September 1 marks the beginning of the meteorological Fall and September 22 is the autumnal equinox and the start of astronomical autumn. However as the last few years have shown us, summer seems to linger far beyond either of these dates, often into October.
Regardless of when we actually realize Fall, it brings its series of lawn, garden and household chores as we race to get our gardens to bed and our homes buttoned up before we tumble into the next season. (I will refrain from using the ‘w’ word.) But Fall also brings the harvest, which in Minnesota can include a variety of vegetables and one dominant fruit – apples.
Haralson, Regent, Honeygold, Keepsake, Honeycrisp, Zestar – all of these apples have one thing in common. They were all developed at the University of Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station as part of their program to develop winter hardy cultivars with high fruit quality. The U of M has one of only three apple breeding programs in the nation, and has been at the forefront of apple research for over a century!
The Haralson was the first, introduction in 1922 and probably the most well-known “Minnesota” apple. It is a medium size striped red apple with a firm texture and tart flavor. It is harvested from late September to early October.
The Regent, which is mature in early to mid-October was introduced by the U of M in 1964 and is named for the Board of Regents of the University. The regent has a well-balanced flavor and is crisp and juicy, also good for eating or cooking. In 1970 the Honeygold was introduced and has similar coloring to one of its parent apples, the Golden Delicious. Sweet and crisp, it is also a good eating or cooking apple. The Keepsake, introduced in 1978, is the “kid’s apple.” It’s small to medium size makes it perfect for the school lunch box and it is very sweet. It is available in mid-October and is also good for cooking after it has been stored for a while.
One of the most popular U of M apples is the Honeycrisp. This variety began as a cross between a Macon and Honeygold in 1960, but was not ready for release until 1991. The Honeycrisp trees are vigorous and reliable annual fruit bearers, which makes them a good choice for the home grower. The fruit, which is described as explosively (!) crisp and juicy is consistently rated as one of the highest quality apples in the U of M’s annual sensory evaluations. The apples are medium to large, red with a yellow background and the flesh is slow to turn brown once cut. Honeycrisp is ready to harvest between September 15 and October 10.
The Zestar was introduced in 1998. The Zestar is a medium to large red striped or blush apple with a well-balanced flavor. It is juicy and crisp with a light flesh and is also good for eating or cooking. The Zestar has the added advantage of being ready to harvest by early to mid-August, but the tradeoff is a short storage life.
One of the U of M’s latest developments, the SweeTango™, which hit the store shelves in Fall 2009, is a cross of the Honeycrisp and the Zestar. The blush red apple is sweet and juicy with hints of fall spices. It has the crunch of the Honeycrisp and is an early season apple ripening in late August to early September. The controversy over the SweeTango™ was that it was released as a managed variety and licensed only to a select group of growers. This was done to ensure the quality and consistency of the apple, because the apple was developed to grow in a specific type of soil. The University allowed the Honeycrisp to be grown in less than ideal conditions which resulted in an inconsistency in the apples and they are trying to control the production of the SweeTango™ in order to keep it as perfect as possible.
The SweeTango™ is not the latest release from the University however. MN177 was first bred over 90 years ago and bore its first fruit in 1921. The small, sweet, red striped apple was not released at that time however because its strong flavor was incompatible with the less adventurous palates of the times. In 2007 breeders decided that Minnesota was ready for this apple, but before they released it they conducted a contest to name it. They were looking for a name that would convey the hardiness and strong flavor of the fruit, and received over 7,000 entries. In March 2008 they announced the winning name, Frostbite™. Some of the runners up were very Minnesotan: Garrison Peeler, Lute Crisp and Uffdalicious, but Frostbite™ was chosen because “Frost” signifies the hardiness and “bite’ because that is what they want you to do with it.
There are plenty of Minnesota bred apples for you to choose from. Enjoy!