Best apples for storing

[Primrose]

Can anybody recommend the best varieties of apples for storing?
We have bought various varieties recently from farm shops and despite storing them in a cool garage, their quality has deteriorated quite quickly.

[PLUMPUDDING]

The later ripening apples last longer in store. My best ones are Newton Wonder for cooking - they are still on the tree, and Saturn, a late eater.

Did you see Toby Buckland on Gardeners' World storing them in plastic bags with holes in. I think he put about 8 apples per bag and then stored them in a cool shed.

I've put my Sunset apples in bags like this to see if they keep longer than usual, but don't know yet if they will be better than just storing them on racks. The Sunset also keep for quite a long time in a cool place, probably until Christmas.

I'm going to have a cider making session in the next week or two, so should be able to use quite a lot of them up.

[Beryl]

Out allotment Association recently had a very interesting talk on tree fruit growing by a gentleman from Blackmore Fruit Growers in Hampshire. He was horrified to see Tony Buckland putting apples in plastic bags even with holes. His advice - Don't do it.

Beryl.

[Primrose]

Yes, I did see Toby Buckland putting apples in a plastic bag with holes. I must confess that in an attempt to keep apples for longer, I've been putting them in a loosely folded plastic bag in our fridge where the temperature is 4-5 degrees. I find they keep far better like this there than in our garage where the temperature is probably higher. I don't know whether the plastic bag reduces water loss, but certainly those stored in this way don't end up with the same degree of wrinkly skins.

[pongeroon]

My favourite apple for eating and cooking, and it stores well, is Scotch Bridget. I've not heard anyone talk about it ever, but there were two big trees in an old apple orchard (one has since bitten the dust)belonging to my fine young man's grandfather.

We have picked lots of them, the salad drawer in the fridge is full. None of our sheds stay cool enough.

We planted a tree of this variety in the garden three years ago and it had three good apples this year. I think we got it from Deacons on the Isle of Wight, they have lots of the more unusual varieties. If I could only grow one apple tree (which I do, its all I have space for) it would be (is!)Scotch Bridget.

[PLUMPUDDING]

I've also had quite a few different kinds of fruit trees from Deacons and agree with Pongeroon that they have an amazing selection. They have all been very good trees too. Just reading through their catalogue makes you want to plant up dozens of them.

I'm trying to stop myself getting any more, especially as we're snowed under with fruit at the moment. I've picked half the Newton Wonder this week and have already got 104 lb but the rest will have to stay on the tree until I've put the first lot away. You definitely only need one Newton Wonder tree. So far I've made them into cider, but it takes ages to process even enough for one gallon.