Fireside Orchard & Gardens MN

The Apple Varieties We Grow
People always ask us which apple variety is our favorite, and always our answer is the same – we don't have one, we like them all! Really, every one has it's completely unique character and flavor. Of the over twenty varieties we grow and/or carry, every one is a different experience. We focus heavily on the great varieties developed by the University of Minnesota apple breeding program over the last 100 years. Their solid and favorite Fireside, Haralson, Keepsake, Honeygold and Regent are the foundation of the Minnesota apple industry. Their newer release Honeycrisp has become a break out variety, soon to be followed by Zestar and SweeTango (MN 1914 -The Nest Big Thing!) The U of M develops apples that like our climate! Minnesota hardly ranks in the nation in terms of boxes produced every year, but what we lack in quantity we make up for in quality!

Zestar - Large, crunchy, juicy red fruit with a sprightly sweet-tart flavor. Excellent for both fresh eating and cooking. The fruit will store for 6 to 8 weeks. Introduced in 1999.

Origin: University of Minnesota, 1999

Parentage: State Fair x MN 1691

Size & Color: Large, with bright red over yellow

Flesh & Flavor: Crisp, slightly starchy; sweet/tart

Uses: Eating, baking

Keeping: Great for early variety, about 2 months!

Comments: Really, really outstanding flavor

Chestnut Crab

Origin: University of Minnesota, released 1946

Parentage: Siberian Crab x Malinda

Size & Color: Big for a crab, up to 2"; orange with russet

Flesh & Flavor: Crisp, fine, juicy, fruity and spicy

Uses: Eating, as baked apples, can be canned whole

Keeping: Two months

Comments: One of the best eating apples anywhere

Wealthy

Origin: Excelsior, Minnesota by Peter Gideon, 1860. Named for his wife, Wealthy Gideon

Parentage: Open pollinated Cherry Crabapple

Size & Color: Medium; red wash over green/yellow

Flesh & Flavor: Coarse, juicy, tart, winey

Uses: Eating, fabulous apple pies

Keeping: Six weeks

Comments: Minnesota's first commercial apple, huge success in its day. Parent of Haralson

Haralson

Firm texture with a complex tart flavor. Good for fresh eating and cooking. Especially good pie apple. The fruit will store for 4 to 5 months.

Origin: University of Minnesota, released 1924

Parentage: Malinda x Wealthy

Size & Color: Medium; broken red striping over green/yellow

Flesh & Flavor: Crisp, very juicy, very lively sweet/tart with unique"ground" flavor

Uses: Eating, pies, cider (when available, we use some Haralson in every gallon and all Haralson in every pie)

Keeping: Outstanding condition until March 15 every year

Honeycrisp - Large, dappled red fruit with a well-balanced flavor, outstanding crispness and juiciness. Best for fresh eating and salads as the flesh is slow to brown. Fruit will easily store 7 or more months, a benefit for small commercial growers. With more than 3 million trees planted, HoneycrispTM is easily the most popular U of M introduction to date.

Origin: University of Minnesota, released 1991

Parentage: Keepsake x unknown

Size & Color: Large; broken orange stripes over yellow

Flesh & Flavor: Incredibly watermelon crisp with sweet, mild, clover honey flavoring

Uses: Superb eating, all other uses as well

Keeping: Superb storability until June of the year after harvest

Cortland

Origin: Cornell University, Geneva, New York, 1915

Parentage: McIntosh x Ben Davis

Size & Color: Large with deep burgundy stripes over green/yellow

Flesh & Flavor: Coarse, very white; rich, full, winey, aromatic flavor

Uses: Eating, pies, sauce, cider (all purpose)

Keeping: Three months

McIntosh

Origin: Dundela, Ontario, Canada, 1811

Parentage: Unknown. Discovered as wild seedling

Size & Color: Medium; glossy red-maroon over green

Flesh & Flavor: Fine, juicy, cidery

Uses: Eating, apple sauce, pies, cider

Keeping: Crisp for a month, less crisp for 6 months

Honeygold - Golden to yellow-green fruit that is sweet, crisp, and juicy. Excellent for fresh eating and also good for cooking. The fruit will store for 2 to 3 months.

Origin: University of Minnesota, released 1970

Parentage: Golden Delicious x Haralson

Size & Color: Medium; bright yellow with prominent brown lenticels

Flesh & Flavor: Crunchy like a standard (eastern-grown) Golden Delicious, with sweeter, richer, honey-like flavor

Uses: Eating and all other uses. Makes a no-sugar apple pie.

Sweet Sixteen - Crisp and juicy with an exotic yellow flesh and a very sweet, unusual sugar cane or spicy cherry candy flavor. The fruit stores for 5 to 8 weeks. Tree is very vigorous and fruit may be subject to premature drops.

Origin: University of Minnesota, released 1977

Parentage: MN 447 x Northern Spy

Size & Color: Toward large with two-tone red striping overall

Flesh & Flavor: Crisp and juicy; spectacularly sweet!

Uses: Eating

Keeping: About two months, maybe less

Comments: Actually gets over-sweet and gains licorice (anise) flavor

Prairie Spy

Origin: University of Minnesota, released 1940

Parentage: Unknown

Size & Color: Usually medium; cherry red over green/yellow

Flesh & Flavor: Tight, crisp, dryish; unique, complex, nutty plus citric flavor

Uses: Outstanding eating, pies, cider, and as baked apples

Keeping: Keeps very well into mid-January, then wanes thru March

Regent

Appealing red-striped apple with well-balanced flavor that is good for eating and cooking. The fruit will store for 4 to 5 months.

Origin: University of Minnesota, released 1964

Parentage: Red Duchess x Red Delicious

Size & Color: Medium; bright red striping over yellow

Flesh & Flavor: Crisp, sweet with a hint of starch, juicy and flavorful

Uses: Eating and all other uses

Keeping: Crisp to Christmas, then softer

Comments: Appearance is very similar to Haralson.

Fireside

Very large fruit with sweet flavor and fine-grained flesh good for fresh eating, salad, and baked apples. Tree is vigorous and weeping. Introduced in 1943.

Origin: University of Minnesota, released 1943

Parentage: McIntosh x Longfield

Size & Color: Large to huge; firey, intense, broken orange and red stripes over yellow

Connell Red Fireside: Large to huge; cherry red blush over

greenish yellow

Origin: Menomonie, Wisconsin, by Tom Connell in 1956

Parentage: Naturally-occurring mutation of Fireside

Flesh & Flavor: Chunky, crunchy, substantive flesh; unique, rich, sweet pear flavor

Uses: Eating only (because they stay crunchy even after baking), apple butter

Keeping: As long as 6 months, until about April 15

Comments: What a great apple!

MN 1622

Origin: University of Minnesota

Parentage: Haralson x Esopus Spitzenburg (Thomas Jefferson's favorite apple)

Size & Color: Large, round, slightly muted red

Flesh & Flavor: Crunchy white flesh, sharp apple flavor

Uses: Eating

Keeping: Through mid-winter

Keepsake

Origin: University of Minnesota, released 1978

Parentage: MN 447 x Northern Spy

Size & Color: Smallish, blocky; full deep burgundy blush

Flesh & Flavor: Dense, hard, crisp, juicy, spicy, rosy, some starch, not a typical apple flavor

Uses: Eating, cider

Keeping: Well-named, very good keeper, crisp thru February

Comments: A secret that's too well-kept. Deserves far more attention. The only identified parent of Honeycrisp.