Choosing the Apple of
your Eye is Easy!
2024 Apple Information
The trees are asleep for the winter season.
We are hoping for a cold winter to keep them dormant.
As always, look for a few changes at the farm again this year!
**We will not be selling admission or apple bags online this year.**
PLEASE NOTE: Reusable bags are NOT PERMITTED for apple picking. Please use the Thiessen Orchards bags sold at the Admission Silo (weekends) or under the green overhang behind the barn (weekdays).
Thiessen's Apple Varieties
McIntosh
John McIntosh discovered this old, well-known variety as a chance seedling in 1811.
AVAILABLE: Early SeptemberDeep red finish, sometimes with a green blush. Has a distinctive aroma, and delicious “tangy” flavour. Pulp is firm and crisp. Cooks soft and smooth. Reasonably good keeper.
BEST FOR:Fresh eating, cooking, baking, salads, sauces.
Royal Gala
This variety originated in New Zealand, a cross between Kidd’s Orange Red and Golden Delicious. The Royal Gala strain was named in honour of Queen Elizabeth II, who deemed it her favourite during a visit to New Zealand. It was brought to North America in the early 1970s, and is now a very popular apple.
AVAILABLE: Early SeptemberCrispy, juicy and sweet with excellent texture and flavour. It is a crisp, firm fruit with pronounced red stripes over a yellow-orange under colour.
BEST FOR:Fresh eating, baking, salads, sauces.
Ambrosia
The Ambrosia apple was discovered as a chance seedling in Cawston, British Columbia. This crisp, sweet, and aromatic apple has a combination of red stripes over a creamy yellow background that produces an attractive pink blush
AVAILABLE: Early to Mid SeptemberThe fine-grained, cream-coloured flesh is slow to oxidize, making this apple a great choice for fruit trays, salads, and fresh eating. Naturally sweet, Ambrosias require very little sugar when used for cooking.
BEST FOR:Fruit trays, salads, and fresh eating.
Honeycrisp
This popular apple is a cross between a Macoun and a Honeygold.
AVAILABLE: Mid September(while quantities last)
Extraordinarily crisp and juicy apple with a honeyed mild flavour. The coarse flesh is a distinctive mottled red over a yellow background. Stores well.
BEST FOR:Fresh eating, cooking, salads.
Golden Delicious
Golden Delicious was discovered as a chance seedling in Clay County, West Virginia in 1914 and was named Mullin’s Yellow Seedling. Stark Brothers bought propagation rights and renamed it Golden Delicious as a companion to (Red) Delicious, to which it is not related genetically. The parentage of Golden Delicious is thought to be Golden Reinette and Grimes Golden.
AVAILABLE: Mid Septemberto Early October
Excellent all-purpose apple with a rich, unique flavour. One of the finest salad and dessert apples grown. Pale yellow flesh is medium firm, juicy, and resists browning. Pulp is firm and crisp. Cooks firm. This sweet apple requires little added sugar in cooking uses, where its firmness helps hold its shape. It also has excellent flavour when eaten fresh. It’s a popular inclusion in fresh apple cider.
BEST FOR:Fresh eating, cooking, baking, pies, salads, sauces.
Empire
Empires premiered in 1966 in the Empire State of New York, a cross between Red Delicious and McIntosh, developed by the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station.
AVAILABLE: Mid Septemberto Early October
This round medium-sized apple is dark red, crisp and juicy with a delightful sweet-tart flavour and creamy white flesh, making it a good all purpose apple.
BEST FOR:Fresh eating, cooking, baking, pies, salads, sauces.
Mutsu
Also known as Crispin. This apple originated in Japan and is a cross between Golden Delicious and Indo varieties.
AVAILABLE: Late Septemberto Mid October
Distinctive, delicate, spicy flavor, faintly anise-like. An excellent all purpose apple. Moderately sweet flavour with juicy, firm and creamy white flesh. Skin colour is a yellowish-green with an orange blush. Stores well.
BEST FOR:Fresh eating, baking, pies, salads, sauces.
Red Delicious
This most popular variety in the world came from the obscurity of a non-apple region — Central Iowa. A farmer named Jesse Hiatt discovered the chance seedling on his farm near Peru, Iowa, and twice tried to chop it out. When it sprouted a third time, he gave it a reprieve and let it grow. Later he discovered qualities in it he liked. He displayed it as the Hawkeye variety at an 1893 fruit show in Louisiana, Missouri, sponsored by Stark Brothers Nurseries Orchards Co., which purchased propagating rights in 1894. Stark Brothers renamed it Delicious, still its official name although it is popularly known as Red Delicious to distinguish it from Golden Delicious.
AVAILABLE: Early to Mid OctoberOfficially classed as a “sweet” apple, but with a certain pleasing tartness. Highly flavoured for fresh eating. A glossy red apple with a distinctive “typey” five-pointed elongated shape. Pulp is crisp and juicy with sweet yellow flesh. Good keeper.
BEST FOR:Fresh eating, salads.
Crimson Crisp
If you’re looking for a juicy, snacking apple then Crimson Crisp is the right choice for you. Diving headfirst into autumn, this delicious variety has a sweet, yet spicy taste to it. The creamy-white flesh of this apple has an extremely crisp bite to it. The rich flavor will surprise you. It has a very sweet taste with a hint of tartness.
Planted in Spring 2022 &AVAILABLE TO PICK IN 2025
First and foremost, this apple variety and well-known for its fresh eating reputation. This extremely crisp variety is perfect for snacking. But, because this apple variety is known to be very firm, it’s also a great choice for baking.
BEST FOR:Fresh eating, cooking, baking, pies.
