Popular mythconceptions

[dragoneggs]

IMO, the sweetest strawberries come from Plant City FL...other berries (especially from CA) don't even come close...!

In Paris France a while back, we went to the local small fruit stand next to our hotel and they had imported strawberries and domestic ones. The imported looked like the typical ones we grow/buy in the states. The domestic (French) ones were pretty much round, smaller and 4 times as much. My wife thought I was crazy when I said, 'let's try these!'. Hate to admit the French have something over us... , but we were both very surprised at how sweet and tasty they were. Maybe because they were stressed and not saturated with water and other nutrients. But at 4 times the price... they should be.

 

[dragoneggs]

I do not have an Arkansas Black but a friend does, they grow out here in WA just fine. I have a Honeycrisp that is about 8 feet tall and I am hoping that it has apples on it next year. My peach (not common around my part of the state) had a small crop this year. I transplanted my fig trees next to the creek in hopes the easy source of water helps them mature better.

Boy do I struggle with Peaches... even Frost Peach variety.

 

[dstig1]

Yep



If you can get a good one, sure. However, I have sampled hundreds of them and you can have a completely different flavor out of two apples that came out of the same bin, probably picked within 10 feet of each other in the orchard. Additionally, they are a very delicate apple and they do not store well at all.
Give me a crisp Johnagold or a Gala any day of the week.




Aaron Z

The Honey Crisp was developed up here by the Univ of Minnesota. It was probably their first big hit. They have said that they made mistakes in the marketing/licensing of that and have learned from it. Basically there were growers that were not "doing it right" and giving the HC a bad name with inconsistency, as you note Aaron. They have since come out with a couple more varieties and have gotten much more strict on the licensing terms. The newest one is called First Kiss i think, and is supposed to be great but I have not tried one yet. A good Honey Crisp is heavenly.

So i guess the best apples aren't from NY or WA, but MN :laughing::devil::stirthepot:

 

[Diggin It]

have gotten much more strict on the licensing terms.

Sounds like a good reason to never buy one.

 

[Jstpssng]

A lot of people think that pineapple on a pizza is sacrilege but I enjoy it also. One of my favorite sandwiches is Peanut Butter/ Banana and Honey (or syrup). Some folks just dont get it.

I like a good Hawaiian pizza once in a while. Another which I used to get at a place in Bar Harbor was hamburg an spinach on whole wheat... it sounds weird but tasted great. :licking:

Well there's your problem... it's apple pie with cheddar cheese, not cheddar cheese on apple pie. The latter is just crazy talk.

You take a bite of each separately.

(with vanilla ice-cream too! :licking

That's the way that I've always had it. The ice cream is best when the pie just comes out of the oven, and is almost too hot to eat.

Boy do I struggle with Peaches... even Frost Peach variety.

My father raised peaches in southern Maine, until then I didn't know what a fresh peach tasted like. Every once in a while we'd have a cold winter and he'd start over, but when they produced my mother would can, make jam, and bake with them in abundance.

In fall I eat about 15 lbs of apples a week, there's always a bag in the truck. I go to the local orchard which I used to prune and they have several lesser known varieties.

I start the season buying Macs, only until the Cortlands come out. I then switch between those, Galas, McCouns,and a few others I can't think of right now. As the season winds down I buy a 1/2 bushel of Winesaps and 1/2 bushel of Northern Spy to get me through the winter, I can usually store them in a cold room until March.

The best way that I've ever had a Mac was reaching up and grabbing it while driving through the orchard for another bin to take to the loading dock; I've never considered them to be a great variety.
"Red Delicious" is an oxymoron, I probably haven't eaten 1/2 dozen in my life.

 

[PILOON]

For strawberries you can't beat sweet 'Ile D'orleans' from Quebec! sooo sweet! just the aroma is enough to water your mouth.
apples---McIntosh, so krisp that each bite literally pops, and sweet, mmm
cheese---any Canadian extra sharp as long as it is not Kraft

Problem today is that every produce is engineered for travel and not taste.
Like tomato, crisp with the green hard core and tasteless but never mushy.
Give me the old fashioned 'beefeater' any time!

 

[cqaigy2]

For strawberries you can't beat sweet 'Ile D'orleans' from Quebec! sooo sweet! just the aroma is enough to water your mouth.
apples---McIntosh, so krisp that each bite literally pops, and sweet, mmm
cheese---any Canadian extra sharp as long as it is not Kraft

Problem today is that every produce is engineered for travel and not taste.
Like tomato, crisp with the green hard core and tasteless but never mushy.
Give me the old fashioned 'beefeater' any time!

Hear, hear. It seems all the produce is losing it's taste, but i sure looks great. I don't mind cutting out a little blemish, here or there. I'll pay extra for good tasting food, and who likes crunchy tomato's anyway?

 

[Jstpssng]

For strawberries you can't beat sweet 'Ile D'orleans' from Quebec! sooo sweet! just the aroma is enough to water your mouth.
apples---McIntosh, so krisp that each bite literally pops, and sweet, mmm
cheese---any Canadian extra sharp as long as it is not Kraft

Problem today is that every produce is engineered for travel and not taste.
Like tomato, crisp with the green hard core and tasteless but never mushy.
Give me the old fashioned 'beefeater' any time!

There are a couple of local places that raise "vine ripened" tomatoes in greenhouses which aren't bad. I've never seen them ripen so evenly though, you can buy a cluster of 5 or six that are all nice and uniformly red... obviously there's some ethylene involved.
I beg to differ on the Macs though, they are only crisp for a few weeks in the fall and then get soft.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

True apple story. Takes place about 1963 or 1964; Sharon and I were just married, I was going to school and had a job painting houses. One morning on my way to work, I came to a RR crossing where a train had broadsided a semi. It was full of cold, Washington apples. Folks were scavenging them; there were cases of apples strewn down the track for 100 yards. The folks minding the trailer were allowing folks to pick them up, so I quickly threw a couple of cases (partial as it were) in the trunk of my old '50 Chevy. They were the Red Delicious variety, and absolutely the very best apples I have ever eaten. I gave some a way to friends, and they tried to buy what I had left. We managed to eat quite a few and gave the rest away, mostly to family. I don't know where the truck was bound, but I'm pretty certain no Safeway I was ever in had apples that good.

 

[/pine]

...If you can get a good one, sure. However, I have sampled hundreds of them and you can have a completely different flavor out of two...

I can't say I have ever had a bad one...they seem to last as good as most in the fridge...

I do know for a fact that you have to look at the little stickers as they do get mixed up in the grocery store bins either by stockers or shoppers and I have gotten home with other similar looking apples like Galas and Fujis etc...