ROCK ISLAND — Bud and Leslie Piper took out some 25-year-old standard Fuji apple trees in their Royal Slope orchard to try their hand at Cosmic Crisp, a sweet, crisp and tart apple developed by Washington State University.
“It’s the new thing,” Bud Piper said. “We like WSU. We’ve tasted it. We’re hoping for the best.”
Tom Boyd planted five acres in Cosmic Crisps in his Yakima orchard, some on nursery rootstock and some grafted onto Galas on old rootstock.
“I took out some Reds and Goldens as few years ago, so it had been lying fallow. I thought it was a good time to try it,” he said.
Dave Gleason of Yakima-based Domex Superfresh Growers said Cosmic Crisp is the talk of the orchard community.
“As an industry, everyone is coming together in cooperation on this one. That’s exciting. We trust that WSU has done research and homework on the variety. We’ve seen it with its freckles, too, but it has a lot of good characteristics,” he said.
Cosmic Crisp, still referred to by researchers as WA38, is a cross between Enterprise and Honeycrisp, designed specifically for Washington growers during a 20-year breeding effort.
Initial research shows it keeps its flavor during storage and is slow to brown, making it a likely candidate as a future top apple in the state.
Some orchardists are banking on it.
An estimated 5.8 million WA38 trees have been planted for the launch of the new variety, which is expected to be available to consumers starting in 2019.
“The confidence in WA38 by Washington producers is very exciting,” said Karen Lewis, WSU tree fruit team leader. “This apple could very well be a game-changer for some of our producers, and has a good space in our harvest window for those looking to fill the gap opened by the decline of Red Delicious.”
Cosmic Crisp is expected to rival Honeycrisp in terms of price point and demand. Honeycrisp apples sell for $50 to $70 a box. Other varieties sell for about $30 a box. Red Delicious go for less than that.
Mike Kessler of East Wenatchee has visions of owning a small U-Pick orchard when he retires for the second time. He’s already retired once from the Air Force and works in support services for the U.S. Forest Service in Leavenworth.
“I kind of want to get back to that kind of life. Just sit back and watch something grow,” he said. “I don’t want to just grow trees in my backyard, but I don’t want the 100-acre orchard either. I want something small that keeps me completely busy.”
He’s started the research process, just in case, which included attending a WSU field tour of the Cosmic Crisp apple blocks at the research orchard in Rock Island.
“I’m here to sit back and listen,” he said. “Supposedly Cosmic Crisp is the new next best thing. It’s the new Honeycrisp and the new Fuji. You hear they’re cutting up all the Goldens and Red Delicious are on the way out. There’s not as much money in that. Cosmic Crisp is it.”
