Apple Variety Picking Schedule

An apple for every taste!

We grow over thirty varieties of apples that are available for picking mid-August to the end of October. We pride ourselves on having an extensive selection of apple varieties, many of which are not found at the supermarket. Some people have a favorite apple that they come back for year after year and others like to mix their bags and surprise themselves later.

Apple Ripening Schedule:

Here is a list of all the major apple varieties we grow (in order of ripening), and we plant new varieties every year!

August

Paula Red: mid to late August
Tart, all-purpose apple; similar to Cortland.

Ginger Gold: (Chance Seedling) late August to early September
Ginger Golds are an excellent early Golden Delicious type apple, great for eating, salads, and cooking. They are slow to brown when cut and have a sweet slightly spicey ginger flavor. Sweet, dense, tasty; all purpose.

Zestar!™: (State Fair x MN 1691) late August
From the same Minnesota breeding program that introduced Honeycrisp, Zestar!® Apple has a crisp and juicy sweet-tart taste with a hint of brown sugar. Unlike other early season apples that are often soft or mealy, Zestar!® is juicy with a light, crisp texture. A great way to start out the apple picking season!  

Sansa: (Gala x Akane) late August
Breed in Japan, an excellent dessert apple resembling Gala.

Akane: (Jonathan x Worcester Permain) late August
The UMass Fruit Advisor says about Akane The flavor is mild. It is one of the best pie apples available. When cooked, slices remain intact and unlike many apples, the flavor components of the apple can be detected in the cooked product.  Dense, tart; all-purpose apple.

Gravenstein: mid to late August
Tart, all-purpose apple; green with red stripes.


September

Blondee®: early to mid September
Although Blondee looks like a Golden Delicious type apple, it is really more closely related to Gala! Very crisp, sweet and a bit tart, with more flavor than Gala. The flesh does not bruise easily and stores very well!

McIntosh: early September to early October
Moderately tart, best for fresh eating and sauce; green with red blush. A New England favorite.

Gala: (Kidds Orange x Golden Delicious) early September to early October
This orange fleshed apple originated from New Zealand and has a unique apple flavor. Very sweet and crisp, many describe its taste as half apple, half pear. An excellent eating apple!

Honeycrisp™: (Macoun x Honeygold) early to late September
Often described as explosively juicy and crisp, Honeycrisp have quickly become the most sought after apple on the farm. Remember when picking, for honeycrisp a red apple is a ripe apple. Honeycrisp is a September apple and our most popular, they do not last into October. Get them while you can in September!

Golden Supreme: mid September
Early Golden Delicious type apple, with smoother skin and higher flavored than its parent.

Early Fuji: mid September to early October
Early sports of Fuji that ripen 6 to 8 weeks before its parent.

CrimsonCrisp™: mid September
Attractive crimson red color. Crisp texture and tart complex flavor. Disease resistant variety.

Cortland: (Ben Davis x McIntosh) mid September to mid October
Cortland is a great all-purpose apple. One of the largest apples we grow, it has a great sweet tart flavor and a vibrant white flesh that does not brown (great for slicing up for lunch boxes). Cortland stays solid when cooked, making it an ideal apple for making pies and crisps.

Shizuka: mid September
Early Mutsu very large yellow-green sweet tart apple.

Ambrosia: A chance seeding discovered between a Golden Delicious and Red Delicious Orchard in British Columbia.

Macoun: (McIntosh x Jersey Black) Late September to early October
Our customers ask all year for these apples that are only available for a couple of weeks. Macouns are an excellent dessert apple similar to McIntosh but much crispier and great for cooking.

Honeygold: (Golden Delicious x Haralson)
Similar to Golden Delicious but with a more complex honey flavor. Stores well.

Liberty: (Macoun x Purdue)
Similar to macoun, sweet juicy white flesh, deep red on green skin. Disease resitant variety.


October

Empire: (McIntosh x Red Delicious)
Empire is the most underrated apple we grow! Empire is a cross of McIntosh and Red Delicious developed at New York States Geneva Agricultural Experiment Station in 1966, and named after the Empire State. Appearing purple on the tree behind a thick coat of natural wax, empire polishes to an attractive bright red and yellow. Empire is a firm apple that is hard to bruise, sweet and very crisp, and its medium size makes empire the perfect apple to send to school with the kids. Stores extremely well and makes a fine apple pie! Great all around apple!

Pinova: (Clivia x Golden Delicious)
Attractive bright red over yellow background. Has strong tropical fruit flavors like Pineapple

Mutsu: (aka Crispin) (Golden Delicious x Indo)
All purpose apple; very large, light green to yellow.

Crimson® Topaz: (Rubin x Vanda)
Crimson Topaz or just Topaz is a remarkable squatty apple! It has quickly become the most sought after apple by the staff of the farm. Topaz, bred in the Czech Republic, has a SHARP sweet tart flavor and stores remarkably well. Squat in stature with mostly red over a yellow-orange background, Topaz also has a light texture making it perfect for eating out of hand. I guarantee you wont find Topaz at your local supermarket!

Hampshire Mac™: (aka Late McIntosh) (McIntosh Sport)
A McIntosh-type apple discovered by Erick Leadbeater of Contoocook, NH, ripening three weeks later than a standard Mac.

Creston: (Golden Delicious x NJ 381049)
Breed at the Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre Summerland, B.C., Creston is similar to Jonagold but more firm, juicier, and better storage quality. Often described as very similar to Honeycrisp! Large sweet yellow fruit with red blush.

Golden Delicious:
Sweet, all purpose apple; yellow, sometimes with a red blush.

Jonagold: (Golden Delicious x Jonathan)
Sweet but tart, all purpose apple; red blush over yellow background color.

Querina: Developed at INRA Angers, France, Querina is scab-resistant and moderately resistant to mildew. Parentage includes Golden Delicious and Jonathan, amoung others. The fruit is firm and juicy with a sweet-tart flavor and it develops solid red color. Querina harvests two to three weeks after Golden Delicious and will keep for up to two to three months in regular storage.

Spencer: (McIntosh x Golden Delicious)
Pink-red blush on green; large sized apple. Sweet flavor that some say has hint of cinamon spice.

Idared: (Jonathan x Wagener)
Tart at harvest, sweetens in cold storage, all-purpose apple; red fruit. Excellent for baking apple pies!

Cameo™: (Chance seedling)
Firm and crisp with highly appealing sub acid aromatic flavor. Very similar to old-fashoned Red Delicious.

SunCrisp™: (Golden Delicious x Coxs Orange Pippen)
Sweet idly sub-acid apple, dual purpose apple with yellow flesh and red blush. Stores up to 6 months.

EverCrisp®: (Honeycrisp x Fuji) Available 2017
An exciting new variety from the grower association The Midwest Apple Improvement Association, EverCrisp is a sweet firm apple similar to its Fuji parent but also crispy and juicy like Honeycrisp. One of (if not the best) storing apple around. We have kept Evercrisp in regular refrigeration until June and they taste they they are right off the tree!

Rome: (Chance Seedling from Rome, Ohio)
Large completely red apple, tangy to tart flavor, and great for baking.

Fuji: (Ralls Janet x Delicious)
Sweet dense apple, stores extremely well.

Pink Lady: (Lady Williams x Golden Delicious)
Bask in the sweet blush of Cripps Pink! Loved by snackers and bakers alike for its unique sweet-tart flavor and firm, crisp flesh, this beauty of an apple is a crowd pleaser. Named for its bright pink skin, this versatile apple is great for eating fresh out of hand as well as in salads, pies, sauces, baking, and freezing. Great for long term storage, flavor improves after a few weeks of cold storage!

Goldrush: (Golden Delicious x PRI Co-op 17)
Similar to Golden Delicious but more tart. Extremely dense apple that stores incredibly well.