Apple Varieties
Get Your Apples!
Bagged and U-Pick apples are available at our Apple Shed, located behind the Red Barn, typically between late July and late October. We are a small-batch heirloom orchard, and sell over 30 varieties throughout the season. We harvest each variety at peak ripeness and often have more than one variety available, but timing and quantities vary from year to year. Once apples are ready for harvest, we post apple availability updates regularly on our homepage and Facebook.
Heirloom Apples at the Orchard
An heirloom apple is a prized possession handed down through generations and able to be traced back at least 50 to 100 years. Each variety has special qualities characterized by diversity of tastes, textures, sizes, and shapes. Unlike commercial varieties, heirloom apples offer a complexity of flavor, often not found in today’s grocery stores.
Here at the Orchard at Altapass, we have up to 31 varieties available to the pubic for sale throughout each season. Many of our trees were planted by their original owners at the beginning of the 20th century. We continue replenishing our numbers by grafting new trees each spring.
Heirloom Varieties
TRANSPARENT
~tart~
First apple of season. Ultimate applesauce
MAGNUM BONUM
~sweet~
Small. aromatic. Name translates “great good”
EARLY JUNE
~tart~
Medium with subacid flavor. Especially good for pies
ALTAPASS RED
~sweet~
Grafted at Orchard. First Harvest 2022. Eating
RED BLAZE
~tart~
Cross: Jonathon & Grimes Golden. Baking
GALA
~sweet~
Small/Medium. Crisp, aromatic. Eating
GINGER GOLD
~semi-sweet~
Maybe cross: Newtown Pippin & Golden Delicious. Eating.
JONAGOLD
~sweet-tart~
Cross: Golden Delicious & Jonathon. Juicy. Eating
MCINTOSH
~semi-tart~
S
Medium. Aromatic. National apple of Canada. Eating
ALTAPASS ORCHARD SPECIALTY
~sweet~
Grafted at Orchard in 2023.
AUTUMN GALA
~sweet-crisp~
Small/Medium. Matures later than Gala. Eating
CANDY APPLE
~sweet~
Grafted at Orchard. First harvest 2023. Eating
CROW’S EGG
~semi-sweet~
(Southern variety). Medium. AKA Raven Egg. Eating
EMPIRE
~tart-sweet~
Medium. Cross: Red Delicious & McIntosh. Juicy, crisp
GOLDEN DELICIOUS
~sweet-tart~
Large. Crisp. Bruises easily. AKA Yellow Delicious
GRIMES GOLDEN*
~sweet-tangy~
Medium. Spicy. Parent to Golden Delicious, sweeter
KINNAIRD’S CHOICE
~semi-tart~
Medium/large. AKA Black Winesap.
NEW ENGLAND GREENING
~semi-sweet~
Medium. Eating/cooking
RED DELICIOUS
~sweet~
Medium. Most widely planted apple. Eating
ROME BEAUTY
~semi-sweet~
Large. Juicy, crisp. Baking/cooking
SHEEP’S NOSE
~midly-sweet~
Large. Oblong. Aromatic. AKA Banana Apple
STAYMAN
~tart~
Small/Medium. Crisp, spicy. Eating/applesauce/cider
SUMMER RAMBO
~semi-sweet~
Medium/Large. Tender, crisp. Eating/cooking
VIRGINIA BEAUTY
~semi-tart~
Medium/Large. Tender, juicy. Eating/dessert
WOLF RIVER
~semi-tart~
Medium/Large. Juicy. Cooking–applesauce/butter
ARKANSAS BLACK
~semi-tart~
Medium. Firm, crisp. Baking/butter/cider/juice
GOLD RUSH
~tart~
Medium. Crisp, tangy. From Golden Delicious. Baking
GRAGG
~tart~
Medium. Juicy. Stores well. AKA Winter Queen.
KING LUSCIOUS
~semi-tart~
Medium/Large. Crisp. Cross: Stayman & Wolf River
LIMBERTWIG
~sweet~
Medium. spicy, aromatic. Eating/butter/cider
YORK
~semi-sweet~
Large. Lopsided. Sweetens in storage. Eating/baking
Row of Fame
In 2018, the Orchard planted 50 trees—two each of 25 varieties of heirloom trees, many of which are rare and not well known. All are American propagated from generations past, with one exception, the Summer Rambo. For more information on these apples, check out our signs in the red barn, or ask our mission manager.
UGLY APPLES
“Ugly apples” happen when chemical spraying is limited. We are not an organic orchard, however, are dedicated to preserving the land and the life on that land, including the bees and butterflies. We tolerate minor surface damage to avoid harming them. The flavor is not affected; it’s enhanced by the lack of heavy chemicals. We are mindful of our enormous responsibility to maintain a balance in our ecosystem—all life at the Orchard at Altapass.