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Heirloom apple varieties best for Willamette Valley #862121

Asked March 20, 2024, 9:59 PM EDT

Could you please recommend six heirloom varieties of apples for the Lebanon area that are prized for their hardiness, unique flavor, floral scents. Not interested in the common hybrids just the more flavorful heirlooms. Also, where can we obtain these varieties? Thank you for all your prior advise.

Linn County Oregon

Expert Response

Hi Michael,
Finding heirlooms has become easier lately.  There are several nurseries selling them. 
I can tell you about several from personal experience.  We put them in our orchard years ago.
Golden Russet, very tart, crisp and makes great pies, sauce, added to other apples, great juice.  It is a lime/yellow green with russeting all over it, not a pretty apple.
King David (not to be confused with King), took a few years for it to get going, but one of the best tasting to my way of thinking.  Very large, sweet/tart, very juicy and good for baking, sauce and juicing.  Eating right off the tree is fabulous.
Keepsake, an old variety.  Named because after harvest as it ages the flavor improves.  Medium sized, reddish apple, good flavor and good for sauce and pies.  I don't juice it because we hold it for eating during the winter.
Gravenstein and Red Gravenstein, do very well here.  They are prolific and can be eaten off the tree, are great for sauces and pies.  We do not juice these as they ripen early summer and we juice in the fall.  Red Gravenstein can become an every 2 year apple if you do not reduce the number of apples by 50% each year.  Both varieties are very prolific.
Spitzenberg is a tart, crisp apple, said to be Thomas Jefferson's favorite.  I like it in sauces, tart with cinnamon.
Opalescent, dark red skin, pure white flesh, delicious.  Can you tell I like apples.
Hudson's Golden Gem is a cross between a pear and an apple, exceptionally sweet, hard flesh, produces tons of fruit.
Belle de Boskoop, Northern Spy, Fameuse, and Macoun all great apples.  Twenty ouncer or Wolf apple is very large, the size of small pumpkins, and the tree grows very large if not pruned.  Black Arkansas is a dark, dark red apple, ripens very late in the fall and stores really well.  Very tart.
All of these trees can become large.  All of them are on semi-dwarf rootstock in our orchard.
When looking for trees, look at when they ripen.  Ours start in early summer and various trees ripen throughout the summer and fall.
We cannot recommend businesses in this venue.  You can put in the search box of your browser  "heirloom organic apples in the Willamette Valley" and will most likely come up with businesses in our area.  There are several.  
Since the arrival of the jumping worm to our area (an invasive worm that looks similar to regular worms we have) I recommend a bare root tree without soil, just sawdust or fine wood chips. 
Thank you for contacting Ask.Extension.  If you have further questions, let us know.

Sheryl Casteen Replied April 01, 2024, 7:37 PM EDT
Hi Michael,
Finding heirlooms has become easier lately.  There are several nurseries selling them. 
I can tell you about several from personal experience.  We put them in our orchard years ago.
Golden Russet, very tart, crisp and makes great pies, sauce, added to other apples, great juice.  It is a lime/yellow green with russeting all over it, not a pretty apple.
King David (not to be confused with King), took a few years for it to get going, but one of the best tasting to my way of thinking.  Very large, sweet/tart, very juicy and good for baking, sauce and juicing.  Eating right off the tree is fabulous.
Keepsake, an old variety.  Named because after harvest as it ages the flavor improves.  Medium sized, reddish apple, good flavor and good for sauce and pies.  I don't juice it because we hold it for eating during the winter.
Gravenstein and Red Gravenstein, do very well here.  They are prolific and can be eaten off the tree, are great for sauces and pies.  We do not juice these as they ripen early summer and we juice in the fall.  Red Gravenstein can become an every 2 year apple if you do not reduce the number of apples by 50% each year.  Both varieties are very prolific.
Spitzenberg is a tart, crisp apple, said to be Thomas Jefferson's favorite.  I like it in sauces, tart with cinnamon.
Opalescent, dark red skin, pure white flesh, delicious.  Can you tell I like apples.
Hudson's Golden Gem is a cross between a pear and an apple, exceptionally sweet, hard flesh, produces tons of fruit.
Belle de Boskoop, Northern Spy, Fameuse, and Macoun all great apples.  Twenty ouncer or Wolf apple is very large, the size of small pumpkins, and the tree grows very large if not pruned.  Black Arkansas is a dark, dark red apple, ripens very late in the fall and stores really well.  Very tart.
All of these trees can become large.  All of them are on semi-dwarf rootstock in our orchard.
When looking for trees, look at when they ripen.  Ours start in early summer and various trees ripen throughout the summer and fall.
We cannot recommend businesses in this venue.  You can put in the search box of your browser  "heirloom organic apples in the Willamette Valley" and will most likely come up with businesses in our area.  There are several.  
Since the arrival of the jumping worm to our area (an invasive worm that looks similar to regular worms we have) I recommend a bare root tree without soil, just sawdust or fine wood chips. 
Thank you for contacting Ask.Extension.  If you have further questions, let us know.

Sheryl Casteen Replied April 01, 2024, 7:41 PM EDT
Thank you, Sheryl, Yes, you certainly love apples and are a wealth of excellent knowledge. I will find some good nursery with these varieties and just maybe find a nursery that could graft a few varieties on each rootstock since, having all these types of varieties would be so good ,but we only have room for 4-6 trees. 
I have to say that this extension site is, by far, the best there is. Thank you again for your expertise.
Mike Z

From: ask=<personal data hidden> <ask=<personal data hidden>> on behalf of Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>>
Sent: Monday, April 1, 2024 4:37 PM
To: Michael Zelko <<personal data hidden>>
Subject: Re: Heirloom apple varieties best for Willamette Valley (#0132044)
 
The Question Asker Replied April 01, 2024, 10:21 PM EDT
You are welcome Michael. 
Sheryl Casteen Replied April 02, 2024, 12:31 AM EDT

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