Antonovka is a popular medium-sized green/yellow cooking or dual-purpose apple. It originated in 19th century Russia, and was soon being grown in the northern USA on account of its excellent cold-hardiness.
There are many different forms of this variety - Antonovka Kamenichka is a red-flushed form discovered in the Ukraine in the 1890s, while Polutorafuntovaya is a green-skinned form, often with particularly large fruit size. Indeed it is perhaps best to think of Antonovka as a population of closely-related varieties rather than an individual cultivar. This explains why there is a considerable variation in its color, the best time to pick the apples, and how well the apples keep in storage.
For best results when cooking the apples should still be green in color with plenty of acidity. They will mellow to a yellow/green in storage, and can then be eaten fresh. The apples are gernally ripe in the early / mid-season, and can be stored for a month or so.
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If you do not hear from us by February you can contact us in June to pre-order for the following spring.
Antonovka is a reliable, productive, and generally disease-free apple, and an ideal choice for colder zones.
Advice on fruit tree pollination.
Antonovka is unusual among apples in that seeds will often grow nearly true, with seedling trees being very similar or identical to the parent - whereas with the vast majority of apple varieties a seedling tree will be a cross between the mother and the pollent parent. This may explain the wide range of variation in the characteristics of the variety
Antonovka is also widely used as a cold-hardy rootstock for other apple varieties.