Noret

( Rescue X Mantet )

This is a very tasty early apple, ripening in mid to late August. Like most apples, it does get soft if allowed to remain on the tree after ripening. 

This cultivar originated at the Morden Research Station, Agriculture Canada, by Dr. C. R. Ure for the Prairie Fruit Breeding Cooperative. It was selected at the University of Alberta in 1960, and released by Beaverlodge Research Station, Alberta in 1976. The tree is semi-dwarf, rounded, precocious, and annually productive. It is hardy to Zone 1, and its reaction to fireblight requires further observation. 

The fruit is 5.5 cm (2 +") in diameter, slightly oblate, and matures in early to mid August. The skin is thin, greenish-yellow, and almost completely covered with shiny dark red. The flesh is cream colored moderately firm, acid and somewhat astringent but with good flavor. It is fair to good for fresh eating and cooking, and stores for 3-4 weeks. It has a pleasant strawberry flavor. 

From the USDA Germplasm website: Fruit: size 5 cm standard, yellow-green, overlaid with shiny dark red. Cooking and dessert. Ripening late August; keeps about 6 weeks. "A small but tasty apple:, says Sprout(nursery) A replacement for Rescue. Small tree, selected for earliness and hardiness. Flesh cream colored, moderately firm, slightly tart, good flavor. Harvest early, 5 days after Dawn Tree: small, upright-spreading; very winter hardy, hardier than Osman and Heyer 12; precocious; annual cropping.

(Although the USDA says this tree is hardier than Heyer 12, that has not been our experience. This may be due to the different sort of stresses trees face in different places, or perhaps due to our short growing season and these trees failing to harden off soon enough to be ready for winter.)