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{OT} Ping Karl Townsend - need a Pocket Apple Variety Refetrence List

And I figured it might be of enough general interest to others that I should ask it here...

Hey, Farmer Karl:

Got a simple .txt list I can put in my Palm (or you can use an iPhone or other PDA if that's in your pocket every day) that has the varieties you are likely to find (and some you aren't...) and a simple "uses" and "notes" column. A Cliff Notes for apples.

I keep running into new variety names at the Market and Costco, and don't want to take a blind flyer with no information. Instead of 'mystery metal' they are 'mystery apples'. And then you get into the new crosses like Pluots and Broccoflower, and the exotics like Uglifruit... But that's another subject.

I know enough to know I don't know enough... Some baking apples are rather astringent or mealy or other odd things if you try eating them raw, and the other direction doesn't work well either. And some really tart green ones work well as caramel or candied, but not raw - unless sucking on lemons is your idea of fun.

And I'll bet there are some that don't store for beans ('Eat Now') and others that will hold for months, that's another "Note" that's nice to know BEFORE they go mealy or mooshy and $$ get tossed.

I'm using a mini-fridge as a better 'root cellar' than the too cold

40 F refrigerator - The half-flat of Beefsteak Tomatoes calls for 55 F, is that about right for Apples too? (Will throw the onions and potatoes in there too as called for - getting tired of the sprouting eyes, even in a dark box...)

No more Mom, no SWMBO. Gotta stop with the Bachelor Food - Nuke less frozen bad stuff, cook more good stuff, less chips, more fruit.

"Help me, Obi Wan..." :lol:

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman
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Hi Karl, Bruces post reminded me of an oddity I found during a trip to Tasmania

- it was a major producer of apples etc for export to the UK, when the dastardly Poms joined the EU, the market vanished overnight. Consequently, many farms were just abandoned.

Met a gardener, part of a network, collecting old heritage apples - most of them no longer available commercially. He showed me one, from America in the 1800's, which was now extinct in America so they were exporting cuttings back to the US. (He lived in the most beautiful handmade house, roof trusses were 40ft Oregon beams, dead straight, no knots, just simply beautiful pieces of timber - salvaged from a demolished warehouse..)

Trivia, I know, but interesting.

Andrew VK3BA.

Reply to
vk3bfa

...

There are about 7000 named apple varieties in existence at this time so I can see your issue. I currently sell 30 of them and used to raise another

  1. I could quickly give you great cliff notes on these; but while this list would be useful for MN, it wouldn't be worth beans in CA. I'll ask Julie if she's seen something more generic. I'll also put this question to the apple growers list serve newsgroup.

...

Optimum storage for apples is 33 degrees and 90 percent humidity. fridges are WAY to dry (that frost free feature is actually a dryer) so we sell in a perforated plastic bag and suggest to customers to put a dampened paper towel in with them.

I know potatoes in the fridge don't work well, the starch turns to sugar. My SO don't keep onions in there either, I assume she has a reason.

Sounds like you need to shop for a new SWMBO.

Karl

Reply to
Karl Townsend

You'll have to do some work, but this site has info:

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more possible links here:

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I may mess around with the first one if I find some ambition. Combine the three pages into one and generate a text file or maybe a ztxt/weasle file for Palm...

Reply to
Leon Fisk

Okay, I was expecting a few hundred... Eek. Serious Eek. It's a much bigger problem than I thought.

Now you know why this is so necessary - I see 6 new varietal names and they don't even have signs up what they are best for, and I'm not the memorizing arcane lists type. (Well, at least not that one...)

"I'm just going for the Known Quantity, gimme a bag of the Red Delicious and I'm outta here."

Gee, something that would drive sales. I'd think a grower's Co-Op would jump on that.

If nothing else, you take all the state lists, mash them together into a Pocket Apple Reference, and put the text somewhere Google can find and index it. Most new cellphones have some sort of internet connection (even if it's "dial-up equivalent") and web browsers...

I'll go add moisture - the vent selectors are already closed.

Well, the 'dark dry cool box' isn't working so well when Dad insists on keeping the house at 80+ 24/7, I'm waiting for the sprouts to push back the towel and turn toward the window.

Nice idea, but the low-maintenance ones are all taken. And I'm not particularly tolerant of the needy or clingy "You forgot the three month anniversary of our first ___ - You don't love me!!" type. And the Over Jealous act "You're fifteen minutes late getting home, what's the Bimbo's name?" will not fly with me at ALL.

It'll happen when it happens. I'm not ducking Cupid, but he has been put on notice that it better not be a false alarm - or I'll Double-Tap that little Cherub.

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

My brother once told me that there's 600 varieties of Washington Red Delicious alone.

Reply to
Jim Stewart

Is the "Jazz" type becoming more widely grown? A little pricey, but the best darned apples I've tasted.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

True, they are mutations of mutations of the original delicious. The original apple was found in Iowa. It was not very red, had a thin skin, and a wonderful sweet flavor and crisp texture. It was also round.

Years of selection for thicker skin, redder color, and typiness (long pointed apple) destroyed the variety. Its now known to most as a bland tasteless mushy apple. BUT, you can pick it all at once, ship by rail and leave it on the shelf forever.

karl

Reply to
Karl Townsend

Jazz is one of the two best apples in the world. Not just according to me, but generally accepted by all the experts in the industry. it is a patented variety from New Zealand. Quantities are being tightly controlled to keep price high.

The other apple is even better, Honeycrisp. It was developed here in Minnesota. it has been found to have far better quality when grown in northern climates. You'll find Washington Honeycrisp have nowhere near the quality of Minnesota.

Karl

Reply to
Karl Townsend

On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 19:11:01 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm, "Karl Townsend" quickly quoth:

I haven't tasted either. I have a couple Golden Delicious trees which I love. My other faves are Fuji, Gala, Macintosh, and Braeburn. I like a sweet, crisp apple, sometimes tart. And I hate apple skins. Ick!

I've tasted a few other types, red delicious can be mealy as hell, but I guess I've never tasted the other 6,990 or so species. From the pics, the russets look ghastly.

-- The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man. -- Euripides

Reply to
Larry Jaques

...

Say Karl,

Can you point me to your 'home delivery' website please?

--Winston

Reply to
Winston

Milady used to do special packs for customer ship after the store closed. Which meant I got bachelor food for supper. Now we close an hour earlier and skip all that extra value added stuff. We had to get a life.

He's a web site for you:

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Karl

Reply to
Karl Townsend

Thanks!

--Winston

Reply to
Winston

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