It's Honeycrisp time!

From M, fall 2003

What stellar qualities have driven the Honeycrisp apple from humble beginnings in a small Minnesota research plot to become the new international star, grown and adored in New Zealand, South Africa, France's Loire Valley, and of course, closer to home? Pure good taste--aromatic, clean, and sweet-tart--along with juiciness, versatility, excellent "snap," and the unusual ability to be refrigerated for six months with no loss of its outstanding features.

University of Minnesota researchers first developed the Honeycrisp--then known only as "Minnesota 1711"--in 1960 from a cross between a Macoun apple and a Honeygold. (The Honeygold itself is a cross between the Golden Delicious and Haralson, and both Honeygold and Haralson were developed at the U.) Thirty years later, in 1991, the now-named Honeycrisp was ready for commercial release. Since then, it has become one of the most sought-after apples on the market. Millions of trees are in production, and in the fall, the apple flies off the shelves of roadside orchard stands throughout the Upper Midwest.

If part of your yard receives sunlight most of the day and your soil drains relatively well, you can plant your own Honeycrisp trees and be picking apples within a few years--that is, if you plant a dwarf tree. Dwarf apple trees bear fruit earlier, and, because of their short stature, are much easier to maintain than standard apple trees.

For more information on Honeycrisp apples, see www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG5877.html.