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Fruit & Orchards

Gravenstein, Williams Pride or Spitzenburg Apples?

16 years ago

Of the three which one will taste the best? Gravenstein, Spitzenburg or Williams Pride? Since I'm ordering from burnt ridge nursery, wanted to pick only from what they have, any input appreciated thanks!

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Comments (6)

nullzero
16 years ago
I heard Willams Pride is prety good tasting, the best quality would have to be its high disease resistance.
jellyman
16 years ago
Last Earth:

E. Spitzenberg is highly susceptible to fireblight, if that is a consideration. And if you live in Jersey, it might be. I took out a Spitz here because it was nearly destroyed by fireblight. Williams Pride is fine for an early apple, good for sauce and pies, but average for fresh eating, and, like most early apples, not much of a keeper. Think mealiness.

When you limit yourself to one nursery, you are letting them decide what you can plant. I know it's a whole lot more convenient and cheaper to order from one source, but trees are a long-range investment, and it's worth the trouble and expense to plant what you really want.

A late-ripening, long-keeping, highly flavored apple like Goldrush would be my choice for your location. It also has disease resistance, and can begin to bear in year 3 on a semi-dwarfing rootstock like M-7. My Goldrush produces apples right up there in quality with Fuji and Pink Lady, and they keep in refrigeration for 6 months.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA
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lucky_p
16 years ago
My experience with Spitz is similar to Don's - a fireblight magnet, and eventually succumbed to it without ever getting a chance to fruit. Additionally, despite the catalogs constantly touting it as 'Thomas Jefferson's favorite' - the few people in this area who've actually fruited it, said that if it was TJ's favorite, he must not have had much to compare it to.

Another vote for GoldRush - it's susceptible to CAR, but otherwise its a good one.
Best early variety for me is MonArk - a big, firm, crisp apple, ripe here in July, good for fresh eating and culinary use - and it will keep in cold storage for 6-8 weeks without going mealy.
lucky_p
16 years ago
Oops. Wasn't finished.
While Burnt Ridge is a good nursery, and I've never seen anything but rave reviews for it, there are plenty of good fruit tree nurseries here in the eastern US that can provide you with the apples you want at reasonable prices - and shipping should be a lot less than it would be for stuff coming from WA/OR.

Here is a link that might be useful: NAFEX Nursery/Supply Source list
Scott F Smith
16 years ago
One other point about the east vs west coast nurseries is if you use an east coast nursery you will more likely get varieties that work here. Gravenstein is very popular in the west but is hard to find in the eastern nurseries, because it often does not do well here. That said, I still do order from west coast places if I know about the variety already or if I want to take a risk. (And, one apple I took a risk on was Gravenstein and it actually produced some nice apples for me last year.) Good eastern apple nurseries include Cummins, Vintage Virginia Apples, White Oak Nursery, Big Horse Creek Farm, and Adams County Nursery.

Scott
storkace
16 years ago
I have never had a Williams Pride, but have tasted both of the other apples. The Spitzenberg is a much better tasting apple, but that's just my opinion. I suspect a Gravenstein grown in CA tastes better than one grown here in WI. I tend to like apples which have a good acid/sweet balance rather than just a sweet apple.
The Spitzenberg is also an excellent keeper and the flavor improves with refrigeration. The Gravenstein needs to be used almost immediately, if that is a consideration.

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