Blossoming apple trees at Ditmars Orchard and Vineyard - May, 2013

APPLE VARIETIES

Apple varieties are listed by their general order of harvest although there is a large amount of overlap.

• Redfree: medium size summer dessert quality apple. Juicy, fairly crisp with mildly subacid taste. Good for fresh eating, cooking and cider.
• Williams Pride: medium size, summer dessert quality apple. Dark purple coloring over a pale yellow background. Slightly tart and crisp. Good for fresh eating, sauce and cider.
• Gala: very sweet, late summer-early fall apple. Pinkish red color is distinctive. Good for eating and an excellent addition to pies and crisps to add sweetness.
• Jonathan: tart, dark red apple, prized in the midwest for its flavor and use in baking and cooking. Also good for cider
• Honey Crisp; explosive crispness and taste. Considered by many to be the best of the eating apples. Color varies as does appearance.
• Ozark Gold: not a true golden but with many of the same qualities. Beautiful gold with a pink blush. Used for eating, cooking, baking and cider.
• Liberty: a red eating apple similar to the McIntosh but better for cooking. Good also for sauce and cider.
• McIntosh: red eating apple, slightly tart, excellent for sauce and cider. #1 apple in the northeast United States.
• Empire: a McIntosh-red delicious cross which takes the best qualities of both. Highly prized in the northeast. Dark red with a creamy flesh. Eating, cooking and cider.
• Early Fuji: Crisp, good keeping, sweet-tart apple, considered by many to be one of the best eating apples.
• Red Delicious: discovered in Iowa, this dark red shiny apple has set the standard for years in terms of an eating apple. Not for use for other purposes.
• Pinova: beautiful apple, yellow with pink blush. Duchess of Oldenburg and Cox Orange Pippin cross. Great taste, the owner’s favorite.
• Jonagold: jonathan-golden delicious cross. Slightly tart with crisp taste. Great flavor, good in storage.
• Chieftan: jonathan, red delicious cross developed in Iowa. Best qualities from both varieties. Iowa’s true apple.
• Enterprise: large glossy red apple. Very crisp, excellent for eating
• Mutzu: a japanese golden prized for its excellent flavor. Appearance varies but always crisp.
• Granny Smith: the ultimate tart apple. Green and crisp. An excellent keeper. Great for eating and baking.

Check out this little bee getting the job done on the sweet cherry blossoms!

CHERRIES

• Montmorency: the standard for all pie cherries, juicy and tart. Late June to early July
• Stark Gold: a beautiful gold cherry. Sweet with a touch of tart. Firm, excellent for eating. Late June to early July
• Planted but not yet bearing: Rembrandt, Black Republican, and Empress Francis

Gorgeous peach blossoms at Ditmars Orchard and Vineyard!

PEACHES

• All stellar series peaches. Developed in Michigan. Outstanding taste and juicy.
  Early August thru mid-September