Harvest Date

Variety Name

History and Description

Good For

Early August

Red Astrachan*

Of Russian origin. Received by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in 1835. Tart, juicy white flesh, very perishable.

Sauce, pie, jelly

Mid-August

Yellow Transparent*

From Russia  in early 1800’s. Refreshing, well flavored fruit.

Sauce, pie

Late

August

Duchess of Oldenberg*

Fruit medium to large; color pale yellow covered with splashes and stripes of pinkish red. Excellent flavor with tart overtones.

Eating, cooking, dessert

Late August

Paula Red

Early apple, hard and crisp with sweet, full flavor.

Eating, sauces

Late August

Ginger Gold

With a sweet and tangy flavor, the Ginger Gold is excellent for eating , but its ability to hold its shape also makes it an excellent cooking apple: perfect for baking.

Eating, cooking

Late August

Sansa

This sweet, early apple is much like a pear in its texture and flavor. Its flesh is green-white, firm but tender, and juicy.

Eating, cooking

Late August

Jersey Macs

Cross between NJ24 and July Red. McIntosh type apple.

Eating, sauce, pie

Early September

Gravenstein*

Originally found in the Duke of Austinburg’s garden in Gravenstein. Introduced to the Northeast in 1820. Very firm, crisp, juicy, green, high in flavor.

Eating, cooking

Late Aug - Early Sept.

Dolgo Crab*

Siberian crab imported in 1897.  Medium-sized (for a crab) fruit is well-flavored and rich in pectin.

Jelly & cooking

Early September

Lamb Abbey Pearmain*

Small and intensely flavored with a hint of pineapple. Good balance of sugar and acid. Firm flesh.

Eating, dessert

Mid-September

McIntosh (Assorted Varieties)

The most crisp, juicy and flavorful McIntosh apples are found in the orchards of Northern New England, where warm, sunny days and frosty autumn nights prevail.

All purpose

Mid-September

Wolf River*

Very large apples, often weighing 1 pound. The shape is often irregular. Pale, dull red skin has patches of yellow and the coarsely textured flesh is tender, soft, juicy and cream colored. The flavor is a bit tart.

Cooking, sauces, drying

Early September

St. Lawrence*

Carmine striped with a deep bloom. Sweet, crisp and juicy, melting flesh.  19^th century market apple form the St. Lawrence Valley in Quebec.  Not a keeper.

Cooking & baking

Mid-September

Cortland

A great apple for baking, Cortland’s won’t turn brown as quickly as other apples when cut. Perfect for snacking. Crisp, juicy and not too sweet.

All purpose

Mid-September

Honeycrisp

As the name suggests, this is a large, juicy, extra sweet apple and is one of the most sought after at Alyson’s.

Eating,Baking, sauces

Mid-September

Fameuse/Snow*

This apple is thought to be the parent of the McIntosh. It is speculated that the origin is French or Canadian. Beautiful in appearance with tender white flesh.

Dessert

Late September

Jonagold

A cross between the Jonathan and Golden Delicious. Jonagold is an excellent sweet-tart dessert apple. They have a creamy yellow flesh and are noticeably crisp and juicy.

Eating, Dessert, Pies

Late September

Gala

Texture and taste are similar to a Golden Delicious, but Gala is crisper and has a distinct spicy flavor.

Eating, pies, sauces and ciders

Late September

Liberty

The white flesh is crisp, juicy and flavorful. Great apple for eating .

Eating, Baking

Late September

Maiden’s Blush*

Originated in Burlington, New Jersey in 1817 and first named by Samuel Allinson. It is a very lovely apple with a sharp, tangy flavor. Fruit medium to large with smooth, pale waxen yellow skin with a crimson blush.

Eating, drying, cooking

Late September

Rhode Island Greening*

One of the few antique varieties grown commercially today. It is said that the first seedling was found in 1700 outside a tavern at Green’s End new Newport, RI. A green apple with fine grained flesh.

Cooking

Late September

Hubbardston Nonesuch*

Among the best early to mid-season eating apples. Fruit usually large with clear red skin in our climate, but color is variable. Flesh is white, moderately firm, sweet and rich.

Eating

Late September

Cox’s Orange Pippen*

It was first grown in England 200 years ago. Today, the dry orange apple is a specialty of Alyson’s. A pie made with these will be wonderfully pear scented.

Eating, sauces, cider, pie

Late September

Zabergau Rienette*

A russet apple with a dull yellow skin and a potato like shape with a rich, nutty flavor.

Pies

Late September

Belle de Boskoop*

Belle de Boskoop was introduced in the 1850s in the Netherlands, and is still popular on the Continent. It is a large, lumpy, dull red apple, often with extensive russeting. The white-green flesh is dense with a very firm texture.

Dessert, cooking

Late September

Black Gilliflower*

Black Gilliflower Apple is a large, long, conical, ribbed apple which, when highly colored, becomes almost purplish and has a distinctive unusual flavor, reminiscent of Spitzenburg, rich and sweet, with relatively dry flesh.

Late September

Blue Pearmain*

An older variety of unknown origin thought to be American and dating back to 1800. “The apple in Grandmother’s back yard.” Coarse flesh, mild flavor, very aromatic.

Baking

Late September

Hudson’s Golden Gem*

This apple was discovered as a chance seedling at Hudson’s Nurseries in Oregon in 1931. This apple is a “gem in the rough.” Don’t let the fruit with dull, rough skin fool you. Inside, is a sweet, juicy flesh with a delicate almost pear like flavor. It keeps well.

Eating, dessert, cider

Late September

Macoun

Cross between Jersey Black and McIntosh, introduced in 1923 by the New York Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY.

Eating, sauce, pies

Early October

Karmijn de Sonnaville*

Cox Orange Pippen and Belle de Boskoop cross from Holland in 1949. Intensely flavored, rich and aromatic with masses of sugar and acidity and crisp, juicy flesh.  Richer flavor than Cox, slightly honeyed.  Stores through December.

Eating & cooking

Early October

Ashmead’s Kernel*

Grown first in the 1700’s, its skin is russeted and its flesh, crisp and extremely tart. When eaten fresh, it can be a bit like eating a crunchy lemon, but the Ashmead’s flavor mellows out the longer it is kept in storage and they store well.

Cider

Early October

Newtown Pippin*

Skin is green to yellow, often russeted, with white dots. Flesh is yellowish or tinged with green, firm, crisp, moderately fine grained, and sprightly aromatic with refreshing piney tartness.

Eating, dessert, cooking, sauces, cider

Early October

Ananas Rienette*

Russet freckles over gold skin. Crisp and juicy with intense sweet, sharp flavor, developing the pineapple flavor late in the season (its name means pineapple russet).

Eating, cooking, juice

Early October

Empire

Cross between Red Delicious and McIntosh. White flesh

Eating, salads, sauce

Early October

Red Delicious

The classic American apple is renowned for its beauty. Its yellow flesh can be juicy, somewhat tart and highly aromatic.

Eating, salads

Early October

Tolman Sweet

Highly esteemed for baking, stewing and making cider, this is one of the best late sweet apples. Pale yellow skin with russet lines envelops firm, white, sweet fleshed medium to large apples.

Eating, dessert, cooking, baking

Early October

Esopus Spitzenberg*

This variety was found in the late 1700’s on a farm near Esopus, a town in New York’s Hudson Valley. It was a favorite of Thomas Jefferson. The flesh is pale yellow, firm, crisp and tender, with an aromatic, spicy character. It ranks among the best dessert apples and is suited for baking.

Dessert, cooking

Early October

Winesap*

Winesap is thought to have come from New Jersey. By 1817 it was recorded as an important cider apple in the state. Beneath its sturdy skin, the yellow flesh is firm and very juicy with a powerful sweet-sour contrast and has a characteristic winey flavor and aroma.

Sauce, pie,cider

Early October

Coral

Originated in the 1980’s as a limb sport of Gala whose parents are Golden Delicious & Kidd’s Orange Red.  Larger, more handsome fruit than Gala.  Otherwise similar in taste and season.

Eating

Early October

Fortune

A descendent of the Northern Spy, this large, red apple is crisp, juicy and tart.

Eating, cooking

Early October

Bramley Seedling

Favorite cooking apple of the English. Makes a great sauce. A large green apple with a sharp acid taste and very high in Vitamin C. A large, vigorous tree that bears heavily.

Cooking, baking, cider

October

Reine des Reinette

Also called Queen of the Pippens.  Medium size yellow fruit, flecked with red and russet patches.  Tender flesh with sweet, sub-acid flavor.

Eating & cooking

Mid-October

Baldwin*

Discovered before the 1750’s near Lowell (now Wilmington), MA, this apple was the first true commercial apple in the United States. Baldwin is a squat, medium sized apple, pale green, with deep red to maroon blush. It has a lively sweet-tart flavor.

Cooking, eating, cider, sauce

Mid-October

Calville Blanc de Hiver*

Is either French or German origin, likely dating to the 16^th century. This is a large, flattish, round apple, and it’s pale-green in color with light red dots on the side exposed to the sun.

Dessert, cider

Mid-October

Northern Spy*

First found in New York around the 1800’s. It’s known as one of the best pie apples and the yellow white flesh is juicy and sweet-tart with high vitamin C.

Pies, eating, sauce

Late October

Fuji

Originated in Japan, this fruit is crisp, sweet, juicy and stores well. Its popularity is well deserved.

Eating

Late

October

Mutsu

The Japanese bred apple is a favorite of Alyson’s proprietors. The Mutsu (also known as Crispin) is an outstanding all purpose apple. It is crisp and juicy. The rich, sweet flavor is unlike any other apple grown in New England.

All purpose

Late October

Roxbury Russet*

The oldest American-born apple, from a tree in Roxbury, MA, in the late 1600’s. The texture is crisp and hard; some liken the flavor to that of a pear, and others to a coconut.

Cider, pies

Late October

Winter Banana

Originated on the farm of David Flory near Adamsboro, IN in 1876. A yellow apple with pinkish blush and wax-like appearance. Distinctly aromatic and mild in flavor.

Eating

Early November

Lady*

Tiny, doll-like lady apples are sweet-flavored and are a beautiful decorative apple.

Eating, desserts, sauces

Early November

Black Oxford*

A New England original found in the 1700’s in Oxford, Maine. It is a medium sized purple apple, almost black. Its sweet flavor is balanced with a touch of tartness. It keeps exceptionally well and is so hard and crisp it was once referred to as “the rock.”

Eating, cooking, cider