First ripe apples for 2021

[Native Hunter]

When you say "apple chips" - how dry are they?? Do they get crunchy - or more chewy like a jerky?? (that may be a bad comparison) I never tried drying apple slices.

I make mine very dry and crunchy. They are almost like potato chips except a tad thicker.

I eat the chips as snacks, but dried apples are also what they use to make fried apple pies. Nothing in the world like those things. Make me starving just thinking about them.

 

[Native Hunter]

Ayers Pears are ripe now. The taste is excellent as usual, but the size is a little smaller than normal due to overbearing. This variety is known as "Sugar Pear" due to the intense sweetness. I have one tree over 40+ feet tall and another one 30+ feet tall - both at home. I think I have two more of these at the farm.

 

[b116757]

My Williams Pride apples have been dropping for a couple weeks already zone 6b

 

[Native Hunter]

My Williams Pride apples have been dropping for a couple weeks already zone 6b

How do they taste?

 

[b116757]

Williams Pride are a good eating apple and very disease resistant just way to early for hunting purposes. Some good summer nutrition though.

 

[Native Hunter]

Williams Pride are a good eating apple and very disease resistant just way to early for hunting purposes. Some good summer nutrition though.

Yes, I knew they were early. I have one planted at my farm, but still waiting on it to produce fruit.

 

[b116757]

 

[b116757]

Late frost this year took a lot of the blooms many of the ones that produced fruit this year are huge Williams pride apples

 

[H20fwler]

View attachment 36244

Love the color on those, they look a lot like Arkansas black. I'm going to have to look into putting a couple of those in. I need more summer droppers to feed the local wildlife and with it being good DR it should fit the bill!

 

[Mortenson]

Here are my 1st Turkey Creek peaches. Do they seem like they're getting close? Could give them a squeeze. Also, here are my 1st pears from a self planted tree. Either kieffer or ayers - assuming ayers with the reddish tint like N.H.'s?

 

[Native Hunter]

Here are my 1st Turkey Creek peaches. Do they seem like they're getting close? Could give them a squeeze. Also, here are my 1st pears from a self planted tree. Either kieffer or ayers - assuming ayers with the reddish tint like N.H.'s?

View attachment 36254View attachment 36255

Yes, Ayers is early and Kieffer late. Kieffer can get a slight red blush but not yet.

 

[Native Hunter]

I had to rake my yard today before mowing. Dangerous on my hillside. These get fed to the deer on my 20 acre place where I have no fruit trees planted.

 

[Native Hunter]

Here is an apple called Milam that we have falling right now. It is an okay apple but not necessarily one of my favorites. It tastes okay, is small to medium in size but not especially impressive - but would be a good deer apple if you wanted one falling at this time of year.

The leaves stay really clean. I did see this tree take a fireblight hit a few years ago, but it bounced right out of it and came back strong. The mother tree that this one came from was on a nearby old home place, and it seemed to produce well almost ever year. I've not been gathering these apples, but it was loaded this year. The deer have cleaned up a bunch, but there are more falling than they can eat.

 

[Native Hunter]

Here is an apple I bought from Big Horse that is supposed to be Winter King (aka Stark). In the past I have not recommended this apple, but now I've had a change of heart. It is extremely ugly, but I really like the taste, and it has produced good the last few years. It has now become my favorite drying apple for adding cinnamon and sugar. Apples are large, with some exceeding 4 inches. They are a tad smaller this year because of overload. The DR is above average. It has a rep of being a fireblight magnet, but I've not seen any on mine. They will be mostly green but get a tinge of red late in the season.

 

[Native Hunter]

Moonglow Pears are just beginning to drop a few. Note the yellow color on the one in my hand that I picked up off the ground compared to the one that is greener still hanging on the tree.

 

[Native Hunter]

It didn't take me long to harvest my first crop of Grimes Golden - I only had 2 apples. I loved the sweet taste.

 

[Mortenson]

I didn't plant a moonglow yet. Is that the 1 that's bullet proof, very low risk? How does it taste? You are absolutely correct on the taste of the ayers. I picked 3 a wk or 10 days ago and ripened them on the counter. Total dessert. Went back for another 4 gallons of them today, but I need a taller ladder to get many more. They're as good as any Bartlett or comice I've had.

 

[Native Hunter]

I didn't plant a moonglow yet. Is that the 1 that's bullet proof, very low risk? How does it taste? You are absolutely correct on the taste of the ayers. I picked 3 a wk or 10 days ago and ripened them on the counter. Total dessert. Went back for another 4 gallons of them today, but I need a taller ladder to get many more. They're as good as any Bartlett or comice I've had.

View attachment 36735

Moonglow is incredibly disease resistant, but the taste is not that great. I like the taste of Ayers and Kieffer both better than Moonglow. But it is a big, reliable pear.

 

[Jhoss]

HoneyGold just ripe today. I left as many on the tree.

 

[Native Hunter]

This Yates tree is so loaded this year that it looks like it could fall over. This is one of my favorite apples for a deer planting, because it starts dropping in early October and goes into late November, which covers the prime hunting season well. The taste of this apple for human consumption is also good, but it is a small to medium size. I love small apples for deer, but prefer large apples for the ones I eat and process myself. This apple is also very disease resistant and reliable. Glad this is on MM111 instead of B118 or it would likely be on the ground.