Surprised more folks don't know this. - ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

adapples.bsky.social • 86 days ago

Surprised more folks don't know this.

Reposted from Ken

If you want apples outside of about a 3-4 month national growing season they're all refrigerated. And stored in a controlled atmosphere that's had O² and CO² removed to slow ripening. Basically a nitrogen atmosphere. I and my family for 4 generations grew apples.

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birdpoof.bsky.social•86 days ago

I guessed this had to be the case because growing season.... Besides, some apples like the honeycrisp were bred to survive colder temps for a really long time, no harm done.

adapples.bsky.social•86 days ago

I think it's the tree that is cold hardy, not the fruit. All apples can withstand cold temps (to a point); even regular refrigeration extends apple life by a lot.

Industrial refrigeration more so (link below). But for best, visit an orchard in season
https://adamapples.blogspot.com/2009/05/controlled-atmosphere.html

birdpoof.bsky.social•86 days ago

Ah, didn't realize the distinction, good to know

adapples.bsky.social•85 days ago

UMinn, which bred Honeycrisp, has also created a number of cold-hardy varieties, which makes sense if you think on MN winters.

They made one variety that can survive 40° below F! The tree, not the apples—the cells in the fruit would burst. Apple aptly named "Frostbite."

92andthensome.bsky.social•86 days ago

I thought everyone knew this ….

stilldanlehrer.bsky.social•86 days ago

I sold apples at the farmer’s market for two decades and can tell you that a staggering number of people don’t know about seasons, much less CA storage. One visitor to the farm in the winter looked at the dormant apple trees and asked me why they died.

adapples.bsky.social•86 days ago

Yes, food just spontaneously appears in supermarkets.

stilldanlehrer.bsky.social•86 days ago

I can understand some of the confusion with produce like apples, oranges, bananas, potatoes —things that are seemingly available year-round thanks to modern cold storage and transportation techniques. That stuff seemingly does spontaneously appear in supermarkets! If you’re a city dweller who 1/2

stilldanlehrer.bsky.social•86 days ago

Never gets out of the concrete jungle then you might not know. My standards are higher for customers shopping at the farmer’s market. 2/2

jeremiahfromfargo.bsky.social•85 days ago

Tends to be highly geographic in my experience. Living in North Dakota it’s easy to forget that dry land farming of 10’s of thousands of acres is not “normal”.

I know little about the cultivation of apples but I know more than I want to about commodity crops.

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