October Apple Picking in New England: What Apples are Available?

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October is a great month in New England. It’s a perfect time of year to spend outdoors with your family because the days are cooler but the sun is still warm. October is also a fantastic month to go apple picking! At Parlee Farms, we grow over 20 varieties of apples and so many of them are available in October. Here’s a look at what apple varieties are available for pick your own this month:

Honey Crisp

Our most popular variety that covers almost 40% of our 15-acre orchard! The Honey Crisp apple is a cross between Macoun and Honeygold. It is large, sweet, juicy, and has explosive crispness. Excellent for eating and baking. We will have Honey Crisp until mid-October.

Macoun

An excellent, high quality McIntosh-style apple that was developed in NY. It is extra sweet and juicy, with a hint of crunch. Excellent for fresh eating and good for sauce. Macoun is one of the parents of Honey Crisp and is very popular in its own right!

Jonagold

Large, firm, extremely juicy and honey sweet with a slightly tart taste. A very popular eating apple in Europe, it stores well in the refrigerator and can be used for baking. Developed in NY, it is a cross between Jonathan & Golden Delicious. 
 
 
Cortland

This all-purpose apple was developed in NY in 1898 and is still the #1 baking apple today! Sweet with a hint of tartness, its pure white flesh makes Cortland a top salad apple as well.
 
 
Empire

Deep red, crisp, and sweet with a hint of McIntosh flavor, this is an excellent eating apple. It is also good for baking and it stores well.
 
 
SnowSweet

A new variety, this apple has a sweet taste, with a slight tart balance. A firm apple, it is slow to turn brown when exposed to air, which makes it an excellent apple for fresh eating and salads.
 
 
Golden Delicious

Excellent fresh eating apple with a honey sweet flavor. It is also great for cooking, baking, and sauce.
 
 
 
Fortune

An extremely large, firm apple that is great for baking. A cross between Northern Spy & Empire.
 
 
 
Cameo

A relatively new variety that is a bright red striped apple with a creamy orange color. It is firm and crisp, with a sweet tart flavor. A great fresh eating apple, as well as good for baking and sauce.
 
 
Mutsu/Crispin

A derivative of Golden Delicious, this very large, yellow-green apple is known both as Mutsu and as Crispin. It is super crispy, very juicy, and has a honey sweet flavor. It is an excellent apple for eating, baking, and sauces.
 
 
Each of these apple varieties will be available at different times during the month of October. Please visit the Today’s Farm News page on our website, which is updated daily with what varieties are available for picking and what is in our farmstand. We hope you can visit us during October!

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This post was written by Parlee Farms