As you know, varieties of apples differ not only in their taste characteristics, but also in terms of maturation, and, accordingly, storage. There are those who keep up in the summer, but they do not last long. Typically, the shelf life of summer varieties of apples is only two to five weeks. While winter varieties are suitable for consumption within 4-5 months after harvesting. To provide yourself and your family with apples from your personal garden, you need to have in it two or three trees of summer varieties, two autumn ones, and two winter ones. The main difference between summer varieties of apples and winter varieties is that apples from trees of summer varieties can be consumed as soon as the fruit is ripped from the tree. Winter apples are not suitable for immediate use. In order that they have acquired a characteristic for them taste, color and smell, they must lie down for a while.
Harvest from winter apple trees is usually collected in October-November.
Varieties of winter, summer and autumn varieties of apples
Among the popular summer varieties of apple trees include Golden Chinese, Moscow pear, White pouring, Candy. The fruits of apple varieties of these varieties are not stored for long, as already mentioned, from two to five weeks from the date of collection.
The popular autumn varieties include Bessemyanka new, Borovinka, Volga beauty, Anis scarlet. The storage period for apples of autumn varieties ranges from 2-2.5 months (Borovinka, Anis ali), up to 4-5 months (Bessemyanka is a new, Volga beauty).
The best winter varieties of apples are the Winter Banana, Antonovka vulgaris, Anis new, Bashkir handsome, Pepin saffron, Aurora, Idared, Golden delishes, Jonathan, Calville snow, King David, Reddelies, Renet Champagne and Renet Simerenko. Apples of these varieties are stored longer than from autumn and summer apple trees. Such apples do not deteriorate within 3-6 months. Moreover, over time their taste only gets better.
Let us dwell on winter varieties of apples
Aurora. This variety of apples was bred in the Crimea, the fruits appear in the year 5-6, is characterized by frost resistance and immunity to fungi. Assemble in early October.
Calvin snow. The fruits of these apple trees are greenish-white, ready for collection in late September.
Renet Simerenko. A very popular variety of apples in our latitudes. Trees start to bear fruit at the age of 5-6, harvesting is carried out in late September - early October.
Renet Champagne. This variety was bred in Germany, begins to bear fruit for 6-8 years. It has a high yield.
A winter banana. This variety of apples is characterized by low frost resistance, and poor transportability. They are kept until May-June.
Storage of apples of winter varieties
Undoubtedly, the best containers for storing apples in winter are wooden boxes. But before using the boxes for their intended purpose, they must be prepared. Rinse thoroughly, or better even put in water for a while, so that the tree is slightly swollen. Then brush it is necessary to clean the box from mold and fungus and dry it in the sun.
It would be wonderful if apples were stored in boxes in one layer.
The best temperature for storing apples in winter is 0-1 degrees. That is, you can use a cold cellar or cellar. In the absence of such, you can store apples in the refrigerator, but this greatly reduces their shelf life.
Some gardeners prefer to dig in the harvested crop in the ground. To do this, they pack apples in plastic bags of 1-2 kg, and dig them into the ground to a depth of 20-25 cm. From above put an identification sign so that the buried treasures can be found in the winter. Above the improvised cellar you need to sketch the branches and dry grass to hold snow and create a warm snow blanket.