Varieties

Connel RedHoneycrisp Apple
Very large fruit with sweet flavor and fine-grained flesh good for fresh eating, salad, and baked apples. Tree is vigorous and weeping. Introduced in 1943. Ripens mid-October.

Cortland
All-purpose red apple with crisp, juicy, sweet-tart flesh that resists browning, smooth shiny red skin, a Northwest favorite good for cooking and hand-eating. Our favorite for baking.

Fireside
Very large fruit with sweet flavor and fine-grained flesh good for fresh eating, salad, and baked apples. Tree is vigorous and weeping. Introduced in 1943. Ripens mid-October.

Honeycrisp
Large, dappled red fruit with a well-balanced flavor, outstanding crispness and juiciness. Best for fresh eating and salads as the flesh is slow to brown. Tree has low to medium vigor and excellent scab resistance. Fruit will easily store 7 or more months, a benefit for small commercial growers. With more than 3 million trees planted, Honeycrisp™ is easily the most popular U of M introduction to date. Introduced in 1991. Ripens late September.

HoneygoldPlums
Honeygold is a medium to large variety of apple. Its skin is smooth and yellow while the flesh is a yellow and crisp and is similar to a Golden. It is best used for fresh eating, pies, salads, and sauce. Honeygold has a storage life of 3 months.

McIntosh
A crisp red apple with bright white flesh and refreshing sweet flavor. medium-sized, crisp, tart-sweet, bright red skin sometimes tinged with green, all-purpose but doesn’t hold up to lengthy cooking.

Spartan
Medium in size and round in shape the skin of the Spartan apple varies from bright red to dark purple red depending upon how long it is allowed to ripen on the tree. Its crisp white flesh is aromatic and exceptionally juicy with a balanced sweet tart apple flavor. An excellent keeper, the Spartan apple becomes slightly sweeter in cold storage. The Spartan apple is an excellent cooking and dessert apple. Its firm flesh will hold its shape and maintain its sweet flavor when baked into pies, crisps and turnovers. Diced or grated Spartan apple will add sweetness and moisture to savory preparations such as fritters, cheese puffs and chutney. Its aromatic juice lends itself to cider, soups and jams. The flavor of the Spartan apple pairs well with blue cheese, parsnip, cranberries, pork, walnuts, onion, ginger, clove and rosemary.

State Fair
Striped red, juicy, moderately tart fruit good for eating and cooking. The fruit will store for 2 to 4 to weeks. Tree is susceptible to fire blight and somewhat prone to biennial bearing. Introduced in 1977. Ripens mid- to late August.

Sweet Sixteen
Crisp and juicy with an exotic yellow flesh and a very sweet, unusual sugar cane or spicy cherry candy flavor. The fruit stores for 5 to 8 weeks. Tree is very vigorous and fruit may be subject to premature drops. Introduced in 1977. Ripens mid- to late September.

Wolf River
Wolf River is an antique variety known best for its large size. It is an early season apple, excellent for cooking and baking. Wolf River apples are enormous, often weighing 1 pound or more. It has soft, tender, slightly mealy, creamy white flesh. Excellent for baking whole and drying.

Zestar
Large, crunchy, juicy red fruit with a sprightly sweet-tart flavor. Excellent for both fresh eating and cooking. The fruit will store for 6 to 8 weeks. Tree is vigorous, upright and very susceptible to apple scab. Introduced in 1999. Ripens late August to early September.

 

**Resource: University of Minnesota