A is for Apple Day!

Did you know that today, 21st of October, is National Apple Day? I am glad that the Apple has it’s own special day as they are so yummy and super easy to grow. I should know as I have two apple trees which I can keep a close eye on from my playhouse which nestles cosily in between them. As an apple expert, here are my top tips on the best apples to grow in Scotland…

My playhouse nestles in between two apples trees

1. Egremont Russet

Apple ‘Egremont Russet’ is self fertile and easy to grow, making it ideal for gardens where there is only room for one tree. It is the most popular English russet variety.

2. Discovery

The Discovery apple tree is fairly wee (just like me) but always check the root stock of the tree when you are buying (see below). It produces apples quite early in the season, they have a crisp texture and ruby red skins (good for playing Snow White!)

3. Fiesta

Fiesta is one of the best cox style apples and really easy to grow. It is sometimes called the Red Pippin which I think is cute!

One of our home grown apples

4. James Grieve

James Grieve is the classic Scottish cooking apple but it can also be eaten fresh and is good for juice. Sounds like a fabulous all rounder, just like me!

5. Katy

This is an attractive and easy to grow apple, originally from Sweden and called Katya there. It’s a red eating apple and nice and juicy and great at growing in frosty areas (perfect for us here in Scotland!)

6. Laxtons Superb

These apples come later in the season but they are worth waiting for as they are super yummy and nice and big.

7. Spartan

The Spartan is a small, sweet apple and popular with us kids (I know why, they taste awesome!) Plus they are really easy to grow, bonus!

8. Sunset

Sunset is another cox-style apple and is often preferred over the common Cox’s Orange Pippin as it is much easier to grow. They have a lovely aromatic flavour and the trees are generally not too big.

One of the most important things to look for when you are buying your apple tree is to buy one to suit your garden and how big you want it to get. Always check what the ROOT STOCK is and what size it will become. If you want a smaller tree you will want to consider a dwarf variety for your garden. Many trees are self fertilising so you don’t need to buy two and if you live in an urban environment there is a good chance there will be another apple tree nearby but it’s always best to check to ensure a bumper crop.

Me when I was littler, eating one of our home grown apples

Now is the perfect time to research what tree you want and get it planted over winter (when they are sleepy, a bit like me!) and you will get some lovely, juicy apples by next summer.

Happy Apple Day everyone!

Lulu xx

An Apple A Day…

Hi everyone! All my regular blog followers will know I love apples, especially the ones you can pick straight off the tree and eat there and then. There is nothing quite like picking your own apples and eating it right away. If you’re not as lucky as me to have apple trees in your garden, don’t worry, now is the perfect time to plant your very own apple tree and you could be picking your own this summer! Here is my list of the best apples to grow in your garden so you can easily have an apple a day…

Me when I was littler, eating one of our home grown apples

1. ‘Chivers Delight’

This is a late flowerer and cropper referred to in the trade as a ‘Cox Plus’. It has as much flavour (if not more) than ‘Cox’s Orange Pippin’ and better acidity, which it keeps in storage. Cox famously go woolly quickly in storage, whereas the flesh of ‘Chivers Delight’ remains firm and nutty. This fell out of commercial favour because of its colour irregularity. If the sun is on it, the fruit goes red, but it will not colour up on the shady side. This does not affect the flavour but makes them difficult to sell.

2. ‘Spartan’

Nothing has the same richness of colour as ‘Spartan’, a lovely deep plum red, with almost bright white, contrasting flesh. It’s a beautiful apple, which stays late on the tree and makes a fabulous eater with very juicy fruit. It’s the one I use at Perch Hill for Christmas wreaths and, being a good storer, is widely available late in the year.

3. ‘Blenheim Orange’

A fabulously aromatic, peppery, almost spicy apple with a softer nuttiness than you get with the similar-flavoured ‘Egremont Russet’. This variety is a bit prone to scab, so is best grown on its own and certainly away from very scab-prone varieties such as ‘Crispin’.

4. ‘Egremont Russet’

A famous apple with a wonderful nutty, woody texture and a very characteristic taste, floral and heady, so you can almost smell the blossom. It stores well, with the flavour deepening to honey.

5. ‘Pitmaston Pine Apple’

This is a very unusual apple, difficult to find but, in Henry’s view, worth the effort. It eats like a ‘Greensleeves’ early on, but you can store it until April when the flavour morphs into pineapple.

6. ‘Greensleeves’

A light, crispy, full-of-flavour apple, lovely and crunchy straight off the tree. This is the one ‘Golden Delicious’ aspires to be, with excellent flavour in a beautiful pale yellow fruit.

7. ‘Discovery’

This is one of the first to harvest (in August.) If we get a sunny July and August, the redness leaches from the skin into the flesh. Then if you press it, you’ll have a beautiful pale pink juice.

8. ‘Worcester Pearmain’

A rich, creamy apple with a really strong flavour, one of the original varieties brought over by the Normans. It’s just about surviving in the UK, but you don’t see it often, apart from in the Wye Valley where it’s usually pressed into juice.

9. ‘Howgate Wonder’

A great all-rounder apple – a good cooker early on, it also presses well and mellows the later you leave it, with the acidity dropping away, so it can be eaten as a dessert apple from the store or tree. It’s one of the few varieties where you can leave the fruit on the tree, start harvesting in August and carry on until the end of October at least. It performs well whatever the weather and is often a challenger for the largest fruit.

10. ‘Médaille d’Or’

Our final recommendation is this wonderful bittersweet cider apple, still abundantly on the tree, until the end of November. The tree’s appearance is unique, knotted and gnarled in the winter and very late to blossom in the spring. You think they’re dead and then out the flowers come towards the end of May. The fruit is small and very acid, essential tannin for flavouring cider. They are pruned to weep in the Aspall orchards, with graceful branches arching down almost to ground level. You can get right in underneath and be enclosed in an apple den.

Once your apple tree is established, remember to keep it pruned to make sure it stays healthy, looks pretty and provides the best possible crop. To read all about how to do that then click here.

If you have a lot of apples or your little one isn’t big enough to eat apples straight off the tree, turning them into a yummy puree which can also be frozen is a great idea.

Happy growing and remember to eat an apple a day!

Hugs & kisses,

Lulu xx