There are several trees that are essential to any orchard, a Bramley cooking Apple, a Victoria Plum tree, and a Cox's Orange Pippin.
The French have always been 'funny' about English Apples and Plums. They much prefer their own varieties and hate to admit that anything from north of the channel could be better.
We already have a Bramley down by the pool, and we have had a Cox previously which sadly died from Honey Fungus, but I have yet to find a Victoria plum over here, so we have the next best French variety, which is a very poor cousin. Both the Bramley and the Cox were secretly imported from Blighty.
I was quite surprised to find this tree yesterday, and 'snapped it up'. It's been about 20 years since our last one died, and we've really missed it. Cox's do not appear on supermarket shelves.
England is a great country for both Apples and Plums, and France is probably the best for Pears; and let no-one tell you differently.
Give it a few years and we'll be eating Cox's again.... or at least Boo Boo and The Cherub will.
31 comments:
Here it's Tripoli apples which are the best..greek Tripoli, not the other one. Your Cox's orange looks family at, like another variety we find here. Bet they're not the same. It's been years since I've tasted the wonderful fruity apples of my childhood memory.
In France they revere the Golden Delicious, which must be one of the world's least interesting apples. The Pink Lady, or Pink Kiss, is very good. It's a new variety, but as yet still unavailable to ordinary non-commercial growers. I shall buy one as soon as they're available.
There are so many textures and flavours to apples. Nothing so disappointing as biting into a soft floury one. At one stage I had quite a few trees. 'Early White Transparent', Russian, July picking as a cooker. Reverend Wilkes used to keep Annie Elizabeth company and it was a French apple Orleans Reinette that was a good eater. Miss my apple trees!
My Reine de Reinette is supposed to be France's best eating apple, but it comes nowhere near a Cox. So many apples here are disappointing; some you really wouldn't want to eat at all.
It's interesting to read about apple varieties available in other countries as compared to what is available in Oz. We've had Pink Lady apples available for years now. As for French plum varieties, they are acceptable here, obviously our plum tastes are not as discerning as yours Cro. Or maybe we don't hold the same biased outlook.
Alphie
We can buy the Pink Lady apples, but not the trees. They should be available soon. The favourite French plum is called 'La Prune d'ente, and is more for prune drying than for eating fresh. I'm not biased; just honest!
Fruit trees take so long to grow; we are lucky to have mature apple and plum trees here in our new garden but I do miss the cherry and peach trees we planted in France.
Lots of blossom on our Peach trees again this year, but as I'm sure you remember, that doesn't mean loads of fruit.
We favour Jazz apples to Pink Lady but I guess it’s just a matter of personal taste ..... but, I think we all know that nothing beats Victoria plums. XXXX
Cro, up here in the Touraine, the know how to harvest and keep Goldendelishus.... and it is harvested late when it has a pink blush to one side... and it tastes totally scrummy!! And, not a patch on the supermarket ones..... but, you have to buy from small orchards!!
And, Victoria Plums are available...
but not as Victoria! Victoria fruits very badly in France, so from Victoria was born Stanley.... a Victoria plum bred for a hotter, lime-rich soil and climate.... and it loves it... tastes just like its parent.
We grow Newton's Wonder and Katy as our main apples... and we have a James Grieve [doesn't like it here] and "inherited" a Reinette Blanche which we've had a shoot of grafted onto new rootstock as the one that was here was very old and whilst it still fruits, they are normally too small to do owt with [apart from juice]
Cox's are my favourite apple by far. I find the Pink Lady much too sweet for my taste. Luckily we have a neighbour with a Victoria Plum tree. They don't use them and let us use them all (I still have some in the freezer from last year). Plum Crumble is a favourite pud after Sunday dinner.
Another fan of Cox's Orange Pippin here and Russets too.
I find Golden Delicious to be very bland.
France is great for poodles and the wine is generally okay but not quite as good as NZ wine... or indeed wine from Australia and Chile... plus Argentina oh and California and South Africa. Some English wines beat French wines too.
Golden Delicious may be bland but, by golly, they are so hard they give your gums a right old workout. A Golden Delicious a day keeps the dentist at bay. Credit where it's due.
U
Yes, YP, and now, after a bit of habitual bashing the French, let's turn, by way of balance, to where the British fall short. Not, of course, that I can think of anything. After all, Great Britain isn't called great for nothing.
Cro, you may be amused that my mother would send me across the road, shopping at the greengrocers. She was most particular in her choice of apple. No less than "Cox Orange" would do. Endearingly she pronounced "orange" the French way. Pippins was optional - usually added after having read a chapter in Charles Dickens the night before.
U
We've always had a Victoria plum in our UK gardens. The last one, in Shropshire, was always dripping with bug-free fruits; they were wonderful.
Plum crumble is a favourite here too, but not made with Victoria's, sadly.
I went out yesterday with the idea of buying a Golden D, to fill a gap. How happy I was to find a Cox for sale.
Now that France has eventually started classifying their wines by grape variety, and not just area of production, we know a little more about what we're buying. You wouldn't believe the amount of bottles of 'Bordeaux' I've bought that were like dish water.
In New Zealand The Cottage was surrounded by orchards. Unfortunately I rarely eat apples.
Must say that if I have ever g one into a shop and found they have no Bramleys but do have another apple posing as a 'Cooker' I have never found one in the same league.
I saw the title of this post and thought you had another grandchild on the way!
I'm afraid that most of our fruit crop goes to the compost. Even so, I continue to plant fruit trees, and offer the fruits to all-comers.
There's nothing to compare with a Bramley. A wonderful apple.
Sadly not, I may have to name this one after myself!
Sliced apples and a bit of Camembert. Yum yum!
We had some lovely melting 'mature' Camembert for lunch; sadly no apple.
Golden Delicious is meant to be eaten from the tree...as commercially they are picked that bit early, the taste never develops
Perhaps you can bring a couple plums back from your 'vacation' in England. There should be some good come of it.
I might well do that.... yet another well pruned tree hidden under the travel rug!
Fond childhood memories of 'Beauty of Bath' both for the tree to climb and the apple to eat.
An almost scented, pink fleshed little apple but not a keeper. I believe it is one of the varieties used in the development of Pink Lady.
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