My First Tropical Anna Apple
I grew my first apple – it is a Tropical Anna, and here in Sydney town it was ripe on Christmas Eve.
That’s for anyone else desperately trying to work out ripening times by searching Google like I was. There is actually another apple on the tree – possibly the largest apple I have ever seen- and it’s probably still a few days away.
This is the first year for the tree – I planted it about 12 months ago. It’s pollinating partner, the Tropical Golden Dorset was a bit younger, and it failed to fruit this year.
I ate this lovely specimen straight after picking, and it was so sweet – still slightly warm from the sunlight, and I can’t remember ever eating a better one.
Bug damage to the Tropical Anna
Unfortunately there is another side to this story, and it ain’t attractive. Thankfully it was easily cut away, and didn’t seem to affect the taste of the remaining flesh.
The apple still on the tree looks like it has succumbed to the same fate – only slightly, and only in the last couple of days. I suspect fruit fly, but I have no idea what I’m looking for.
I thought I’d refrain from preventing anything pest-wise this year, just to see what I’m dealing with for future, so now I know that the fruit is susceptible when close to ripe, and I’ll probably need to bag it next year.
500m2 in Sydney 
Well done L, there is something so satisfying about growing fruit, I don’t know why. We’ve been picking a few strawberries the last couple of weeks, not enough to anything other than eat them straight off the plant, but Miss Two loves them. Esp when they’re warm from the sun. I can’t wait for my apples and plum to start fruiting and my blueberry to get a bit bigger (I’ve been diligently removing the berries when they appear on this one and it breaks my heart).
Oh you *are* good! Removing fruit – I have no self-control 😦
I agree about the strawberries – My 20 plants have yielded marvelously, but I shudder to think how many I would need to produce enough to make it inside!
It sounds delicious all sweet and warm, I hope you get lots more.
Just a thought your apple may have coddling moth. In late winter to early spring you can rub vaseline around the trunk to create a barrier to prevent moths climbing up. Let your chooks scratch around the base as well. Thie year my few apples seemed to escape the moths burrowing in. Genny