Harvest October Season October to December Quality crisp, tender, and juicy with some tartness Use sauce, cider, fresh-eating

Wealthy

Harvest September Season September Quality lively flavor, coarse and soft texture, sweet aroma Use baking, freezing, cider, fresh-eating

Wealthy is a good all-purpose kitchen apple, and a good fresh-eating variety in season. Many old-timers say this is the best apple for pies.

Westfield Seek-No-Further

Harvest October Season October through November Quality dense flesh, rich, complex flavor Use fresh-eating

Seek-No-Further is an old New England variety held in high esteem as a dessert apple for 200 years. It is probably the crispest of mid season varieties and has a thick skin, and complex, rich flavor with an interesting aroma.

Winesap

Harvest October Season October through January Quality strong sweet and sour contrast, wine-like flavor and aroma Use fresh-eating, culinary use, cider

Winesap is a "must try" variety. It has been described as the perfect distillation of a crisp fall day. It is a relatively small, round, deep red apple with a somewhat tough skin and firm, crisp, yellow flesh. It is a very juicy variety and the flavor is a very strong, yet perfectly balanced blend of sweet and tart. The aroma and flavor have a distinctive wine-like richness. Winesap is an exceptional kitchen variety as well, and its distinctive aroma and flavor survive cooking and enhance any recipe. This is one old-time variety that refuses to die and is still fairly widely grown. It can vary quite a bit in quality from region to region, and the flavor seems to be dependent on growing conditions more so than for most varieties. Don't give up on it after one test. This one is definitely worth pursuing.

Winter Banana

Harvest late September through October Season October Quality semi-sweet flavor, mild, firm, and juicy Use fresh-eating

A beautiful and exotic variety that was discovered over 100 years ago in Indiana, Winter Banana does, indeed, have a flavor that reminds some of bananas. It has a delicate and subtle flavor that is a treat for eating out of hand. It probably is not sufficiently robust for most kitchen uses. It fades quickly, and you need to find it in season to enjoy the full flavor. It is often used as a decoration or table centerpiece. In fruit baskets it adds a colorful touch as well as a wonderful fruity aroma.

Wolf River

Harvest September Season September into October Quality subacid, moderately tart, tender and juicy Use baking, sauce, drying

Once in a while you'll see a gigantic apple the size of a small pumpkin in the fruit market. More than likely, you are looking at Wolf River, a variety from Wisconsin. It is more than a novelty, as it excels in the kitchen, especially for making apple butter and for drying. It can be a good fresh-eater, too, under the right conditions. For eating fresh, look for the ones with more color, and get them early in the season.

York (York Imperial)

Harvest October Season October through December Quality mild, juicy, yellow flesh Use sauce, pies, baking

York was discovered near York, Pennsylvania around 1830, and is still widely grown in south central Pennsylvania and southward along the Shenandoah Valley and Blue Ridge mountains. It keeps extremely well and is popular as a culinary variety. It is probably a little too tame for most people when eaten fresh, but it does have its adherents. It earned the appelation "Imperial" for its keeping quality, not its flavor.