There’s a New Apple Store In Town.

Legendary, sweet, tart, and nutritious—here are a few reasons why we’re so excited about these apples.

The apple has tempted Adam and Eve, put Snow White to sleep, and inspired Newton. The Norse goddess Iðunn kept her fellow gods eternally youthful with golden apples. William Tell split an apple atop his son’s head before turning his crossbow on the tyrant who forced him to the task. Apples are woven through some of humanity’s most enduring stories.

Now apples are part of Rootstock’s story. Live Earth Farm brought us the season’s first Pink Pearls—rosy, tart, and unforgettable—and soon will follow with Galas, Sommerfelds, McIntosh, and Gold Rush. Fifth Crow Farm has already shared their Pristines and Gravensteins, and with more than thirty-five varieties in their orchards, they’ll keep surprising us as the season unfolds.

Sweetness vs Tartness

Every apple strikes its own balance between sugar and acid — that’s what our taste buds register as sweet or tart. Some varieties lean sugary and mild, others carry a sharp tang.

Scientists use two simple numbers to capture that balance. Titratable Acidity (TA) measures the malic acid in the juice — the compound that gives apples their refreshing tartness. Higher TA means more bite.

Brix measures sugar. One degree Brix equals about 1% sugar by weight. A refractometer — a small tool that shines light through a drop of juice — gives an instant reading. As apples ripen, their Brix rises, but each variety has a characteristic range when fully mature. That’s the basis for the numbers you’ll see in apple charts.

Together, Brix and TA describe an apple’s flavor: whether it’s mellow-sweet, puckery-bright, or somewhere in between.

 

An Apple a Day…

Apples pack a lot into a simple snack. One medium apple, about seven ounces, provides both insoluble fiber, which supports regularity, and soluble fiber, which aids digestion and heart health. It also supplies about 10 percent of your daily vitamin C needs, along with antioxidants such as quercetin, a flavonoid studied for its anti-inflammatory properties. 

Since apples are about 85 percent water, they help with hydration, and their roughly 100 calories—mostly from natural sugars—offer a quick source of energy. Apples contain no fat, sodium, or cholesterol, and much of their nutritional power, including antioxidants and about half the fiber, is found in the skin, giving you one more reason to enjoy them whole.

But You Gotta Go Organic

Apples almost always rank in the top 5 of the Dirty Dozen, the Environmental Working Group’s annual list of produce with the highest pesticide residues. That’s because apple trees are highly vulnerable to pests and diseases like codling moth, apple scab, and fire blight. Conventional growers often spray fungicides and insecticides multiple times in a season, and since apples are eaten with the peel, those residues are right there for the eating.

Apples often test with several different pesticides on a single fruit, which is why choosing organic can make a difference. Organic farmers still face pests, but they rely on non-synthetic methods such as biological controls, resistant varieties, or approved natural sprays. 

At Fifth Crow Farm, pest management is both creative and low-impact: pheromone traps are used to confuse codling moths, a once-a-year coating of Tanglefoot creates a sticky barrier on tree trunks to stop crawling insects, and no sprays are used in the orchard at all. 

Live Earth prevents pests and diseases by selecting diverse, appropriate varieties for the growing conditions, following a detailed crop rotation scheme, using physical barriers such as row covers, and encouraging beneficial insects. They create natural habitats around the fields to maintain a native beneficial insect population.

Apples’ place on the Dirty Dozen highlights a tension: they’re one of the most popular fruits in the U.S.—and we need to eat more fruits—but it’s important to find organic ones whenever possible. That’s why we’re thrilled to bring such a wide variety of spectacular organic apples to the Rootstock community. As Tom Broz from Live Earth puts it:

“Why should any child choose to eat an apple if the only choice is a red or green, waxed and tasteless one sitting next to a bag of “Cheetos”?”

How Do You Like These Apples?

At Rootstock, we’re working every day to connect eaters with exceptional growers through peak-season food. It’s how we’re trying to put a dent in the universe. We’re as excited about the road ahead as ever, proud of the variety of produce in the store, and grateful for the amazing farmers we’ve partnered with.

We may not be on a rocket trajectory to becoming Silicon Valley’s next fruit-themed darling—but we are very excited about these apples.

Sources:

Winzeler, Edwin, and James Schupp. “Using Mid-Atlantic Processing Fruit in Hard Cider Production.” Penn State Extension, 21 Feb. 2023, https://extension.psu.edu/using-mid-atlantic-processing-fruit-in-hard-cider-production. Accessed 5 Sept. 2025.

Skendrović Babojelić, Martina, et al. “Chemical and Sensory Characteristics of Three Apple Cultivars (Malus x domestica Borkh.).” Agriculturae Conspectus Scientificus, vol. 72, no. 4, 2007, pp. 317–322. Hrčak, https://hrcak.srce.hr/19399. Accessed 6 Sept. 2025.

SARE. Varietals Poster. SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education), [Date unknown], https://projects.sare.org/media/pdf/V/a/r/Varietals-Poster.pdf. Accessed 6 Sept. 2025.

Ajmera, Rachael, MS, RD. “An Apple a Day Keeps the Doctor Away — Fact or Fiction?” Healthline, 6 July 2020, https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/an-apple-a-day-keeps-the-doctor-away. Accessed 6 Sept. 2025. 

“Apples in Mythology.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, last edited 14 July 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apples_in_mythology. Accessed 6 Sept. 2025.

Daley, Beth. “How the Apple Became an Important Symbol in Culture, Science and Story.” Europeana, 22 Nov. 2023, https://www.europeana.eu/en/stories/how-the-apple-became-an-important-symbol-in-culture-science-and-story. Accessed 6 Sept. 2025.