I just wrote an article about an apple orchard near where I live (Madison, Wisconsin) that was published in a regional magazine. They grow over sixty varieties of apples there, including new varieties and heirlooms, too.

I posted the article on my Web site; you can check it out here:
http://ulysses.blogware.com/blog/Vesnaspublishedwork/_archives/2006/10/1/2384947.html

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My two latest discoveries from the farmers' market are White Winter Pearmain and Rubenstar apples, both of which knock my socks off. The White Winter Pearmain looks as if it should be tart, with pale green, lightly-blushing skin; the reality is a crisp-firm, apple-cidery sweetness. I understand it's one of the oldest English apples, cultivated since @ 1200 A.D. ---------------- Wow... thanks for the info... thats great... I will have to ask my friend who has an heirloom apple orchard is a PhD pomoligest? (sp) about those varietals. They sound really interesting. JMF

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I hope - in vain - to one day see English Russets here in the States. Rough skin; not shiny; dull green/brown color, small to medium size: they seem to fit the bill of being unnattractive compared to that phony, cartoon-like ideal of big, red, shiny apples that some marketing scumbag enforced as the ideal apple for all others to be measured by.
Russets are the crispest, hardest, tastiest, most satisfying apples you could wish for. You really haven't explored the boundaries of appledom unless you've eaten a good Russet. --------------------- my apple growing friend has a few English Russet trees and I love to just stand there and pick and eat those ugly but tasty suckers...Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

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I thought my husband and I were the only "Honeycrisp mad" people around. Neither of us particularly like apples but bought some of these for a party and wow,knocked our socks off! Eat 1-2 every day, buy em', don't care what they cost! We're in love. Our Kroger ran out but I found some at Whole Foods and Rice Epicurean in Houston. Terrific stuff-how do I hoard and keep them all year round???

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Vesna Thanks for link! I did not know it blog!

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Honeycrisp are hands down the best. We're crazy over them in our house. We're planning to try making some honeycrisp applesauce soon!

--------------------I found that Honey Crisp hold their form very well and don't break down into sauce without major overcooking... but are great in pies because they stay firm... I mix them with a apple that breaks down when I make baked apple products and get the best of both worlds. Let us know how your sauce works out------JMF

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For Jonathan and all us other apple-crazy folk, the following resource should prove to be highly informative: http://www.allaboutapples.com/index.ht

Just a few minutes spent on the site, for instance, taught me that the the White Winter Pearmain is merely one of a number of Pearmain varietals.

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Uh, so much for my copy-and-paste skills! This is the correct URL:

http://www.allaboutapples.com/index.htm

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I've been going crazy trying all these new apples springing up at Central Market. The Honey Crisp apple was really good (and insanely big!). I also really enjoyed the Fireside apple, which was developed in 1943 but was certainly new to me. Excellent sweet taste.

I've also recently inherited a juicer and have gotten really fond of home-juiced apple juice...I can see myself getting very into hard cider-making and becoming knowledgable on all these different varieties as I experiment. :D

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Becki-

You should try a Black Oxford apple-I've never tried the Russet but the Oxfords are very dense, crunchy, and have a dull green/purple-ish coloring. They've got a great complex flavor that is satisfying without being overt (like macs often tend to be..)

Try em out! They may tide you over until your beloved Russets make it this way :)

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