Here are some fascinating facts about apples.
One fact everybody should know:
Eating apples is a healthy, nutritious, and delicious way to eat!
Arkansas Black
- Ripens: Mid October
- An heirloom apple raised by settler John Crawford in 1840, cultivated in Bentonville, Arkansas in 1870
- Dark red/burgundy color with very firm skin and light yellow flesh
- Very tart, flavor develops best after stored refrigerated for a few months
- Great cooking apple for cobblers, pies and apple butter
Cameo
- Ripens: Mid-September-October
- Discovered by chance in the Caudle family orchard of Washington in 1987
- Bright, red-striped apple with creamy orange color, firm
- Tangy, sweet-tart flavor
- Great eaten fresh, resists browning, stores well
Cortland
- Ripens: September
- Developed at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva in 1898
- Red apple with greenish stripes and snow-white flesh
- Sweet, with a hint of tartness
- Excellent for eating fresh, salads, applesauce, pies and baking. Good for freezing. Slow to brown
Crimson Crisp
- Ripens: Late September – October
- Developed at the Rutgers Fruit Research Center in New Jersey in 1971. Honeycrisp x Gold Rush
- Deep red, firm and crisp with yellow flesh
- Mostly sweet flavor, slight tartness
- Great eaten fresh, for juice or cider, stores well
Empire
- Ripens: Mid August
- Developed at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in 1966. Red Delicious x McIntosh
- Yellow-green base with a red blush, striations and striping, semi-glossy, crisp and firm
- Sweet tart flavor
- Great eaten fresh or cooked
Evercrisp
- Ripens: Mid October
- Developed by the Midwest Apple Improvement Association in 199
- Honeycrisp x Fuji
- Blushed rosy red over a cream background, crisp, firm, dense
- Sweet flavor
- Great eaten fresh
Fuji
- Ripens: Mid – Late September
- Developed in Fujisaki, Japan in the late 1930s, brought to market in 1962
- Pink speckled flesh over yellow-green background, semi-thick skin, crisp and firm
- Sweet flavor
- Great eaten fresh or in salads, stores well
Gala
- Ripens: Mid August
- Developed by breeder James Hutton Kidd in New Zealand in 1934
- Lighter yellow-orange coloring with pinkred striping and mottling with thin skin
- Mildly sweet flavor
- All-purpose apple for eating, cooking, and preserving
Gingergold
- Ripens: Early August
- Discovered by apple growers Frances “Ginger” Harvey and her husband Clyde in Virginia in 1969 after Hurricane Camille
- Green to pale yellow in color with semi-thin skin
- Sweet-tart flavor
- All-purpose apple for eating and cooking, stores well
Gold Rush
- Ripens: Mid October
- Developed at Indiana, Illinois and New Jersey Agricultural research stations in the 1990s
- Golden color speckled with lenticels (spots), crisp and firm
- Mildly sweet with a rush of spicy flavor
- Great eaten fresh, cooking , juice and cider, stores well
Golden Delicious
- Ripens: Early – Mid September
- Discovered on the Anderson Mullins family farm in West Virginia in 1890
- Pale green- golden yellow with thin skin that doesn’t require peeling, white flesh
- Sweet flavor
- All-purpose apple for eating, applesauce, apple butter, and cobblers
Granny Smith
- Ripens: Early October
- Propagated by Maria Ann Smith in Australia in 1868
- Bright green and firm with smooth skin, crisp
- Very tart flavor
- All-purpose apple for eating and cooking, stores well
Honeycrisp
- Ripens: Late August
- Developed by the University of Minnesota
- Mottled red skin over a yellow background
- Honey-sweet mild flavor
- Great eaten fresh, in salads, or for applesauce
Jonagold
- Ripens: September
- Developed at New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in 1953
- Orange-red blush to yellowish-green color
- Sweet flavor with a hint of tartness
- Great eaten fresh, in salads, or for baking or cooking
King Luscious
- Ripens: October
- Found as a chance seedling in Hendersonville, NC in 1935. Presumed to be a cross between Stayman and Wolf River
- Large, pale red with pale yellow undertones and darker red stripes, yellowish white flesh
- Crisp with a tart-sweet flavor
- Great for eating, baking, and as apple butter; stores well
McIntosh
- Ripens: Mid October
- Discovered as a chance seedling by John McIntosh in 1811
- Deep red skin with a green blush with white flesh
- Tangy, tart flavor
- Best for cooking into applesauce or in a pie
Mutsu/Crispin
- Ripens: September
- Introduced in Mutsu Province, Japan in 1948. A cross between Golden Delicious and Indo apples
- Large apple with yellowish-green skin and dense flesh
- Slightly tart flavor
- Great eaten fresh, for baking and freezing, stores well
Pink Lady
- Ripens: Late October – November
- Developed by researcher John Cripps in Western Australia in the late 1990s
- Blush pink skin over yellow undertones, crisp and firm
- Sweet-tangy flavor
- All-purpose apple for eating, salads, baking, and cooking
- Stores well
Red Delicious
- Ripens: Early-Mid September
- The most widely recognized apple
- Red skin, fine-grained, white flesh
- Mild, sweet flavor
- Best eaten fresh, does not cook well
Rome
- Ripens: September-October
- An heirloom apple that originated in Ohio in 1816
- All red, very glossy with thick skin
- Mildly sweet, flavor grows richer when baked
- Cooking apple
- Great for cooking and preserving as apple butter
Stayman/Winesap
- Ripens: October
- An heirloom apple popular since pioneer days, developed by Joseph Stayman of Kansas in 1866
- Medium bright to deep red with speckled, striped skin, firm yellow flesh
- Sweet and tart, with a wine-like flavor
- Cooking apple for applesauce, apple butter, pies, and cider; stores well
Wolf River
- Ripens: July
- Originated on the Wolf River in Wisconsin around 1875
- Pale yellow skin covered with pale red coloring
- Mild, sweet flavor
- Cooking apple perfect for apple butter or applesauce