September Apple Picking Guide at Great Country Farms

2025 Update:  Unfortunately, we are not picking apples in September and October for the 2025 season due to the April Freeze that destroyed much of our crop.  We do have a few late season apples that survived the freeze and hope to have the orchard open in early November on select days to pick these apples.

September is peak apple picking season in northern Virginia. I was thinking about posting tips for apple picking but found that there are already some excellent posts out there… my favorite is 10 Tips for Organizing an Apple Picking Outing with Kids.   One of the tips is to plan to get lots of apples and to plan what you’ll do with them.   So, to help with those planning efforts, here is a list of apples ripe at Great Country Farms in northern Virginia in September.  We’ve added photos, descriptions of their qualities and tasting notes so you can be ready to pick lots of apples!

At Great Country Farms, all of our apple trees have been planted in the last 20 years so we are considered a “modern orchard” with dwarf trees designed for easy pick your own.  No ladders required!   Our varieties are names that you may not recognize but they have been derived from some of the best classic and heirloom apple varieties.  Take a wander through our varieties below and decide which options are best for you and your family.

Quick Tips for our September Apple Selections: 

• Best for Pies:  Honey Crisp, Jona Free, Jona Gold, September Fuji, Connell Red. PRO TIP: Combine a few different varieties of apples for a depth of flavor.  Add in a few Gold Delicious for extra sweetness.
• Best for Sweet Snacking: Gala, Honey Crisp, Golden Supreme, Candy Crisp
• Best for  Crisp More Tart Snacking:  Ruby Jon, Jona Gold & Jona Free

Gala- Ripe Early September

• Description: lovely orange/red apples that you will recognize from the grocery by look but not by flavor.  Freshly picked Galas are sweet and easy eating.  They are a bit smaller  apple so make great lunch box stuffers.
• Parentage: Gala is a cross between Kidd’s Orange Red and Golden Delicious.
• Tasting Notes: Flavor is sweet and juicy
• Use: Great for Eating and holds up nicely for baking. Nice for juicing.  Great lunch box size apples and stores well refrigerated for 3-6 months.

September Fuji- Ripe Early September

• Description: This blush apple has the same classic Fuji-like flavor but ripens earlier and is a bit smaller making it great for lunch box stuffing.
• Parentage: September Fuji is a sport of the mighty Fuji apple developed in Prescott, WA.
• Tasting Notes: Flavor is sweeter than many apples and nicely crisp.
• Use: Great for Eating out of hand and for filling lunch boxes. Pick a bunch as this apple stores well refrigerated for 3-6 months.

Blush. Approximates flavor of Fuji in spite of much shorter growing season.

Golden Supreme- Ripe Early September

• Description: eGolden Supreme is a uniquely cone shaped apple that is yellow with pink blush.  Fruit is medium to large with a light-cream colored flesh.
• Parentage: Although the name implies heritage from Golden Delicious, this variety is a chance seedling so more unusual and not likely to be found in stores or farmer’s markets.
• Tasting Notes: This very juicy apple is low in acid and sweet like honey or peachy notes.
• Use: Great for eating out of hand, juicing or for making a very light colored apple sauce.

Connell Red- Ripe Early September

• Description: Large dark red, crisp eating apple. This apple keeps well so is a great option for picking and storing.
• Parentage: Bud mutation of Fireside.  A bud-sport is a mutation that occurs in apple trees and other plans and manifests as a sudden change in the genetic traits of a branch.
• Tasting Notes: Lovely complex sweet flavor. Very crisp.
• Use: .Great for eating out of hand and holds up nicely for pies and all your baking needs. Great cider making option and stores well refrigerated for 3-6 months.

Golden Delicious-  Early September

• Description: Golden to yellow as it ripens.  Round and robust.
• Parentage: One of the most important apples for breeding other varieties. Golden Delicious was discovered by a West Virginia farmer at the 1890s and is  considered to be a seedling of the Grimes Golden variety.  It quickly gained recognition as Stark Brothers nursery bought the original tree and an area of land around it.  The original tree lived on into the 1950s.
• Tasting Notes: Sweet, sweet and yummy.  Softens over time and flavor will mellow.
• Use: Great for eating when freshly picked.  Makes lovely apple sauce and juice and we recommend using these in season rather than storing or holding for longer periods.

 

 

Jonafree- Ripe Early September

• Description: deep red with creamy, white flesh and crisp, juicy eating quality similar to old-fashioned Jonathan, with 100% Jonathan flavor.
• Parentage:Introduced in 1965 this apple was developed as a Purdue Rutger Illinois Coop from Golden Delicious, Jonathan and Rome Beauty  PRI 855-102 x NJ 31
• Tasting Notes: Flavor is Jonathan-like, but less acidic.
• Use: Great for Eating and holds up nicely for baking.  Great lunch box size apples

Jonagold – Ripe in Early September

• Description: this lovely red apple often shows golden striations.
• Parentage:Golden Delicious and Jonathan
• Tasting Notes: The Jonagold apple has a balanced blend of both its parents’ flavors offering the sweet-tart taste found in the Jonathan and the aromatic honey-like scent of the Golden Delicious.
• Use: A great choice for cider, juicing and cooking. This apple stores well for 1-2 months refrigerated.

 

Shizuka – Ripe in Early September this year

• Description: This tall, large, yellow-hued apple that is mostly yellow with some green or red flush.
• Parentage:Golden Delicious cross with Indo (Same parents as the Mutsu Apple)
• Tasting Notes: This descendant of the golden has an almost buttery flavor that is mostly sweet with a hint of tart.
• Uses: Eating, apple sauce and great for making dried apple rings.

Ruby John – Early to Mid-September

• Description: This more petite apples is deep red with creamy, white flesh and crisp, juicy eating quality similar to old-fashioned Jonathan, with 100% Jonathan flavor.
• Parentage:Sport  (natural mutation) of Jonathan
• Tasting Notes: Biting in reveals, well, a Jonathan which is an old classic, sweet and balanced and cidery, with flashes of spice.
• Use: This smaller apples is great for lunches and snacks.

Candy Crisp Apples

Candy Crisp® – ripening in Mid September

• Description:  This glossy yellow beauty is shaped like a Red Delicious apple with the top wider than the bottom and knobs on its flooring.
• Parentage: This tree was discovered as a chance seedling growing in a Red Delicious orchard in New York.  Hence, Candy Crisp is thought to be related to and has a similar shape to Red Delicious but the skin color is golden yellow.
• Tasting Notes: Firm, juicy and sweet with a somewhat pear-like flavor.
• Uses: Sweeter  apple great for eating & dessert baking. Keeps well for 1-2 months refrigerated.

Now that you know all about the apples ready to pick this season, here are some great links to Savor Apple Recipes and 15 Things to Do with all the apples you pick this fall.  Enjoy!