In honour of the early apples!

Even though many of us are still thinking about peaches and blueberries at this time of year, many early apples have desirable qualities whether it’s in a homestead or orchard setting. Not least among those reasons is their beauty, the deep pinks and purples of ripe August apples are stunning on the tree and in the home, and I never get tired of piling plates and bowls full of them all over my kitchen.

(From L to R: Dolgo, Red Astrachan, September Ruby)

More practically, apples like Summer Red, bloom early and are considered to be excellent pollinators. The Dolgo crab, which ripens in mid-late August, is also a great pollinator, and both are great partners for the Gravenstein and Golden Russet, two slightly more famous heritage apples. Consistent and early blooming trees can be very helpful if you live in a cold part of Canada where pollination can be somewhat tenuous and irregular. Many of the trees listed today are also considered to be cold hardy in their own right, surviving and thriving in gardening zones 5,4, and sometimes 3.

Summer apples can start your harvest season earlier, diffusing the amount of work required in October, the peak apple month. And many, many summer apples for whatever reason are excellent in the kitchen. The Dolgo makes a stunning red jelly and juice. Sweet Bough and Grenadier are large green apples that are easy to transform into pies and sauce. White Jersey is a bittersweet cider apple that would go a long way towards adding complexity to your hard cider.

Yet more apples ready in August, like Red Astrachan and September Ruby, are perfect flavour and water content for drying. And if you just need a snack I can’t omit Devonshire Quarrendon, Williams Pride, a crunchy tangy bite, or Graventstein, which is everything you think an apple should be, and which will forever be in my top 3 list of apples.

My list is nowhere near complete, but I want to jump to a different fruit for a moment and give an honourable mention to another summer tree:

Butirra Precoce Morettini

This a gorgeous yellow pear with a hint of orange blush that also ripens now. It’s a pear in the Bartlett style, that is to say, buttery sweet melt in your mouth texture, and mild skin that it’s not necessary to peel. It ripens about 1 to 2 weeks ahead of Bartlett in our orchard, and it’s often eaten fresh before we can get around to any processing of any kind!

The nursery’s fall inventory will be available in a couple of weeks, but in the meantime apples are ripening all around the farm, it’s reminding me of the diversity and beauty of apples and why I love them so much. I hope that sharing some of their special qualities helps you and others get excited for this wonderful season that is just getting started.