The Lowdown on Apples in California

In this newsletter, I talk about the types of apples you can find growing in California.

I missed you guys last week. There was no newsletter because I was in California attending Expo West - a nature product trade show (check out my Instagram to learn more). I thought that this would be a good time to chat about apples from California.

California does grow some apples but it’s not known for them. The climate isn’t ideal for apples but you do find some that are grown up in the mountains such as in Oak Glen which is 90 minutes (depending on traffic!) east of Los Angeles.

I have been to several farmers market in California, I have found a few varieties including:

• Fuji

• Pink Lady

• Sundowner (sweet & tangy)

• Gala

• Arkansas Black

• Gravenstein

• Crimson Gold (a very small apple)

Fuji is definitely the most widely grown. Pink Lady apples are pretty widely grown too.

There may be others but these are the ones I have most commonly found.

When it comes to grocery stores, you don’t find California grown apples very often. Modi is a new apple that was developed for California but I haven’t seen them too much yet. You can sometimes find Gala apples from California but it’s not common either.

Now I have to mention my most favorite apple from California, the Gravenstein. They even have a festival in Sebastopol dedicated to this apple that has the perfect mix of sweet & tart flavor. It’s a juicy one too, I love making applesauce with them when I am lucky enough to find them. They are an early season variety that arrives in August and they don’t store super great which if they did they would certainly be everywhere, they are that good.

Before I left for my trip I found Wild Twist apple bags on sale at Smith’s for $2.99. I stocked up and got 3 bags in my fridge. While in California I picked up Lady Alice apples at ALDI, which I was excited about since I had not had any this season yet.

I am working on the next apple store guides. I got requests for Hy-Vee, Cub Foods, and Meijer. Look for those coming soon.

Right now you can find:

• Costco

• Walmart

• Trader Joe’s

• Sprouts

• Kroger

• ALDI

• Real Canadian Superstore

• Publix

What grocery store would you like me to do next? Put your request in here.

The apple store guides are for my paid subscribers only. This helps support my work of bringing you great apple content! (I hope you think it’s great!). You can sign up for a 7-day free trial so you check them out.

Make sure you take a moment to look over the whole What Apple to Eat Today page so that you can see all that is offered on it. There are some links to learn more about apples on the blog.

If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know. I hoped you enjoyed today’s newsletter. See ya next week!