Apple Varieties
Paula Red - Ripens early September. An excellent all purpose apple with just the right balance of sweetness and tartness. Paula Red was discovered as a wild tree in 1960 by a Michigan apple grower who recognized the excellent qualities of it, so he began propagating it and named it after his wife Paula.
Zestar! - Ripens early September. An outstanding large, flavorful, juicy eating apple. Jane says that each bite tastes like a whole bowl of fruit. Zestar! (yes the ! is part of the name) is a fairly new variety that was developed in Minnesota for the northern apple-growing areas.
McIntosh - Ripens mid-September. That special aromatic mac flavor makes it perfect for eating and cooking. In fact, that flavor is so special that mac has been used in crosses to develop dozens of other popular varieties. It was discovered as a wild tree in Ontario in 1811 and has been the New England favorite for generations.
Ginger Gold - Ripens mid September. A beautiful bright yellow eating apple with wonderful flavor and texture. Ginger gold was discovered as a wild tree by an apple grower in Virginia and named for his wife Ginger.
Cortland - Ripens late September. This is a large all purpose apple and a local favorite. It is a McIntosh x Ben Davis cross and is our most winter hardy variety.
Honeycrisp - Ripens late September. A popular new variety that is noted for its crunch and sweet/tart flavor. It was developed in Minnesota for northern apple-growing areas. We have a limited quantity of bearing trees, but will be planting some more in the spring of 2011.
Macoun - Ripens early October. A redish-purple apple with distinctive crispness and sweet flavor. It has a loyal following of customers that wait eagerly for it to be ready each fall. It was developed by the Geneva, NY apple breeding program in 1923 and has McIntosh as one of the parents in the cross.
Pioneer - A beautiful dark red to purple apple, similar to McIntosh but a bit sweeter.
Sweet 16 - A large, firm, yellow-fleshed sweet apple with a unique flavor. Some people say that it tastes like twizzler candy. It is another cold-hardy variety developed by the University is Minnesota.
Liberty - A cross with macoun from the Geneva, NY apple breeding program. It is similar to macoun, but ripens slightly later and is a bit more tart.
Wolf River - A very red large heirloom apple of Alexander parentage. Fine for pies or baked apples.
Gala - A crunchy red-orange apple with a sweeter flavor. It is originally from New Zealand and now is the most popular apple in the US.
Wealthy - A medium-sized, red-blushed, crisp and aromatic fruit of high quality for cooking and snacking. It ripens in mid to late September. Wealthy originated in Bangor, but was promoted by Peter Gideon of Minnesota in 1860. It is one of Jane's favorite pie apples.