Ananas Reinette Apples

[897tgigvib]

These are old Heirloom apples I was reading about. The other day when I went to town, I went to the Coop, an organic food store. I was looking at their AWESOME selection of apples.

I saw some small yellow apples, some with a small russet area near the top. They were only a touch larger than Whitneys. I looked up at the marker and it said Ananas Reinette. So I bought some.

OH MY they are so GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!

These little apples have got to be one of the ancestor apples to breed in flavor! Jam packed with sweetness, just right juicy. Just right crunchy! Yes, a touch of pineapple to its flavor if you think of it.

Ananas Reinette means:
"Pineapple flavored apple good enough even for any Princess"

And that is true!

I am truly considering a couple of multigrafted full dwarf apple trees for my garden, and grow them well so I can graft some of the more difficult to find apples onto them. A friend of mine knows grafting very well. Ananas Reinette will definitely be my first choice! Best apple I ever ate!

 

[journey11]

Do you know where you can buy one or get some cuttings?

I want to learn grafting someday. My dad has an old Grimes Golden on his farm that I want to propagate. Grimes Golden originated in WV. It has such a rich and thickly sweet/tart flavor. I can only imagine the pies and apple butter I could make... Dad's tree is on the decline and hasn't produced well for years.

 

[897tgigvib]

http://www.greenmantlenursery.com/2008revision/fruit2008/benchgraft2008.htm

I've never had contact with this nursery, but it is not very far from where I am. I only discovered it because of one of the oldie but goodie topics here. Their website is cool and information packed, but not organised in any usual way. I have the feeling they like it that way! This link is to their page about the advantages of purchasing graft scion wood instead of already grafted trees.

 

[nachoqtpie]

I wonder if you could grow from seed??

 

[897tgigvib]

I don't think this apple breeds very much true, at least for fruit quality. It is like a pippin, and I see similarities to whitney. I did save the cores with the seeds in them for planting. I also don't know what the pollinating tree was, nor where the orchard is. Probably local near Ukiah. A lot of orchards grow liberty macintosh for pollinators, but this may be a specialty orchard growing one of the heirlooms for pollination. I think they will be fun to grow! I'll first set my bag of cores in the fridge for some weeks, then remove the seeds and clean them, then back in the fridge a few more weeks. I may set them in the freezer for a few hours at a time, thaw, and refrigerator again.

Hmmm, maybe I should just get some dwarfing rootstock real soon, and get an apple project going!