Fruit from our farm to your table
3733 220th St E, Faribault MN 55021
Email: straightriverfarm@gmail.com
Straight River Farm © 2025
Apple Varieties in the Straight River Farm Orchard
**Please note that the ripening dates listed below are an average. In any given year, the dates could be slightly earlier or as much as 2 weeks later.**
Zestar! -- August 20-25 -- a sweet-tart flavor and soft/crisp texture. With a bit of brown sugar flavor -- you're going to love this apple! A super choice for sugar-free applesauce, pies & crisps. Excellent dried.
Ginger Gold -- August 20-25 -- a firm, early golden -- with a special sweet & ginger-like flavor that makes it great for baking or drying, and a treat for fresh eating.
Chestnut -- August 25-30 -- a sweet crab with great crunch & a nutty, mild flavor -- perfectly sized for the lunch box or a quick snack.
SweeTango -- September 1-8. SweeTango ripens between Zestar! and Honeycrisp -- its parent apples. The complex flavor of Zestar! combined with the crispness of Honeycrisp make SweeTango a delicious fresh-eating apple that also bakes & dries well. Keeps well in refrigeration.
Sweet Sixteen -- September 15. Rosy red striped skin covers a sweet, firm apple with cherry undertones. An all-round apple for fresh eating and cooking, we added it to the orchard by popular demand.
Cortland -- September 15. An old variety related to McIntosh. A bit tart like the Mac, but with white flesh slow to brown. This is a great salad/charcuterie apple & popular for sauce and baking. Mix it with a sweet apple for great pies, sauce, etc.
Honeycrisp -- September 15-20. A mid-season favorite that set a new standard for fresh-eating apples. Honeycrisp is sweet, juicy, amazingly crisp, and keeps well for weeks in the refrigerator. Try a locally grown Honeycrisp to discover the flavor difference 2000 miles can make!
Honeygold -- September 25-30. A late golden apple that is sweet, juicy & mild for fresh eating, good for baking, and excellent dried for a healthy snack.
SnowSweet -- September 30. Sweet, with just a hint of tart. Very slow to brown, so can be cut ahead for lunch boxes, salads, or charcuterie boards.
Frostbite -- September 25-October 1. Frostbite are very sweet and aromatic, often compared to sugar cane and molasses. A small apple, parent of Keepsake & Sweet Sixteen, and grandparent to Honeycrisp, these are great for sweet cider & fresh eating.
Haralson -- September 25--October 1. Haralson are firm, juicy, and quite tart. This is the ultimate pie, crisp, or sauce apple for our family & the preferred fresh eating apple for our daughter, who insists everything else is too sweet. Haralson freezes & cans well.
Regent -- October 1-5. A Minnesota-developed late season favorite -- sweet with just a hint of tartness for fresh eating, baking, sauce & drying. Regent is a firm apple that can keep 10-12 weeks stored with a damp paper towel in a refrigerator drawer.
Keepsake -- October 10-15. Keepsake has a sweet, tropical flavor, is very firm/crisp, great for fresh eating & cooking, and will keep 10-12 weeks stored with a damp paper towel in a refrigerator drawer.
Apples
Our final apple crop was sold in 2024.
Farmer Bill retired from farming and is
hoping to have time to catch up on
his reading, play a lot of cribbage, and
do some fun traveling.
Thank you all for the memories and for
supporting your local small farmer.
Directions to and times for farmers' markets we attend can be found on these websites:
https://www.shoreviewmn.gov/parks-rec/special-events/farmers-market
Apples by the numbers
Apple varieties vary in weight, so weights are approximate.
3 medium apples = 1 lb.
1 pound peeled & sliced apples = 2 3/4 cups.
1/4 peck of apples = 2.5-3 lb. medium apples.
1/2 peck of apples = 5-6 lb.
1 peck of apples = 10-12 lb.
1/2 bushel of apples = 18-22 lb.
1 bushel of apples = 38-42 lb.
1 peck of apples (10 lb.) makes 7-9 pints of applesauce.
48-64 apples makes 1 gallon apple juice/fresh cider
5-7 medium apples makes 1 9-inch pie.
1/2 peck apples yields about 8 cups (8 1/2-pint jars) jelly.