Apple Varieties

Below is a list of the apple varieties we grow within our orchard. We are constantly adding new varieties to keep up with market demand, and will update them regularly.

Gingergold: A new variety—an early cooking apple crossed with a Yellow Delicious. A distinctive, sweet-tart flavor, juicy and crisp. Developed to be used as an eating variety but good for cooking, makes tasty pies and crisp, fried apples and a somewhat thicker sauce.

Zestar: Outstanding well-balanced flavor and feather-light crunchy texture, extraordinary in an early apple. The side of the fruit facing the sun develops a sweet spot that’s brighter red and wildly flavorful. Introduced at the University of Minnesota, 1998.

Sansa: Developed in the 1970s in Japan. Sansa apples are essentially early ripening Gala. It is sweet with a slight tart balance and has more acidity than Gala apples. The flesh is fine-textued and crisp. Used for eating fresh, salads, and desserts.

Gala: Sweet, Juicy with crisp textured flesh. Developed for eating fresh or in salads but cooks tender. It will hold it’s shape in pies and apple crisp or cobbler. Excellent for juice or “smoothies”. We have a few different types of gala within our orchard. This apple has replaced the Red Delicious as the favorite eating apple in the U.S.

Blondee: A medium sized apple that has a shape similar to that of a gala. It has a smooth yellow skin with slight russeting and tan colored pores. The Blondee has a firm, bright white flesh that is slow to brown. It is somewhat resistant to bruising. Overall, it has a mild, sweet taste with almost no acidity. Because of its similarity to a Gala, it is often described as a “yellow Gala”. It is excellent for use in apple dumplings.

Honeycrisp: Fruit is characterized by an exceptionally crisp and juicy texture. Its flesh is cream colored and coarse. The flavor is sub-acid and ranges from mild and well-balanced to strongly aromatic, depending on the degree of maturity. Believed to be an offspring of Macoun and Honey Gold, Honey Crisp was introduced in 1991 by the University of Minnesota. It has consistently ranked as one of the highest quality apples in the University of Minnesota sensory evaluations.

Grimes Golden: Considered to be an “Heirloom” variety. Firm, fine-grained yellow flesh has a tangy but sweet taste. An ideal cooking apple and good for eating fresh.  Makes great pies and a smooth sauce.

McIntosh: An old time favorite. A distinctive, mildly tart flavor. Good for cooking, makes tasty pies and crisp, fried apples and sauce. Apples cook tender but loose their shape when cooked. Sauce will have a “pinkish” hue if the apple is not peeled when making sauce. A favorite to use for dried apples.

Cortland: A McIntosh  cross. Tasty with white flesh. Mildly tart with just a hint of sweetness. Good to eat fresh but great for baking, in salads and sauce. Very old variety that is still in demand due to its unique flavor. The sauces made from Cortland apples are very white in color.

Jonathon: Tops for flavor, juicy with crisp textured flesh and tangy taste. An ideal cooking apple and great for eating fresh. Makes great pies and cakes. Excelled for making ciders, a perfect blend.

Snow Sweet: Snow Sweet apples are red and scab resistant with a crisp, white flesh that is resistant to browning. It is sweet in flavor with just the right amount of tartness and is great for eating fresh and on salads.

September Wonder: An early fuji. Crisp, juicy and very good to eat fresh. Hold shape when used in pies, crisps, or as fried apples. This variety has excellent keeping qualities.

Fuji: Big and barrel shaped with pink stripes. Has a unique sweetness that can be almost melony. Crisp and juicy with a semi-chewy skin. Great for eating fresh, but is also a good dried apple.

Melrose: A cross between Jonathan and Red Delicious. Large in size and is a beautiful yellow green wrapped in red and orange. The apple is sweet and acidic in flavor with a firm and cream colored flesh. Good for cooking, desserts and saucing. Good for storing and becomes more aromatic the longer it is stored. It is the state apple of Ohio.

Crimson Crisp: As the name suggests, this apple is crimson red in color with a firm, crisp, and stark white flesh. The apple is tart and is great for eating fresh or on salads and sandwiches, as it is slow to brown. Great for cider and juicing.

Elstar: Sweet-tart flavor, juicy with crisp textured flesh. Developed for eating fresh, but cooks tender. It will break-up somewhat when baked in pies and apple crisp or cobbler. Makes excellent pies. Because of its unique juiciness, this variety makes an excellent cider blend.

Red Rubens: A new Italian cross of the Gala and Elstar. It is conical in shape with a combination of intense flavor with a pleasing sweetness. Red Rubens are a crisp and juicy apple.

Empire: A cross between a McIntosh and Delicious. It is tasty with crisp textured flesh. Good for eating fresh as it is small-medium sized with a mild sweetness with just enough tartness. Mostly eaten fresh, but very good in pies, cobblers, sauce and freezing.

Mutsu: A cross between the American Golden Delicious and the Japanese Indo apple, and is also known as Crispin’. It has a green skin that is crisp and juicy with a slightly tart flavor. Good to eat fresh and used for baking or sauce. Will keep for a fairly long time.

Jonagold: A Jonathon crossed with Yellow Delicious. Tasty, crisp textured, juicy flesh.  Sweet with a hint of tartness. Great to eat fresh but does cook well.  Makes tasty pies, apple crisp or cobbler. Voted the #1 pie apple for apple pie making in New York state.

Yellow Delicious: Sweet eating apple. An all time favorite apple. Can be used for cooking but apple will not cook up, but does cook tender. Good to eat fresh and often used for fried apples. We grow an old variety of yellow delicious, known as the Mullins Golden Delicious, and these trees make up 10% of our plantings.

Red Delicious: Sweet eating apple. An all time favorite apple, which was voted to be the favorite eating apple in the United States for many years. Can be used for cooking but apple will not cook up. Good to eat fresh and great to use in Waldorf salad.

York Imperial: When ripe, this apple has a flavor similar to that of Juicy Fruit Gum. The apple is a classic sweet-tart flavor off of the tree with tough, striped skin that needs to be peeled when used. Excellent for drying and is known for its keeping qualities. An old variety of apple.

 Pixie Crunch: Small, round and red. Is a newer apple that was developed at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana. It is an intensely sweet apple with a odd, savory flavor as if it has caramel running throughout it. The texture is similar to that of a Honeycrisp and also has a thin skin. It is not a good apple for storage, but great for eating fresh.

Braeburn: One of the most popular eating apples and are wonderful when baked. Braeburns are sweet with a hint of tart, and a firmness that stores well. It has a glossy skin with short stripes of dark crimson. These traits plus the fact that they bake well have made them a very versatile apple.

Chesapeake: Tasty, Crisp textured flesh. Tart with a hint of sweetness. Good for cooking and baking, especially good for caramel apples. Cooks tender but does not “mush” up. Makes tasty pies, apple crisp, cobbler.  Does well in apple dumplings. This is a cross between Rome Beauty and Red Delicious

Northern Spy: One of the finest old-time varieties with delicious tart flavor. Good for cooking and baking because of its tartness and large size. Makes tasty pies, apple crisp, cobbler, and cider. The flesh ripens to a pale yellow and mellows as the apples are in storage. Bruises easily, but still keeps well in storage with bruises. A good eating apple if tartness is desired.

Suncrisp: Very tart and firm with a cream-colored flesh that resists browning when cut open. A fairly intense flavor, sub-acidic yet sweet. Flavor mellows and sweetens with age. The skin is chewy and often russeted. Developed to be eaten fresh but can still be used for cooking and baking. A good apple for storage.

Arkansas Black: An all time favorite apple. Greenish-white flesh when picked and turns into a creamy yellow-orange color as it is kept. Arkansas Black have a tart taste at first that sweetens with time and a firm, snappy texture. The acidity of this apple fades in storage and in late winter has an unmistakable melony flavor. Can be eaten fresh but also good for cooking pies or sauce.

Winesap: An old time favorite apple.  A tart, flavorful, firm fruit that is great to eat fresh, but also does well in pies, sauce and cobblers. Picked late in the season. Because of its firmness and naturally waxed surface, winesaps keep well in storage. We currently have three types of winesap planted in our orchard.

  1. Turley Winesap: An all time favorite apple.  Tart, flavorful, firm fruit that is great to eat fresh but also does well in pies, sauce and cobblers.   It is a larger fruit.
  2. Stayman Winesap: Antique looking apple that is red speckled with white dots and thin skin. Stays tart and firm in pies and tarts. Is good for “spirited” ciders.
  3. Black Twig Winesap: Well sized, smooth, round, dark purplish-red fruits which turn nearly black at maturity. Crisp, juicy, very firm with yellow flesh. Distinctive aromatic flavor lends itself well to cider blending.  High quality, good for eating and cooking, although hard upon first picked, will mellow in time. A cross between ‘Stayman’ and ‘Arkansas Black.’ Considered to be a very good apple for keeping.

Granny Smith: Tasty, crisp, white flesh with a mix of sweet and tart flavors. Good for cooking and baking, but stays firm when baked. Good for snacking, especially caramel apples. Good storage qualities.

Pink Lady: A tasty, crisp, white flesh with a unique mix of sweet and tart flavors. It has a pink skin and is good for cooking and baking, but stays firm when baked. The Pink Lady was developed as a cross between the Golden Delicious and Lady Williams. Has good storage qualities and is excellent eaten fresh. Last variety harvested in our orchard.

Gold Rush: Gold Rush apples have a russeting color and once fully ripe, the skin turns into a freckled gold. They are tart and rhubarb-like in flavor early on and turn sweet and spicy with a slight tartness as they are stored. The texture is very hard, but juicy. Stores exceptionally well. Enjoyed fresh, excellent in salads as it doesn’t brown easily. Extraordinary crunch and longevity. Resistant to scab and other apple diseases. Popular among organic and low spray apple growers.

17 Responses to Apple Varieties

  1. Barbara Schoenberger says:

    I just discovered the tasty, juicy, sweet Golden Grime apple. My neighbor has a tree growing in her backyard and was kind enough to give me a few. My husband loved the pie I made with them. He said it was the best pie he’s ever had. He’s the happiest when I bake him an apple pie every week so I do. My neighbor did not know the name of the apples so I posted a photo on Facebook and got a response from my sister-in-law. She said they’re Golden Grimes her favorite apples but she does not know where to purchase them. Do you have them there? I would love to buy some. for myself and of course for my sister-in-law whoose mouth is watering for them! Thank you! Barb

  2. Larry Howard says:

    I have a two year old Chesapeake apple tree, I can’t seem to find any information on this variety, do you know the history of this apple?

    • david says:

      Larry,
      The discovery of Chesapeake was a bit of a surprise. It was seedling variety found after seeds from an open pollinated ‘Red Rome’ tree in Kentucky. It as first found in 1958, and introduced into the market in the late 60’s. Finding a reasonable variety through open seedling crosses is a crap-shoot…but this rare find is a beautiful apple. Bright red skin with a nice snap and white flesh. Great eating apple that ripens in late September/early October.

      Hope that helps,
      David

  3. ROBIN DREYER says:

    I WANT TO KNOW IF YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE ANY MUTSU APPLES (spelling is possibly wrong) I AM LOOKING FOR AN APPLE THAT MAKES A FINE APPLESAUCE I WOULD NOT HAVE TO PROCESS DOWN WITH A COLANDER. LIKE AN EARLY TRANSPARENT WOULD WORK UP. WITH A SWEET FLAVOR SO AS NOT TO HAVE TO ADD SUGAR. BUT IN A FALL APPLE.

    • david says:

      Robin,
      Yes we do have Mutsu apples. They are one of our later varieties that we harvest – so you havent missed them! Let me check with mom to figure out an anticipated market date.

      Check back soon,
      David

  4. Dennis wallingford says:

    I have been looking for a source to purchase Chesapeake apples. My father used to take me to an orchard in Fleming County,Ky beginning in 1950. An apple he would purchase was a Chesapeake. I continue to visit that orchard every year from 1950 through 2007. The only years I missed visiting was from 1965 through 1970, when I served as an officer in the Marine Corp.

    The Browning family operated the orchard until around 2007. Many generations of that family kept the orchard running, but none of the younger generations wanted to keep it running. It eventually was given to Morehead State University.

    Is there any orchard in my region of the country still growing the “Chesapeake” Apple ?

    • david says:

      Dennis,
      We have Chesapeakes. You are correct, this is a very nice apple – crisp, white flesh, great color. They will be available at our various selling venues this fall. For a list of our other varieties, please see this list: http://oldenburgapplelady.com/apple-varieties/

      There may be other orchards that sell Chesapeakes, but I am unaware of them at this time. If I hear of anything closer to you in Kentucky, I will let you know.

      David

  5. Carol Hainline says:

    For several years, I’ve been looking for a place to purchase an Anoka apple tree, ever since my mother’s Anoka tree (in Montana) died.
    Can you tell me who sells these trees?
    I now live in western Washington. Will the Anoka grow well in this mild climate?

    • david says:

      Carol,
      We are located in Indiana and we orchard the trees through Starks Brothers. We do not know if they still carry the variety. We also dont know if they are able to be grown int he State of Washington…sorry we aren’t much help. I would suggest contacting your local extension agent, maybe they can be of assistance.

      David

  6. Stephen Guenther says:

    Will you have Honeycrisp apples?

  7. Stacey Risk says:

    Would you please send us a quote on a truckload of apples?

    • Patty Doll says:

      Stacey,
      Pricing on a truckload of apples is dependent on variety. Usually there is a discount after a purchase of ten bushel or more. Call us at 812-934-4563 for further discussion and cost estimates. Thank you.

    • Patty Doll says:

      Stacey,
      We will be starting to pick Cortland apples this week and next. Northern Spies will be ready in about ten days. If interested in Northern Spies, please call to order as we have other orders for these as well. Thanks for asking. (812)934-4563

  8. carlene says:

    Hi, Can you tell me when your Cortland and Northern Spy’s will be ready? Thanks so much,

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