Apple Tree Identification and Advice

[eblok]

Hi everyone,

I've just moved house and now have half an acre of gardens which is mostly grass and fruit trees. So far I've battled wasps for the damsons and plums so my attentions have moved to the apple trees.

I've got three different types of tree:
- Green eating apples (great to eat straight of the tree, size of tennis balls)
- Crab apples (max 1 inch diameter, very dry and bitter, though I can eat one its not exactly pleasant)
- Mystery trees for which I'd like some help. The taste is part way between the other two.

The mystery tree has fruit around 1.5 or 2 inches diameter. The ones on the south side of the tree are slightly red (sun kissed) but the others are green. Slightly bitter but I could eat one off the tree without too much problem. Wouldn't have many though. This leads me to believe they could be cooking apples. Anyone got any input on this?

I'm getting quite a large amount of windfall at the moment and the ones on the tree aren't visibly growing any more. Should I just bite the bullet and pick them before the wildlife get involved or hold out a bit longer and see if they grow some more? Surely cooking apples should be twice the size of this which is what confuses me. I'm planning on freezing most of them for now then making cider in a few months once I get some time, so the small size isn't too important as cider doesn't really require peeling or coring.

Thanks for any help!

eblok

[boundtothesoil]

The apples in the third photo (green ones) look a bit James Grieve- like to me.

[yummersetter]

If you are in the UK its still early in the apple gathering season.You can check if your apples are ripe yet by looking at the pips in the core, they'll be brown when the fruit is ripe, and usually they'll part company with the tree when lifted gently. Are the windfalls perfect when cut open or are they harbouring grubs ( or ex-grubs)? Cooking apples tend to be larger than average, cider apples often smaller.
It's a way off, but Apple Day events in the UK, which happen in the third week of October at the peak of apple picking time, often include a fruit ID session.