A guide to when apples including certain varieties are in season. Not all apples are available year round.
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In our modern day supermarket, an apple is something that never disappears.
No matter what time of year it is there will be apples. But does that mean there is still a season for apples? I think so.
Not all apples will appear in the store at all times. You typically will find well know varieties like Granny Smith, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and Gala in the stores all year round. But some varieties only appear for a short time and some only at a local orchard or farmer's market.
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For me I like to only but apples when they are at their peak. That would be from about August until the start of spring. Below you will find my guide for shopping for apples at their peak.
I strictly buy local grown Michigan apples all the way until the winter. Then the majority of the winter apples I buy were grown in the state of Washington.
August
This marks the beginning of the season. These early apples tend not to keep very long. Some I think if you looked at them wrong, would turn to crack or rot right before your eyes.
The early apples are dominated by tart ones, such as Transparent and Vista Bella. These tart apples are good for making applesauce, in fact I would say the Transparent apple is the best apple to make applesauce The apples break down fast and easily, leaving behind a sauce with a melt in your mouth texture.
Early Season Apples Great for Sauce
I got a food mill recently to make sauce with some Transparents. I love the food mill because you don't have to peel the apples at all, it removes the peels for you. I make a lot of apple sauce at the beginning of the season. The best baking apples are yet to come.
As for out of hand eating, Paula Red and Gingergold are two great apples that are available in this time, but like their counterparts have a short shelf life. Both are excellent apple sauce apples
Get our full list of what apples make for the best applesauce.
September
Now this is when things really begin to pick up. A good majority of the apples ripen in September.
This month features some of the best and most popular. Honeycrisp and it's offspring SweeTango hit store shelves right around Labor Day. This is also when you need to get your McIntosh apples.
The peak of their season is right at the start of September, that is when they are more tart and crisp. Another popular apple, the sweet Gala are also at peak this time of year (learn more about Gala apple season)
I still like to make sauce in September (McIntosh are a great sauce apple). But if you are in the mood for baking, Cortland, Empire, and Rhode Island Greening apples are at their peak.
And don't forget about the Jonathans, they too are a September ripener. Still the best pie apples are yet to come.
October
Now this is when you want to get your baking apples. Ida Red, Granny Smith, and Northern Spy apples all ripen by mid to late October. These are the best of the best for baking a pie or making an apple crisp. So dust off your favorite pie pan and get baking.
Fans of the sweet Gala apples should be changing over to buying Fuji and Cameo which are both sweet apples but are going to be more crisp this time of year than the Galas.
November-December
New apples varieties will still be hitting store shelves in these last 2 months of the year. You find apples like Opal apples which are yellow apple that is more crisp and flavorful than Golden Delicious.
Look for the beautiful Lucy Glo and Lucy Rose apples. These varieties are red on the inside and have a sweet-tart flavor.
The new crop of Cosmic Crisp apples arrive in stores then. They are a variety that may replace Honeycrisp some day as the most popular apple.
Winter
Now you might think winter would not be a time when a lot of varieties hit the market place, but that isn't the case. There are a lot of apples making their debut in the winter months.
Most of these were harvested in October and placed into cold storage for either two reasons:
1) Because they will taste better as they age, without becoming too soft
2) To fill the void once the other popular apples are well past their prime
Some of the winter varieties include the Pinata, which is crisp apple with a great flavor that contains a hint of something tropical. It is grown in Washington, by Stemilt Growers. You also have the Lady Alice, Junami and Jazz apples.
Spring is the End
When the spring time comes, there isn't much of in the way of apples. From this point until July is the time of year you will less likely to find apples in my house, unless it's one of the apple varieties that is imported from New Zealand.
I might grab something from the store to make applesauce with early summer berries, but besides that it's back to waiting until the first new apple hits the farmer's market.
**Update** In recent years I have been eating the new EverCrisp apple in the spring time. The name says it all, these apples are crisp even into the spring. They are a cross between a Fuji and Honeycrisp.
Frequently Asked Questions
I would like to end this post answering some of my most frequently asked questions. I will add to this list as more questions are asked
Do Granny Smith Apples Go Out of Season?
The question I am really going to be answering here is do Granny Smith apples disappear from the stores? Not really. Organic ones can be hard to find in the summer and at the start of fall.
Conventionally grown Granny Smith are easy to find year round. When the supply of the domestic crop decreases in the summer, there are always Granny Smith from places like New Zealand or Argentina.
Granny Smith are a late harvest variety. Typically they are one of the last apples an orchard will pick near the end of October, early depending on the area.
Interesting fact, I have heard of someone who had a Granny Smith tree in California, in which they were able to keep it on the tree to the point where it was still crisp, yet had some sweetness to it. Most other places it is grown either gets too cold or the fruit falls off the tree before that can take place.
Read More About Heirloom Apples
As I said at the top of this post, apples are available year round. It's that fall season where you need to stock up. It's when the rare varieties are more readily available.
Check your local farmer's market or orchard to get a hold of some great apples. If you got yourself an extra fridge you could even store apples.
A good resource book you might want to consider for research is Apples of Uncommon Character. I have looked over several books on apples and it's my favorite. The pictures inside are excellent. It's the kind of book you want to have on your coffee table.
Melba
Great blog. Just the info I needed without excess rambling. Thanks.
Eric Samuelson
You are most welcome. Glad I had what you were looking for.