I have 6 surviving apple trees. 3 are Arkansas Black. 3 are other heirloom or vintage varieties.
Years ago, my mother’s best friend for years and years was something of an apple expert. In so much as the university extension called her to take graft cuttings from an old Swedish snow apple tree that was dying out in a historic colony village.
Ever since purchasing our farmstead in 1994, she urged me to plant apple trees, specifically she said I should plant Arkansas Black.
She and my mother died around the same time, my mother 80 and the apple expert 88. Without doing any research of my own I purchased and planted trees.
After 3 or 4 years I started getting apples and couldn’t wait to try the AB. Beautiful dark apples, hard as wood with about as much flavor. I was very disappointed. Until I had a conversation with an orchard owner. He knew the AB and said it was terrible for the orchard market because they aren’t fit to eat before Christmas and nobody is buying apples then.
Apparently they are meant to be root cellared or stored. They keep well. Pick them after a couple hard frosts or a good freeze, cold store them and after a month or more they’re good.
I’ve had them last in the basement fridge and still good eating in June. Have a lot of them this year and they are good now, will be even better in January.
Dark plumb color with pale yellow flesh, not real juicy but very resistant to bruising or insect damage.
I’m at the northern edge of the best zones here in Illinois.
