With hundreds of varieties available, at least one apple (Malus sylvestris) is available to match nearly any climate and set of taste buds. Apples are among the most popular fruit trees to grow, but to harvest high-quality fruit, you must be prepared to regularly prune them, feed them, and deal with pests. Apples require cross-pollination, but some nurseries offer trees with two or more varieties grafted onto one rootstock. You can also use ornamental crabapples to pollinate apple trees.

Several serious pests make apples a challenge to grow organically. Plum curculio, apple maggot, and codling moths damage the developing fruits, frequently making them inedible. (For more on pest control, see Chapter 3 of this book.)

As trees increase in size, they become harder to prune and spray, so choose trees on semi-dwarf and dwarf rootstocks that reach only 8 to 12 feet tall. You can also use pruning techniques to control tree height. Prune apple trees in late winter, while they are dormant, and follow up in midsummer to remove overly vigorous sprouts.

Disease resistance is key when choosing apple varieties for organic orchards. Apple scab, cedar apple rust, powdery mildew, and fire blight devastate many common and older varieties, which makes them unsuitable for home orchards. Although the names of improved varieties may be unfamiliar, the fruit is just as flavorful. Some disease-resistant apple varieties worth seeking out, listed from those that ripen earliest (late summer) to latest (mid to late autumn), include ‘Redfree’, ‘Prima’, ‘Novamac’, ‘JonaFree’, ‘Priscilla’, ‘Freedom’, ‘Liberty’, ‘Nova Easygro’, ‘Enterprise’, and ‘GoldRush’.

Apples ripen from late summer through late autumn, so choose a variety that ripens its fruit before freezing temperatures in your area have a chance to damage the crop. Varieties also vary considerably in their chill requirements, with some better suited to colder climates and others to milder seasons.