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This medium-sized apple has a splotchy, streaky blush that is quite a deep purplish red in places; the unblushed skin is a light yellow-green. It is slightly ribbed.
The lenticels are tiny, sparse, white, and insignificant, and there is a good deal of harmless flyspeck, perhaps because this apple grew on an organic farm.
The apple has a sweet vinous smell mixed with cider.
Sweet Liberty
Liberty's flesh is wonderfully crisp, a fine-grained white tinged with creamy yellow. Its flavor is similarly light and crisp, with a good balance of sweet and tart but distinct citrus notes, like melon with lemon.
There is a little bit of a vinous quality, and some depth, though nothing like a McIntosh or Macoun. Liberty is a very refreshing and enjoyable apple.
Liberty was bred by that apple powerhouse, the New York State Agricultural
Experiment Station, from Macoun and a noncommercial variety.
This variety resists disease, making it a good choice for an organic farm, but its lively flavor commends it at least as much as its vitality.
More on Liberty from its breeders here.
Another off-topic comment, but I thought you might enjoy this:
ReplyDeletehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8305211.stm
Love Liberty apples. Discovered them at Russell Orchards in Ipswich.
ReplyDeleteRussell is great! Have you read The orchard?
DeleteLiberty shows up at farmers market sometimes.
Hi Adam, thanks for your blog that is quite a reference for many. The Liberty apple benefits greatly from maturing 2 weeks in the cold, the vinous note comes to the fore and at that time. Eating Liberty is a wonderful experience for me. It's a full, round taste that blends perfectly.
ReplyDeleteHi, Jakim here from the south shore of Montreal. I've just read the comment added on july 14 and that is exactly what I think about Liberty, so the emphasis is really to put some aside in the fridge. Full, round taste, cidery and vinous, perfect balance of sweet and tart. That apple is my best up to now. I must say that I haven't tasted Macoun yet. We don't have any up here.Guess I'll have to pay a visit to my southern neighbors!
ReplyDeleteBonjour Jakim, I will have to try putting some of these aside for a few weeks! I am a little surprised that there are no Macouns in Montreal--get some if ever you can!
DeleteWhile apple aficionados might guess this apple is a member of the Snow/McIntosh clan If you asked them to guess its familia association I doubt it would even be on their radar until you mentioned it. For one the strong vinous flavors of McIntosh and Macoun is far more muted to nonexistent in Liberty. The flesh is coarser and has more body to it, you actually chew Liberty as opposed to that dissolves in your mouth quality prominent in a McIntosh and to a lesser extent Macoun. And there is a subtle depth to Liberty that is lacking in McIntosh but conversely not as pronounced as in Macoun.
ReplyDeleteThis apple does it all: desert, cider, baking, drying, sauce. If it has one connoisseur deficiency, it is that it is difficult to pair with a definitive cheese or cheeses.; sure a sharp cheddar works okay with it but if you ever paired a very vinous McIntosh or Macoun with cheese you will immediately understand my point.
On the whole this is a great apple. For those growing their own apples, and borrowing a phrase from my dear friend Ed Fackler, I would say Liberty is the closest thing I have found to an idiot proof apple. It is a reliable cropper with a multi-week bloom time, enabling it to often escape a surprise frost. This is my maincrop, workhorse apple.
In some regards, Liberty is an odd apple. You can pretty much grow Libertys to any size you want simply by thinning. It is well known most apples respond well to thinning but most have a rather defined range in terms of improvement (some are narrow range in terms of improvement like Ashmead’s Kernel) but I have seldom seen an apple that reacts to thinning as strongly as Liberty besides Honeycrisp and a few Japanese varieties. Where Liberty stands out is it seems to keep it flavor when you super size it via thinning whereas most thinning induced super sized apples simply dilute their flavor in proportion to their size; not so with Liberty.
Excelsior,
The fluffy bunny
I really enjoy Fluffy Bunny's comments on the various varieties. I've got two Liberty here in zone 7b, Arkansas. This is their second fall in the ground. I'd like to add one or two more, though I've wondered whether I should plant a couple of Royal Empire or Enterprise Instead.
DeleteI've got Red Fuji, Granny Smith, Pink Lady, and Gala also. These, along with Bartlett Pears, Moon Glow pear, and Methley Plums.
I've only got 2 acres and I have not planted in an orchard style. Rather, my trees get planted randomly about. However, thinking of doing a small block of apples (30) in tall spindle style.
We found Liberty apples at Hutchins Organic Farm in Concord, MA, today. They were quite splotchy and grim looking but a plastic scrubber rubbed off all of the black stuff, leaving them deep red and beautiful. They are DEElicious!
ReplyDeleteLiberty is a great apple to grow on an organic farm because it is naturally disease resistant (though not disease-poof). The "black stuff" is sooty blotch, pretty harmless (as you note).
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