How about them Apples…at Sickles Market!

“It is rare that the summer lets an apple go without streaking or spotting it on some part of its sphere. It will have some red stains, commemorating the mornings and evenings it has witnessed; some dark and rusty blotches, in memory of the clouds and foggy, mildewy days that have passed over it; and a spacious field of green reflecting the general face of Nature,—green even as the fields; or a yellow ground, which implies a milder flavor,—yellow as the harvest, or russet as the hills.” – Henry David Thoreau 

Peak apple season is almost here, and as Mr.Thoreau said (way more elegantly) they come in all kinds of shapes, colors, patterns, and sizes. At Sickles we have fifteen different types of apples for you to try. And all of them are extremely versatile, some are great for eating by themselves and others great for cooking. One apple might be better suited for a pie, and another a better for a cider. Here is a listing of all the apples we get from local Melicks Farm from Oldwick, NJ. (in word press I would put melicks in bold!) 

Macoun

‘Macoun’ apples are a cross between the ‘McIntosh’ and ‘Jersey Black’ cultivars. The skin is a dark red with a purplish flush. Its very firm flesh is juicy and snow white, tasting sweet with a hint of berry.

Macintosh

The McIntosh, McIntosh Red, or colloquially the Mac is an apple cultivar, the national apple of Canada. The fruit has red and green skin, a tart flavour, and tender white flesh, which ripens in late September

Winesap

Winesap is an old apple cultivar of unknown origin dating back to American colonial times. A  small to medium size with a deep, cherry red skin and a crisp, yellow flesh. These apples are sweet with a tangy finish!

Honeycrisp

Honeycrisp apple was developed at the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station’s Horticultural Research Center at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. its sweetness, firmness, and tartness make it an ideal apple for eating raw. its sweetness, firmness, and tartness make it an ideal apple for eating raw.

Jonagold

a cross between the crisp Golden Delicious and the blush-crimson Jonathan. They form a large sweet fruit with a thin skin. Jonagold has a green-yellow basic color with crimson, streaked covering colour.The apple has fluffy crisp fruit. It is juicy and aromatic and has a sweet-sour taste.

Empire

Empire apples are red, juicy, firm, crunchy and sweet. They are  a cross between the crisp Golden Delicious and the blush-crimson Jonathan. The original seed was a cross between the varieties McIntosh and Red Delicious. Empire apples are excellent for eating and salads, and good for sauce, baking, pies and freezing.

Ginger Gold

Ginger Gold is a yellow apple variety, one of the earliest commercial apple varieties to ripen, bearing in August on the east coast. The fruit is large, conical and starts out a very pale green. Ginger Gold was created by Hurricane Camille. Camille brought devastating floods to Nelson County, Virginia in 1969 and the orchards of Clyde and Frances “Ginger” Harvey were badly washed out. In recovering the trees around the edge of one Winesap orchard, a surviving tree  was discovered. Curiously enough it was found to produce yellow rather than red fruit!

Gala

Gala apples are non-uniform in color, usually vertically striped or mottled, with an overall orange color. They are sweet, fine textured, and aromatic. Great for salads and are especially suitable for creating sauces. In 2018, DID YOU KNOW… it surpassed Red Delicious as the apple cultivar with the highest production in the United States!

Blondee

Discovered in 1998 in Ohio, this early yellow apple is sweet and crunchy! The Blondee features smooth skin and bruise-resistant flesh and is  occasionally blushed on exposed areas. This variety of apple will last for several months in storage.

Fuji

Fuji apple is an apple cultivar developed by growers at Tohoku Research Station in Fujisaki, Aomori, Japan, in the late 1930s. A cross between two American apple varieties—the Red Delicious and old Virginia Ralls Genet  (how does it taste, whats the color)

Golden Delicious

Golden Delicious  is a yellow apple, and despite the similar name it is not relayed to the red delicious apple. A hybrid of ‘Grimes Golden’ and ‘Golden Reinette’. ‘Golden Delicious’ is a large, yellowish-green skinned cultivar and very sweet to the taste.

Red Delicious

Red Delicious is one of the most famous American apples, and one of the most widely grown apple varieties. Red Delicious is a medium-sized apple, with a tall conical shape. The dark and intense crimson colour makes it the quintessential red apple.  A number of improved “varieties ” have been developed, of which the most well-known is probably Starking.  It has a sweet but very mild flavor, somewhat reminiscent of slightly over-ripe melon.

Cameo

Cameo was discovered by chance by the Caudle family in a Dryden, Washington orchard in 1987. It is bright red striped over creamy orange, firm and crisp with an aromatic flavor. 

Rome

The ‘Rome’ is rounded, all red, and very glossy, with a thick skin and firm flesh. It is primarily used for baking, as its flavor develops when cooked, and it holds its shape well. It is commonly described as less desirable as an eating apple because of its subtle flavor that is not as sweet, flashy, or tart as some other varieties.

Pink Lady or Cripps Pink

A sweet-tart apple is sugary and sweet  with a crisp bite and effervescent finish. It tends to fall more towards the tart side

So come over to Sickles and find your new favorite apple! 
P.S: That Henry David Thoreau quote came from an article Thoreau wrote about apple trees,  from the November 1862 issue of the Atlantic. Read it here!