Fall has pretty well set in as evidenced by all the people I see harvesting their apple crop. Seems like a lot of those apple trees got harvested by the winds we've had recently.
The other day I attended a meeting at the WSU Research Station in Mount Vernon. The meeting was organized to give a serious look at the possibilities for establishing more commercial apple orchards on this side of the mountains. At present there are only a few.
Washington state provides over a third of all the apples for the United States. That is very impressive. Of course, those apples are the bright red and yellow ones we are all familiar with in today's market place.
It is a credit to the Washington apple industry's marketing program that so many of us visualize a bright red apple when someone mentions the word apple. It is little wonder that most stores only sell a few varieties of apples when there are in fact thousands.
Why is it that we don't see those other thousands? First and foremost is that the apple industry learned a long time ago that consumers buy apples based in large part on their visual appearance. The Red Delicious apple certainly is attractive and the industry has worked hard to keep us attuned to what it considers a quality appearing apple. Second, the industry learned that stores need to be able to have apples year-round for consumers. Millions of dollars have been spent on ways to increase the storage life of the Red Delicious and Golden Delicious. They have succeeded for the most part. Now we can find last year's Red Delicious crop on our grocers shelves clear into July and August. For the most part good quality apples are available to us year-round.
Interestingly, I have found that I was pretty much a Red Delicious fan myself. I like the beauty of the apple and the crisp crackle as I bite into it. I never experimented with much else.
Now my eyes and taste buds are awakening to the varieties we have readily available to us here in Western Washington. For example, last year at the All About Fruit Show I had a chance to taste a Macoun. This apple doesn't have that bright red, speckled color of the Red Delicious and it doesn't have its special shape either. But, what it does have is a fantastic taste. In fact, I would readily choose it over the Red or Golden Delicious any day.
Sunset Magazine has run taste tests for a number of years using the public as the judges and they have put the Jonagold variety on the top of the preferred list for several years. This particular apple has found its way into a number of west side commercial orchards. It is one of the best for both cooking and eating fresh. If you have a chance to try them it will not be a mistake. By the way, they also store well. Some of the other varieties that are good for Western Washington are: King, Melrose, Mutsu, Gravenstein, Akane, Jonamac and Gala to mention a few. Each has its own special characteristics for taste, use and storage.
Should a fledgling apple industry get started here in Western Washington, I think you'll find that you'll be making a trip out to local orchards to get yours. You may likely find that orchardists may allow you to pick for yourself or they will have done the picking for you.
One marketing concept that has caught on in the Midwest, and I've seen it done in this state, is where orchardists sell a particular tree's crop months before it is ready to harvest. The person who bought the crop can be assured an apple supply of a variety they want.
There is a lot to know about apples: which varieties grow best in Western Washington, what their characteristics are, which are good for eating fresh or for cooking, which store best, where to buy apples, how to prune your trees, which ones are disease resistant, and why your tree failed to bear fruit this year. If you are interested in any of these subjects, you can contact our office for informative publications. We can be reached at 679-7327 or 321-5111, extension 327.
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