Choosing varieties

[FB.]

Beauty of Bath, so its interesting to get a ''real'' tested opinion!

re Discovery, we have it here, and its a beautiful, beautiful tree with a very beautiful fruit, which is lovely, but I find it turns floury very, very quickly when picked. Is it just me who finds this?

Yes, the fruits of most early-season apples soon go off. To get an early-season crop, you have to make some compromises.
I opted to grow a larger tree of Discovery to allow the pests to have their share, yet still have some of the earliest ripening (July-August) apples left for me. Discovery is originally from this area and does very well here. Although my soil is poor, it is warm and sunny - and when picked at the right time, my Disco's produce some amazing tasting fruit that are nothing like the sharp/tasteless shop-bought apples. Commercial orchards picking under-ripe fruit (which travels better) is what killed-off sales of Worcester Pearmain apples.

[tomsloc]

Hi, in our garden we have 2 old trees which we identified at an apple day as Monarch(cooker -which can be eaten after a short keeping) They are prolific and delicious and can be bought from some nurseries -- make sure you have a pollinator.They also make fantastic apple wine ( c j berry recipe -- the one that uses 24lbs apples -- very strong and absolutely fantastic)

Tom