My little Apple trees planted in November 2021 had a few good apples this year, the tastiest are Falstaff, they are crisp and juicy but not an apple grown commercially as far as I know.
The information about them says they are a modern desert apple, a cross between Golden Delicious and James Grieve. There is also a Red Falstaff which has a red- flushed fruit. Both are self fertile, easy to grow with good disease resistance, ready in October. The dry weather meant a few fell early which was annoying as they really weren't ready for eating.
The other two Minarette trees I planted in 2021 were Charles Ross which are dual purpose and ready in September. They were created in the late 19th century by crossing Cox's Orange Pippin and Peasgood Nonsuch. There were only a handful of apples and I cooked them up for apple crumble early on.
The other of my young trees that had a few apples this year was the one I wrote about in early October that had been labelled as Bramley but certainly wasn't. It just had 4 red apples that were edible but not wonderful.
What all my trees suffered from this year was the dry spring and summer. I did pour cans full of water on them now and again but it's not the same as a good rain.
There are usually 5 or 6 different varieties available in the supermarkets at this time of the year. Royal Gala, Braeburn, Cox, Pink Lady, Jazz and Golden Delicious. Aldi are good at selling British Apples and labelling them as such and they also sell a pack of 6 that are just called 'Best of British'.
They can vary the variety depending upon what's available. Through October they were selling a variety that I'd never heard of called Zari, they looked really good and I tried them and found they were very tasty. On googling I discovered they were bred in Belgium and aimed at commercial growers looking for a variety to ripen early to mid season.
Their Best of British are now a variety called Red Windsor, which are not so good, a bit too soft and 'clingy' for me so it will be back to the usually reliable Braeburn for me next time I shop.
I'm never without fresh apples in the house - An Apple A Day and all that!
Back Monday