Apple Varieties
Empire
Parentage: McIntosh x Red Delicious
Color: Red
Description: Dark red with heavy, waxy bloom. Creamy white juicy, moderately subacid flesh. A delicious blend of sweet and tart.
Use: Excellent for fresh eating, using in desserts, and/or for making cider.
Keeping/Storage: 3 Months
Harvest: Early Season
Fuji
Parentage: Ralls Janet x Delicious
Color: Yellow/Green w/Pink Speckles
Description: Tall, rectangular, medium size fruit. Yellowish green skin with an orangish red flush and darker stripes. Darker blush on sun side. Crisp, juicy slightly subacid white flesh with outstanding texture.
Use: Excellent for eating and salads; good sauce apple.
Keeping/Storage: 3+ Months
Harvest: Late Season
Gala
Parentage: Kidd's Orange Red x Golden Delicious
Color: Yellow w/Orange Streaks to Deep Red
Description: A very pretty, medium size, conical to round fruit with yellow skin patterned with bright orange-red. Firm, juicy, fine textured, yellow white flesh. Sweet slightly tart flavor.
Use: Excellent for fresh eating.
Keeping/Storage: 3+ Months
Harvest: Late Season
Ginger Gold
Parentage: Golden Delicious Cousin
Color: Yellow/Gold
Description: The fruit is conical and starts out a very pale green, though it will ripen to a soft yellow with a slightly waxy appearance. The cream flesh resists browning more than most varieties. The flavor is mild but with a tart finish.
Use: The primary use is for eating out of hand, though it can be used for most other purposes.
Keeping/Storage: 2-3 Weeks
Harvest: Early Season
Gold Rush
Parentage: Co Op 17 x Golden Delicious
Color: Gold/Red Blush
Description: Characterized by a complex, rich spicy flavor with a high degree of acidity and sweetness.
Use: Excellent for fresh eating, using in desserts, and/or for making cider.
Keeping/Storage: 3+ Months
Harvest: Late Season
Golden Delicious
Parentage: Chance Seedling
Color: Yellow/Gold
Description: Large conic golden yellow fruit. Firm, crisp, juicy, flavorful flesh. Mild sweet distinctive flavor.
Use: High quality all purpose.
Keeping/Storage: 1-2 Weeks
Harvest: Mid Season
Granny Smith
Parentage: Chance Seedling
Color: Green
Description: There is only one word to describe the flavour of Granny Smith: acidic. It is an uncompromising crisp hard apple with a very sharp taste.
Use: Slightly chilled and eaten can be very refreshing, as well as serving in salads and using in desserts.
Keeping/Storage: 3+ Months
Harvest: Mid Season
Honeycrisp
Parentage: Keepsake x Maccoon x Honeygold x ?
Color: Red
Description: The flavor is sweet with very little trace of acidity. There can also be a trace of pear-drop flavour. In a good example this is a juicy and instantly refreshing apple. As its name suggests this is genuinely a crisp/crunchy apple. However since the flesh is quite light, the crunch is surprisingly soft, unlike the hard crisp crunch of a Golden Delicious.
Use: Can be used in baking and cooking but are most commonly enjoyed as eating apples.
Keeping/Storage: 3+ Months
Harvest: Mid Season
Jonagold
Parentage: Jonathan x Golden Delicious
Color: Green/Yellow w/a Red Blush
Description: Large fruit striped red over bright yellow. Firm, crackling, juicy, slightly tart, flesh. Superb, rich, full flavor.
Use: Excellent for fresh eating and/or using in desserts. Good cooking properties.
Keeping/Storage: 1-2 Months
Harvest: Mid Season
Lodi
Parentage: Montgomery x Transparent
Color: Green/Yellow
Description: Fruit is pale yellow flushed with deeper yellow. Flesh is crisp and juicy, flavor is sweet-tart.
Use: Good for cooking - especially making applesauce.
Keeping/Storage: 1 Week
Harvest: Early Season
Mutsu
Parentage: Golden Delicious x ?
Color: Green/Yellow
Description: Also known as Crispin, these apples look a bit like jumbo Golden Delicious. They originate in Japan and have a pleasant sweet-tart balance that, along with their large size, lends well to baking.
Use: Good taste for fresh eating but (because of their size) are usually too large for one person. Also excellent apples for baking and making apple sauce.
Keeping/Storage: 3+ Months
Harvest: Mid Season
Nittany
Parentage: Golden Delicious x York
Color: Golden Orange w/a Deep Red Blush
Description: Nittany have scarf skin and may become greasy as they mature. Shape is truncate to conical and is less oblique than a York. Flesh is yellow and firm. Flavor is tart to subacid and similar to a York.
Use: Excellent eating apple but can be used for baking and/or cooking
Keeping/Storage: 3+ Months
Harvest: Mid Season
Red Delicious
Parentage: Chance Seedling
Color: Signature Dark Red
Description: Red Delicious is a medium-sized apple, with a tall conical shape. The dark and intense crimson color makes it the quintessential red apple and it is has strong shelf appeal. Red Delicious has a sweet but very mild flavor, somewhat reminscent of slightly over-ripe melon. While the flesh is juicy and has a light crispness, the skin can be tough.
Use: Red Delicious apples can be quite refreshing to eat, and are excellent lunchbox treats.
Keeping/Storage: 1-2 Weeks
Harvest: Mid to Late Season
Stayman
Parentage: Possibly a Winesap Seedling
Color: Red
Description: These apples have a distinctive sweet-tart flavor, snappy bite, satisfying texture and crimson color have made them a favorite since their discovery in the mid 1800's.
Use: Can be eaten fresh but is primarily considered a culinary apple - popular in the production of juice and cider.
Keeping/Storage: 3+ Months
Harvest: Mid to Late Season
York
Parentage: Chance Seedling
Color: Deep Red w/Green Streaks
Description: York apples are known and loved for their intense tart/sweet flavor, firm flesh and distinctive lop-sided shape.
Use: Can be eaten fresh but are typically used for cooking because they hold their texture and shape in both the oven and the freezer.
Keeping/Storage: 3+ Months
Harvest: Mid Season
