Three years ago we planted a “Horse” apple, also known as “Yellow Horse.”
We got ours from Century Farm Orchards and it is doing well. It gave us one fruit last year but we didn’t catch it before something got it (or it fell off).
The description of the tree from Century Farm Orchards:
A widely grown apple most likely originating in North Carolina before 1800. More than any other apple, most older southerners remember the Horse apple. There are several reasons for its widespread popularity. The tree is healthy, grows rapidly, produces large crops of big apples in the middle of summer, makes good cider, and cooks well. The Horse has a flavor unlike others. It is uniquely tart and will disappoint those who like sweet or hard apples. It is however, unforgettable. Fruit size is medium to large, yellow when ripe, possibly red on the sunny side. Flesh is yellow, soft (sometimes firm), and briskly subacid. Ripens late July into August.
“Unforgettable!”
Ha!
Any apple that produces here is interesting. Even a hard, weird apple has many uses, from pies to vinegar to drying, processing and animal feed.
We got some of them from a grafter and now have a few in stock at the shop, along with Yates, which is another interesting apple we’d like to try.
This apple originated in Fayette County, Georgia before 1860. This apple is small and has primarily been used as a cider apple. It is a good keeper and grows well even in the warmer areas of the south. Fruit small, skin a pale red with some darker stripes, and the flesh white, tender, juicy, aromatic, mildly subacid. Ripens in October.
We haven’t planted this one yet but I plan to snag one before they all disappear. The experiments continue…
