Today in the orchard
The orchard is mostly put away for the winter now. All the apples that are going to get picked are done with one exception. We haven’t picked the Wickson yet. Our plan is to pick them frozen and then press them. They tend to be very high in sugar and allowing them to freeze on the tree drives the brix even higher. Wickson can produce one of the most delicious single-variety ciders. (The small fruit are also very good eaten fresh.) But they ripen very late and picking them early is not recommended. One year we pressed 50 gallons of Wickson juice too early, and the cider was a disappointment.
Wickson was introduced by the innovative California breeder, Albert Etter in the mid-twentieth century. Although Etter left breeding records which are often quoted, DNA profiling has produced nothing conclusive. At this point, although Reinette Franche is likely in its ancestry, neither parent nor any of the four grandparents are known. Still Wickson is a great apple and we better pick it soon!