Dorsett Golden Apples
Houston is not really known for producing great apples, and given our low chill climate and poorly draining soils, I can understand why. But that doesn't mean it can't be done. Two varieties developed in Israel (Anna, and Dorsett Golden) grow in areas like Houston with ease, as long as they're given adequate drainage.
I planted one of each back in early 2008, and prior to this I had been picking off all the apples to encourage the trees to grow. This year I let them set fruit, and I have been really amazed at how many apples one little tree can produce. They set fruit in clusters, and if you don't want a bunch of tiny apples, you have to thin them out to one or two fruits per cluster.
The Urban Harvest website says that these two varieties are typically ripe in mid to late June, but I've had a few small fruit drop already that tasted pretty delicious to me. Perhaps the larger fruits will be ripe in June. Of course, the weather has been a little strange this year, so they may just be early.
The bugs have got a few of the fruits, which usually fall off the tree. I just chuck them in the compost. This weekend I saw a little Dorsett Golden apple on the ground, but it didn't have any bad places on it. It just looked ripe and smelled really good, so I cut it up and tried it. Delicious little apple. To me it tasted something like 2/3 Golden Delicious and 1/3 Granny Smith, nice and crisp. It looked like something might have got to the core through the blossom end, but if it did, the taste wasn't affected. I've also got an Anna apple that is almost completely covered in a beautiful red blush that I hope to eat very very soon.
I planted one of each back in early 2008, and prior to this I had been picking off all the apples to encourage the trees to grow. This year I let them set fruit, and I have been really amazed at how many apples one little tree can produce. They set fruit in clusters, and if you don't want a bunch of tiny apples, you have to thin them out to one or two fruits per cluster.
The Urban Harvest website says that these two varieties are typically ripe in mid to late June, but I've had a few small fruit drop already that tasted pretty delicious to me. Perhaps the larger fruits will be ripe in June. Of course, the weather has been a little strange this year, so they may just be early.
The bugs have got a few of the fruits, which usually fall off the tree. I just chuck them in the compost. This weekend I saw a little Dorsett Golden apple on the ground, but it didn't have any bad places on it. It just looked ripe and smelled really good, so I cut it up and tried it. Delicious little apple. To me it tasted something like 2/3 Golden Delicious and 1/3 Granny Smith, nice and crisp. It looked like something might have got to the core through the blossom end, but if it did, the taste wasn't affected. I've also got an Anna apple that is almost completely covered in a beautiful red blush that I hope to eat very very soon.
Anna Apple
Cluster of Dorsett Goldens
Fallen Dorsett Golden fruit.
Delicious little apple.
