, jelly, and apple butter.
• 17% were canned as applesauce and pie filling.
• 13% were exported (sold to other countries).
Although people across the United States love apples, apples grow particularly well in the cooler northern states. Washington State is the leading apple-producing state, followed by Michigan, and New York. A trip to Yakama Valley is worth it, even upstate New York.
The leading apple growing country is China, producing about 41% of the world's apples, followed by the United States, Turkey, France, Poland, Italy, the Russian Federation, Germany, Argentina, Japan, and Chile. Even warmer countries like Iraq and Mexico are able to grow apples in their cooler upland regions.
The apple is our Canadian neighbor’s most important fruit crop. Canadian growers produced about 506,000 metric tons of apples in 1997, worth about $182 million (Canadian). Our leading apple producing province is Ontario, followed by British Columbia, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. More than 7,000 Canadian farms grow apples on over 30,000 hectares of farmland.
The first trees to produce sweet, flavorful apples similar to those we enjoy today, were located many thousands of years ago near the modern city of Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan.
The Greeks were growing several varieties of apples by the late 300’s BC, and the ancient Romans also grew and loved the fruit. Researchers have even found the charred remains of apples at a Stone Age village in Switzerland.
Apples have also appeared in legends in our past. In the Bible, Adam and Eve are tempted by apples in the Garden of Eden, and in the Swiss story of William Tell, an archer is arrested and then promised his freedom if he can shoot an apple off his son’s head with an arrow.
Apple trees grow in the temperate regions of the world (areas that don't get too hot or too cold), generally in the latitudes between 30° to 60° north and south. Apple trees are best adapted to places where the average winter temperature is near freezing for at least two months, though many varieties can withstand winter temperatures as low as -40°C (-40°F).
Apple trees are deciduous, which means their leaves fall off at the end of the growing season.
Apple trees belong to the Rosaceae (rose) family, and in the spring you can see the beautiful white flowers on an apple tree looking like tiny roses.
Apples come in thousands of varieties, sizes, textures, and tastes.
The color of the outside of an apple may be green, yellow, or various shades of red. Some yellow apples have weird brown spots all over them, while some red apples, like the Jonathan, have even weirder white spots! Apple colors also differ on the inside, where the flesh may be yellow, white, or cream-colored. It's also interesting that apples will turn brown if you cut them open and leave them out for a couple of hours.
Each variety of apple has a slightly different flavor, from sweet, to tart, to bitter, to—what each of us consider is just right!
Textures also vary amongst apple varieties, from soft and mushy, to firm and crunchy.
Because there are so many different varieties of apple, each with slightly different qualities than the next, producers grow different types of apples for different purposes. Some apples, like the Empire, are sweet and wonderful when eaten fresh (in fact, of all the cultivated apples grown, over half are eaten fresh). Other apple varieties are better suited for cooking or further processing. The Rome Beauty, for example, is often used for baking and not eaten fresh because it has a firm, acidic flesh, and tough, smooth skin.
In 1999, our late son, Fred and I planted a small apple orchard here at Home Farm. They are different varieties and are all dwarf apple trees. These trees are just starting to bear some fruit now. Most of the dwarf apple trees get truly abundant produce about 10 to 16 years of age. Apple trees grow in the temperate regions of the world (areas that don't get too hot or too cold), generally in the latitudes between 30° to 60° north and south. Apple trees are best adapted to places where the average winter temperature is near freezing for at least two months, though many varieties can withstand winter temperatures as low as -40°C (-40°F).
Apple trees are deciduous, which means their leaves fall off at the end of the growing season and what looks lovelier than seeing the apple blossoms in the spring.
Apple trees belong to the Rosaceae (rose) family, and in the spring you can see the beautiful white flowers on an apple tree looking like tiny roses. Taxonomists (scientists that name and classify living things) have called the cultivated species of apple tree Malus domestica, and the wild species Malus pumila.
One of my favorites is the Gala apple. Gala is a strikingly attractive apple. The bright yellow skin is finely stippled with red, as if airbrushed, and the result is near-neon intensity. From across a room you'd think you were looking at a peach. Gala was developed in New Zealand by J. H. Kidd, crossing Golden Delicious and his own Kidd's Orange Red. The work was done in the 1920s, but the apple wasn't named and introduced until the 1960s.
The pale, creamy yellow flesh is crisp and dense, with a mild, sweet flavor and good aroma. The fruit is not large, and especially small Galas are cleverly marketed here as lunchbox size. In taste tests Gala easily outscores
McIntosh is considered sprightlier than Golden Delicious. Tom Vorbeck of Applesource says that a typical first comment of people biting into one is "Best apple I ever had in my life." When cooked, Gala strikes some people as bland, but it can be dried with good results. Gala is also used in cider blends.
Fruits imported from New Zealand first appear in stores from August and on into October; your refrigerator will stretch the life of the apples another three or four months.
Jonagold is a cross of Jonathan and Golden Delicious has succeeded far better in Europe than at home. Large plantings have been made in Britain, France, Italy, Switzerland, and Belgium - Jonagold may become Europe's number one apple - as well as in Japan. But the home crowd resists it, preferring the familiar red, sweet, tame Red Delicious. It has been said that Americans eat apples with their eyes, and Jonagold is a case in point.
Nevertheless, this variety is the leading apple west of the Cascades in Washington State, and in British Columbia Jonagold challenges McIntosh as the number one variety.
With its aroma of Golden Delicious and the sprightliness of Jonathan, Jonagold is an excellent sweet-tart dessert apple. The texture of the creamy yellow flesh is noticeably crisp and juicy. In a poll of nineteen apple experts in nine countries, Jonagold scored as the overall favorite. The fruit makes fair sauce and a good pie.
Harvest varies from mid-September to late October. The apples keep well unless picked late in their two-week harvest period.
Criterion was discovered as a chance seedling near Parker, Washington. The variety's genetic mix includes Red Delicious, Yellow Delicious, and Winter Banana. It was introduced in 1973. The flesh is notably crisp, firm, and juicy. Criterion tastes mild and sweet, with a touch of tartness, and good aroma suffuses it all. This variety can be recommended for all kitchen uses, including drying. Following the October harvest, the fruit will keep its quality for some months.
Winesaps have been a staple for years in our kitchen. Winesaps is the distillation of a crisp fall day. The apple has character-too much character for some. Beneath its sturdy skin, the yellow flesh is firm, toothsome, and very juicy, with a powerful sweet-sour contrast and the characteristic winy flavor and aroma. Winesaps serves well in the kitchen, and its flavor carries over into sauce, pie, and cider. Note that its famously invigorating personality may be missing in areas where local climate or soil conditions are not favorable.
Winesaps is thought to have come from New Jersey. By 1817 it was recorded as an important cider apple in that state. Its popularity spread, and Winesap remained a major late-season apple until the mid-1900s, when controlled atmosphere storage made it possible to offer many varieties in its season. But Winesap continues to be widely grown, in spite of its relatively small size and competition from a milder offspring, Stayman.
Apples are ready for harvest between late September and early November and remain enjoyable for months. In blossom a row of Winesaps will glow pinker than most.
Rome is a thick-skinned fruit that makes good eating but finds better use as a baker and in cider. The flesh, once you bite through to it, is crisp, firm, greenish white, and mildly tart. Harvest is from late September into November. Beware of Rome’s that have become mealy and flavorless from storage.
Jonathan has come a long way since its discovery in Ulster County, New York, in the early 1800s. Within a hundred years it was the sixth best-selling apple in the United States, and it became Michigan's most popular variety. Jonathan's influence has been spread by a number of well-known crosses, most of them identifiable as family members because the names share the first four letters.
Jonathan can vary in flavor from mild to tart, depending on where it is grown. It has a spicy tang that some people also note in the apple's descendants. Beneath the thin, tough skin, the flesh is crisp, fine-textured, and juicy. It may be stained with red. This variety rates high for both eating fresh and cooking down into sauce, but it will not keep its shape when baked. Toss Jonathans into the hopper of a cider mill, and you'll retain something of their spicy character.
Jonathan ripens from mid-September through mid-October. The fruit does not keep particularly well.
Granny Smith is large. It is mild-flavored and has a good balance of tart and sweet. It is nearly as resilient as a tennis ball and holds up well in shipping. And Granny Smith will tolerate a half year of cold storage.
Brands of Granny applesauce and Granny apple juice are widely marketed. The apple can be baked as well. Harvest in October.
Golden Delicious apples ripen from mid-September through late October. The skin color can be a clue to quality; look for fruits that are pale yellow, not the chartreuse of an apple picked prematurely or the darker yellow that signals over ripeness. The skin is quick to shrivel if the apples are at room temperature, but Golden Delicious should keep well if refrigerated in the crisper or a plastic bag.
Red Delicious is a marketer's ideal: as intensely red as the apple in Snow White, instantly recognizable, tall and wasp-waisted, and gorgeous even after the insides have gone to mush. And big! Riding on those qualities, the variety has pushed regional favorites aside. The skin is thick and bitter and has to be chewed vigorously. At its best the yellow flesh can be juicy, somewhat tart, and highly aromatic. This apple ranks close to the bottom when cooked.
Harvest is in September, but the apples are sold year-round, so shop with skepticism. Delicious retains its cheerful good looks long after the flavor has departed.
McIntosh is the best-selling apple in the northeastern United States and in Canada and has white, tender, crisp flesh that's spice, highly aromatic, and full of juice. The characteristic flavor carries over into sauce, but in the slices loses their shape. Macs are the principal cider apple in the Northeast. Harvest is in September and the apples turn mealy if stored too long.
Newtown Pippin has been called the classic American apple. It holds the honor as the oldest commercially grown native variety in the United States. Uncut, the apple may exhale a tangerine scent. Pale yellow flesh, crisp and tender, sweet on the tongue, yet tart. When cut browns rapidly, makes a thick sauce, excellent pies with body, and a particularly clear cider. Harvest in October, when pale greenish yellow. They continue to get sweeter and richer in flavor for the next five months.
Gravenstein is thin-skinned and juicy, with sweetness and enough acid to make it interesting. It is an outstanding summer apple and an orchard antique and is great for cooking in pies and sauce and is noticeable in an all-Gravenstein cider. Harvest in late July and August.
There are so many varieties of apples, that they could not be put here. I know of over 100 of them. So if you are going to plant an orchard you better know your apples!
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Author Bio Box: Arlene Wright Correll
 "All about Apples" by Arlene Wright-Correll
http://www.phancypages.com/newsletter/ZNewsletter2024.htm
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