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Fortune Apples Delivery or Pickup
The Instacart guide to Fortune apples
About Fortune apples
There's a good chance that you have probably eaten one thinking it was either a McIntosh or Gala apple when it comes to Fortune apples. Fortune apples came about in the 1990s as the result of crossing the Empire apple with the Schoharie Spy apple at Cornell University's New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY.
Fortune apples are red in color with green streaks or blotches that peek through. The unique taste ranges from sweet and tart to spicy and bitter (near the core). These types of apples are available throughout the fall and winter months, making them the perfect choice for holiday pies and crisps. An added bonus to Fortune apples is that they can last for up to four months when stored correctly.
How to pick out Fortune apples
Though Fortune apples are harvested in the fall or winter, the steps to picking out the best apple are the same regardless of the type or harvest time. You should adhere to the following requirements when trying to pick out the perfect apple:
- Check the firmness: An apple that is ripe should be firm to the touch. If you touch the apple, it shouldn't leave an impression from your thumb. Apples that are mushy or soft aren't necessarily the best ones to eat raw but could be fine if using for cooking or baking recipes.
- Examine for bruises: While a mushy apple doesn't always mean it's bad and shouldn't be eaten, bruising, scarring, and signs of decay absolutely do. Try to avoid picking apples with several bruises, mushy spots, or places where the skin has been broken or torn.
- Give it a whiff: Apples are supposed to smell appetizing and make you want to eat them. If an apple ever smells bad, it probably has gone bad. So make sure to give your apples a quick smell. If they smell rotten or sour, trust your gut and choose a new one.
- Check the expiration date: Sometimes, apples are sold by the bag - whether a paper one from an orchard or a plastic one in the grocery store. Checking the expiration date to make sure they haven't passed that listed date already. Glance at the apples and make sure there's no scarring, bruising, or breaks in the apple's skin which could have potentially been exposed to bugs and pesticides.
How to grow your own Fortune apples
Even though Fortune apples were created at an agricultural testing site, you can still grow them yourself by getting the pollinated seeds or the cross-created root system. If you decide you really like the taste of Fortune apples that you want to have your fill first hand, you can begin the planting process in the spring. Make sure that you pick an area that not only gets ample sunlight but that has good drainage as well.
Dig the hole that will house the root with enough room for twice the diameter of the current size of the root. If the root has dried out a little, soak in a bucket of water until it looks hydrated again. When putting the root into the hole you created, double-check that the roots are not twisted or embedded within each other and gently place them in the hole. Fill the hole with soil tightly packed together to avoid any air pockets. Over the next few weeks, as the root grows into a tree, be sure to keep up with the maintenance as this is essential to the tree's health.
Fortune Apples Near Me
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FAQs about Fortune apples
Although many people are familiar with Fortune apples and really enjoy their old-fashioned taste, it's true that commercially they haven't really been seen as a top choice. Many farmers and agriculturists believe their lack of popularity may be because they are biennial producers.
Biennial-bearing fruit trees mean that sometimes the tree bears a consistently heavy amount of fruit, while the following year, it could produce way less. In a sense, it's like the tree used all its energy up by producing the heavy amount of fruit that it is depleted the next year and needs to rest until the following year after that. This timeline obviously can be problematic for farmers and those in the agriculture industry.
Once your tree's roots are in the ground, and you're waiting for it to grow, hold off on fertilizing right away. Give the roots some time to do their job. Apple trees are usually only fertilized three times a year during the growing season.
As the tree begins to grow, make sure that you maintain the tree by trimming any diseased or damaged limbs that could make the tree bear ill fruit. This is sometimes referred to as pruning the trees, and people swear it is essential to overall health and fruit production.