It was an amazing year for apples! I got to taste some new things and re-taste others, many seemingly at their best. Here are the 8 new seedling varieties I will be making available this year.
Jellybean Cider
This apple has amazing flavor, like artificial fruit candy. I was delighted to find, as I had hoped, that the flavor comes through very well in the juice, even when canned. I’m not sure I have ever tasted apple juice that good. It is also a semi-columnar type dwarf! It is a cross between Maypole and Chestnut Crab. Learn more about Jellybean Cider
Clarion
Clarion has been referred ot as Ice Princess for some years now, but I finally feel like I have collected enough experience with it to give it the right name and let it go. It is a long season apple with a very clear light flavor and a clean finish. I have eaten it off the tree from sometime in early to mid fall into the winter. It is an unusual apple and I’m a fan. Learn more about Clarion.
Black and Red
This one is a cross of Rubaiyat and King David. The skin is very dark red, certainly in the category of what are commonly called black apples. It can look very striking on the tree. The interior can get quite red and tasty. It has the berry-like aromatics of some red fleshed apples. It is fairly tart early in the season. Striking appearance inside and out, nice flavor and well above average for a red fleshed apple. Learn more about Black and Red.
Musketeer
Sorry, no photos yet. Musketeer is a cross between Rubaiyat and Pink Partait, two red fleshed apples. It does not have red flesh however. What it does have is a unique flavor that I have only been able to describe as “musky”. It is not just musky though, it is also very fruity. It is just weird, but it works. Those very different flavors seem to harmonize. I think I will be eating quite a lot of this apple in the future. Learn more about Musketeer.
Hella Kitty
Born to be wild, Hella Kitty is a tart little Wickson x Rubaiyat cross with a true pink flesh. The day glow intensity of it has to be seen in person to be appreciated. If you commissioned a group of mad scientist little girls to make the perfect pink, they would probably come up with something like the color of Hella Kitty. But this kitty is not all unicorns and rainbows, this is an apple for the people that like sour candies, the people that take the lemon out of their drink and chew on it. For anyone that doesn’t know, Hella is colloquial for something along the lines of “Hell of”originating here in Northern California i.e. Steven grows hella apples, or I’m hella excited about Hella Kitty. Learn more about Hella Kitty.
Red Winter Pie
This Grenadine x Lady Williams seedling was the very first of the 2011 trees to bloom in my trial rows. It has always looked good and hung well, and ripened late. It is not much for eating, though it is okay I guess when at its peak in the winter. The texture is somewhat “foamy” like Lady Williams. It is really good for cooking though, and at a time when options are limited. Or course you can use stored apples, but these are ready to use off the tree from around thanksgiving into as late as the end of December. This year I made pie with them on New Years day and the last two years for thanksgiving. It can grow quite large if thinned. Flavor is fruity, though not strong. Learn more about Red Winter Pie.
Integrity
Williams’ Pride x Vixen. This is a new early pie apple. Like Red Winter Pie, it seems to be the best cooking apple on my place in its end of summer to early fall season. It is good and tart and holds its shape in cooking, thus the name. It is very pretty. Learn more about Integrity.
Twang
Twang was fruited a while ago, and has been in assessment for some years. It is not much for eating, but at its season in August (as early as late July here occasionally) it is the best cooker going. Like integrity, it is tart (thus the name) and holds its shape in cooking. They are very similar when cooked and as Twang ends, Integrity begins. Most early apples are thin and watery, this is a solid apple. Also a very pretty apple. Learn more about Twang.
I think that is all the ones I’m releasing this year unless I change my mind on something. I’m honestly surprised I decided to release so many. The reason is that most of these apples do things that other apples either don’t do at all, or nothing else beats them in their season. That of course is just comparing to what I have growing here, both seedlings and grafted varieties, but I have a pretty big collection. Also, the bar is set different for rare characteristics. If there is not a lot of competition, we want to distribute the best we have of a particular style or trait, especially to other breeders.
I think most of these will be on auction rather than in the store. I won’t know for sure until I cut scion wood, but most are in limited, to very limited supply this year. Clarion I have a lot of, so that will be in the webstore. As usual, patrons get early access to scion sales for about a week, then I announce here on the blog and on social media.
Once I get this first wave of apple seed orders out, I can start cutting and sorting scion wood. Look for scions in the store and on auction in early February. If you are new to grafting, check out the grafting series playlist below. Let’s just say it is quite thorough.
Happy Growing
