August Apples in Season From West to East

I hope you’ve enjoyed these last few months of peaches, nectarines, and plums because their summer season is starting to wind down. We’re still seeing lovely stone fruit for the moment, but August brings a seasonal shift away from those juicy treats and toward something more crisp and reminiscent of fall.

You guessed it: As I write this, apples are beginning to appear across the country from west to east. Here are two of my favorite apples in season this month.

The West Coast Kickoff

Here in California, we welcome apple season with the Gravenstein. If you’re a longtime FruitGuys fan, you’re probably familiar with this unique apple grown in Sebastopol (north of San Francisco by about 50 miles). The Grav is sweet yet tart and comes in slightly different shades. One tree can produce green, red, or Rosebrook (striped) apples. You can read more about Gravensteins, which were first planted in California in 1811, here.

The FruitGuys started celebrating the Grav with our annual Gravenstein Apple Box more than 15 years ago when we learned that it’s listed in the Ark of Taste—a list of distinctive produce items on the verge of extinction. Anyone can nominate a local food for the Ark. Then, a committee reviews the nominations, selects items, and lists them to help raise awareness and keep them in production. The Sebastopol Gravenstein apple is one of many fruits and vegetables on the list, and locals even celebrate it with a festival each year.

My East Coast Favorite

On the East Coast, one of my favorite early apples is the Ginger Gold. It may look similar to the Golden Delicious apple I grew up with, but I find it a bit crisper. It’s a relatively new apple compared to the Gravenstein (farmers Clyde and Frances “Ginger” Harvey discovered it growing in their Virginia orchard in 1969 after Hurricane Camille). It’s a cross between a Golden Delicious, an Albemarle Pippin, and a third apple that’s still unknown. The Ginger Gold has a tangy, tart taste with a mildly sweet finish and farmers harvest it in mid-August.

There are over 200 different apple varieties grown in the US alone from August through November, so we have plenty of unique apples in season in the coming months to celebrate. Each year in our fruit boxes, we aim to bring you fun varieties paired with the usual favorites. Stay tuned for more apple stories as we move into fall.

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