Cortland - Great all-purpose apple developed in 1898 as a cross between Ben Davis and Macintosh. It is a sweet apple with a hint of tartness. Its flesh is tender and snow white. Good in salad because it stays white long after it is cut and peeled. Also good for eating, pies, sauce, baking and freezing.
Empire - Engineered in 1966 as a cross between Red Delicious and Macintosh. It has a blend of sweetness from its high sugar content and tartness from its high acidity. This balance is keenest when first picked. The Empire is also juicy, very crisp and has a creamy, white flesh. It's size makes it a perfect lunchbox apple. It is moderately good for sauce, baking and pies.
Fortune - Crisp with spicy flavor. It is a combination of Schoharie Spy and Empire. Fortunes are excellent for pies and sauce.
Fuji - High sugar and low acid content, giving it a flavorful sweet taste. The flesh is extremely crisp and juicy and stays that way longer than any other sweet apple. Fuji's perform well when baked or frozen, but are perhaps best suited for eating fresh or in salads. Fuji's were introduced to the US from Japan in the 1980's They are a mix of Red Delicious and Ralls Janet - an antique apple that goes back to Thomas Jefferson in 1793.
Gala - Developed in New Zealand in 1934. Gala apples are a cross between Golden Delicious and Kidd's Orange Red. These small, 'lunchbox' apples are sweet and grainy with a mild flavor and thin skin. Ready in early fall, these apples are an attractive yellow-orange color with red spots or stripes. Inside, the dense creamy yellow flesh is very sweet and aromatic. This variety is best eaten fresh, so purchase locally in season whenever possible.
Golden Delicious - Found in 1905 in West Virginia, the apple was named in hopes to gain the popularity of Red Delicious. They are related in name only though. Golden Delicious are juicy and honey sweet. Its flesh is crisp and light yellow. Excellent for pies but high in fructose - so lessen the amount of sugar in the recipe.
Honeycrisp - Honey crisp apples ahve a small but growing fan club that eagerly awaits the arrival of the first crop in mid to late September. Inside its mottled red and green exterior, this large apple has a light, creamy flesh with crisp juicy texture and an excellent, mildly sweet flavor. The Honeycrisp is excellent for eating and in salads, and can also be used for sauce, baking and pies.
Ida Red - Engineered in 1942 from a cross between two old fashioned New York State apples, Jonathan and Waganer. This variety is juicy and has a firm, yellow-green flesh that is sometimes tinted a rosy pink. The Ida Red is excellent for sauce, cooking, baking and pies (if you like firm slices of apple in your pie) and moderately good for eating and salads. Ida Red is a great choice for pink applesauce. Cook the apples with the skins on and then strain them for the best pink color.
Jonagold - Became popular in the 1980's as a cross between Golden Delicious and Jonathan. Jonagold is the a superior choice for an eating apple because of its high sugar and high acid levels, making it a complex, well balanced apple. Also and excellent choice for cooking and sauce, and makes a terrific apple crisp.
Jonamac - Sweet with a touch of spiciness. Combination of the Macintosh and Jonathan. Excellent for eating and sauce.
Kendall - Sweet. Combination of a Macintosh and Zusoff.
Liberty - Sweet. Excellent for eating fresh.
Macoun - a cross between Macintosh and Jersey Black. They need to be enjoyed while in season during October and November. The dark red to purple skin is prone to bloom a natural waxy substance that protects the tender, snow white, crisp and juicy flesh. A perfect accompaniment for a cheese and cracker tray, and the naturally high sugar content makes a fabulous unsweetened applesauce.
Macintosh - Discovered in 1811 by John Macintosh. They are sweet with a hint of tartness. Excellent for eating and sauce. Soft in salads in pies.
Macoun - Sweet and crisp with a short shelf life. A cross between Macintosh and Arkansas Black varieties. Excellent for eating, and good for salads and sauce.
Mutsu (Crispin) - A cross between Golden Delicious and a Japanese Variety called Indo, from which it gets its large size. It's sweet, very juicy, super crisp, and has a distinctive flavor of its own. The Mutsu is excellent for eating, sauce and baking. It is moderately good for salads and pies. The Mutsu is one of the highest quality dessert apples.
Northern Spy - Originated in 1800 in NY State. The Spy is a large apple with tender skin and juicy aromatic flesh. It has the highest amount of Vitamin C of any apple variety. It is also trhe most highly recommended variety for apple pie because the slices keep their shape during baking.
Paula Red - Sweet. Excellent for eating and salads.
Red Delicious - in 1893 the Red Delicious won in a fruit show beating apples from all around the country. These popular, very sweet apples are especially delicious when grown in the Northeast. They are juicy, with a crisp, yellow flesh. Excellent for eating and in salads. They look good for a long time, and work well in centerpieces.
Rome - Mildly tart. Excellent for sauce, baking and pies. Good for salad and freezing.
Disease Resistant Apples - Do you ever feel like you're just a "number"- unknown and sometimes even ignored? Well so do our Disease Resistant apples. These apples are so new that they have only been assigned a number up to this point. It depends on you, the consumer, if they will ever win enough popularity to receive a name and in turn be loved and respected. After all, isn't that what we're all searching for?
The Disease Resistant apples that Indian Ladder Farms grows are the same varieties currently being developed at the Experimental Station in Geneva, NY. These varieties were part of a population of about 10,000 seedlings grown at the Experimental Station in Geneva. All the seedlings were a cross from known varieties. These young plants were then exposed to the most common diseases of apples and most were killed off by one pathogen or another. Only a few survived this test and made it to the next hurdle. The survivors were set out in the orchard and were allowed to fruit. These fruits were tasted and only a handful of these trees were given a numbers and propagated as elite specimens. That's where Indian Ladder Farms and a few other growers come in to determine whether the trees will have large crops, if they will bear fruit every year and not be susceptible to damage from low temperatures, or if they will bloom too early and be at risk from spring frost.
The other factors that determines whether an experimental variety will be crowned a name is how well it is received by the consumer. We encourage all our consumers to explore the possibilities of these new varieties. Do your own test, use it in your recipes, try it in a lunchbox. Most important...let us know!
Today, we are part of the science of apple engineering. It is quite possible your favorite apple is just a number right now. If accepted by the public, these apples will require less chemical use of disease control and will be a giant step in the direction of allowing us to grow crops the most natural, healthful way!