Grimes Golden apple

Grimes Golden apple identification images

All images copyright Orange Pippin unless otherwise stated.

USDA identification images for Grimes Golden

The identification paintings in the USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection span the years 1886 to 1942.

Citation: U.S. Department of Agriculture Pomological Watercolor Collection. Rare and Special Collections, National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD 20705.

Visitor reviews

• 10 Oct 2023 

  We had a massive Grimes Golden tree growing up. The author is correct about inconsistent production. Some years we would have a handful and some over ten bushels. Loved that apple and tree.
• 17 Oct 2022 

  I love this apple. My dad planted several in our yard and we all looked forward to them when they were ripe
• 27 Jul 2022 

  Grimes and Yellow delicious are both good but Grimes is more tart and to me tastes better. We had 110 acres of apple trees when I grew up and some were Grimes. Seems only older people have ever heard of them but not surprised as you never find them in the store and most people don’t grow them. Sad as they really are a great apple.
• 30 Jun 2022 

  The Grimes Golden is a very old variety but one of the best there is. We raised Grimes my whole life until job moved me too far away. Too bad I can never find them in the store and people around eastern Kansas just do not raise them anymore. What a shame as they are excellent.
• 11 Apr 2022 

  this was always my favorite when went to the orchard with my dad and i wish it was still available if i had enough years left i would set some out
• 02 Sep 2021  WEST VIRGINIA, United States

  My grandparents used this apple to make apple butter using a copper kettle. My mom and dad continued the tradition of making apple butter in a copper kettle every year. Grimes Golden is the only apple they would use unless it was an off year for apple production due to late frosts. It makes the best apple butter because it makes the best apple sauce. My brothers and I have continued that tradition of making apple butter using the same copper kettle that my grandparents used. We have also bought several other copper kettles to make apple butter since our family size has increased. (I have 5 brothers.) Grimes Golden is definitely the best apple there is to make apple sauce or apple butter.
• 21 Nov 2020  MARYLAND, United States

  Makes the best applesauce. I'm 70 and this is the variety my grandmother used every fall to make her sauce. She froze instead of canning it. It's getting hard to find orchards selling it now.
• 08 Oct 2018  WA, United States

  Bought organic Grimes Golden at our local supermarket to saute with onions for pork chops. What a superb cooking apple! The taste was delicious--tart with a hint of sweetness. The apple slices stood up well. Will definitely get this variety again. Would like to try it as one of several varieties in pie.
• 13 Mar 2016  WA/KITTITAS, United States

  We have one Grimes Golden tree in a small orchard that was old and well-established when we bought our land in the late 1980's. It is the best apple we have ever tasted, sweet and crunchy, with the characteristics that others have mentioned. The apples are rounder than Golden Delicious, of varying sizes and it does not produce as heavily as the GD next to it, but has a far superior flavor. It is heavenly when fresh, also dries well, cans well, keeps well, and has a sweet and pleasant fragrance. The yellow jackets love to eat the apples on this tree. Of the 6 different varieties we have, this tree is the only one they like because it is the sweetest. We did not know what kind it was until we found it on your website, but we are now sure it is a Grimes Golden. Thank you!
• 07 Sep 2015  NW VA, United States

  Got my first crop in 5-6 years from M111. When fully ripe, has a red blush on yellow, firm, crisp white flesh and spicy flavor. Tastes a little like Ginger Gold apple, a great relative. Highly recommended.
• 24 May 2015  OREGON, United States

  I have five Grimes trees in my small hobby orchard. They produce biennially, except that sometimes you get two good years in a row. You know when Grimes is ripe because the fruit drops. Better get the fruit off the ground before the raccoons get to them! This wonderful apple is among the best to eat fresh, and it stores into February. It cooks into good pies. The skin is not tough or bitter, and the fruit is somewhat resistant to bruising. This apple makes the best apple jelly you would want. I am planting more of these trees with the goal of using them, along with some more bitter fruit, in cider.
• 23 Aug 2014  MICHIGAN / KALAMAZOO COUNTY, United States

  I grew up on a small orchard, and started one of my own about 15 years ago. Grimes Golden was my mother's favorite, so I planted her a tree. When I got my first taste, 11 years later, it was the best Apple I had ever eaten. I now use them to make the best apple butter I've ever tasted. If I can find another tree or two, I'll be planting more.
• 23 Feb 2014  OREGON BENTON, United States

  I just found out my tree is not a Golden Delicious but a Grimes Golden. It has an absolutely wonderful taste and a juicy crunch. It ripens later than Golden D and so seems to keep better lasts longer in n my limited experience Lynnie B Corvallis Oregon
• 21 Oct 2013  WASHINGTON, United States

  Among this year's new taste treats, I was introduced to Grimes Golden, offered at Feil Pioneer Fruit, E. Wenatchee, Washington. A more interesting apple in flavor than Golden Delicious, its probable progeny, with a more barrel shape and no russet among this lot at all. Wonder if I shall ever taste cider made from it?
• 18 Oct 2011  MARSHALLTOWN, United States

  This was my mother's favorite apple back in Ohio in the l950's and 60's. It's also my favorite. They are hard to find in Iowa where we now live but Story Book Orchard near Story City Iowa has a dozen trees or so. I just bought a bushel.
• 12 Feb 2011  VA., United States

  Having been in the produce business for 50 years,I have tried a lot of apples. There is nothing that tastes like a Grimes!
• 11 Dec 2010  ID, United States

  We had a small orchard of Grimes Golden in Butler County, MO when growing up in the 50 & 60s, they were very old trees, probably planted about 1900. They are simply the best all round apple for eating and cooking, don't get mushy, but cook to a soft stage that is perfect for pies. We dried them by the bushel, since canning took too many jars and lids were expensive. Dried apple pies are the best thing yet! Now that I live in the intermountain west at 5000 ft elevation, on an old apple orchard/farm, I want a tree. Is it possible it would be able to bear fruit here? We are in the southern part of Idaho, often referred to as the banana belt, since our weather is relatively mild for the area.
• 31 Oct 2009  WHEELERSBURG, OH, United States

  These apples make the best fried apples that one could ever imagine. They are also great for pies. My Grandma had several around the farm when I was very young. Fried apples made in a skillet on the old wood cook stove. Simply the best!
• 20 Oct 2009  KALKASKA, MICHIGAN, United States

  The farm down the road had a Grimes golden tree. I planted two semi dwarf grimes in 1985 and enjoy the apples every year. The flavor can t be beat. A slight pear taste. You can t stop eating them
• 21 Jan 2009  GREENUP, GREENUP, KENTUCKY, United States

  I first tasted one on an old farm when I was about ten years old. I have never forgotten the wonderful, spicy sweet flavor and the russet texture and color. It has always been my favorite apple!

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Where to buy trees

The following tree nurseries offer Grimes Golden apple trees for sale:

• Orange Pippin Fruit Trees (USA) United States
  Grimes Golden apple trees
• Cummins Nursery
  United States  More >>

Where to buy fresh fruit

The following orchards grow Grimes Golden:

United States

• Colorado

  • Third Street Apples, Penrose

• Delaware

  • Fifer Orchards, Camden Wyoming

• Georgia

  • Freedom Farms - Apple & Peach Orchard, Chatsworth

• Illinois

  • Pleasant Row Orchard, Cuba
  • Stone's Apple Barn, East Moline

• Indiana

  • Anderson Orchard, Mooresville
  • Apple of His Eye, Anderson
  • Bender's Nursery and Orchard, Albion
  • Bruick Brothers Produce / Advanced Tree Technology, New Haven
  • Crosby's Orchard, Lawrenceburg
  • Deer Creek Orchard, Galveston
  • Ditzler Orchard, Rosedale
  • G. W. Stroh Orchards, Angola
  • Goley's Orchard, Madison
  • HighPoint Orchard & Farm Market, Greensburg
  • Lee's Orchard, Columbus
  • McClure's Orchard, Peru
  • Radke's Orchards, Michigan City
  • Tuttle Orchards, Greenfield

• Iowa

  • 3 Bee Farms, Griswold
  • Appleberry Orchard, Donnellson
  • Burr Oak Farms, Winterset
  • Deal's Orchard, Jefferson
  • Mincer Orchard & Farms, Hamburg
  • Smalls Fruit Farm, Mondamin
  • Wills Family Orchard, Adel
  • Wilson's Orchard, Iowa City

• Kansas

  • Fieldstone Enterprise, Overbrook

• Kentucky

  • Delicious Fruit Orchard, South Shore
  • Eckert | Boyd Orchard, Versailles
  • Reed Valley Orchard, Paris

• Maryland

  • O'Keefe Orchard, Colesville

• Michigan

  • Alber's Orchard & Cider Mill, Manchester
  • Apple Lane Orchard, Flint
  • Orchard on the Lake,

• New Hampshire

  • Old Ciderpress Farm, Westmoreland

• North Carolina

  • Big Horse Creek Farm, Lansing
  • The Orchard at Altapass, Little Switzerland

• Ohio

  • Arrowhead Orchard, Paris
  • Hugus Fruit Farm, Rushville
  • Legend Hills Orchard, Utica
  • Mama Potts Apple Acre, Sidney
  • Ochs Fruit Farm, Lancaster
  • Wesler Orchards, New Paris

• Oregon

  • B&P Hitz Fruit Farm, Woodburn

• Pennsylvania

  • Brown's Orchard and Cider Company, McDonald
  • Emerald Cider Mill, Slatington
  • Townsend Brother's Fruit Farm, Spring Church

• Vermont

  • Outback Orchard, Florence

• Virginia

  • Graves Mountain Farm, Syria
  • Johnson's Orchards & Peaks of Otter Winery, Bedford
  • Richard's Fruit Market, Middletown
  • Showalter's Orchard & Greenhouse, LLC, Timberville
  • Stribling Orchard, Markham
  • Virginia Farm Market, Winchester

• West Virginia

  • Ruggles Orchard, Levels

• Wisconsin

  • Door Creek Orchard, Cottage Grove

United Kingdom

• England - north

  • Coulton Mill, York

Canada

• British Columbia

  • Fruit Forest Certified Organic Farm, Cobble Hill
  • Salt Spring Apple Company, Salt Spring Island

References

• Cedar-Apple Rust  
  Author: Stephen Vann, University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture (FSA7538)
  Rated as resistant - control only needed under high disease pressure.
• Apples for the 21st Century
  Author: Manhart