Redfree apple

Redfree apple identification images

All images copyright Orange Pippin unless otherwise stated.

USDA identification images for Redfree

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

• 11 Jun 2025  Paul Milenkovic

  They are not the best keepers, but their unique fresh, sweet taste is unmistakenable and unique among apples. You can kind of taste the crabapple parentage in them. Every year I anticipate biting into one, crisp and juicy straight off the tree in the time from late August to mid September. Yes, they get soft-fleshed in storage, where you keep eating them until how they were right off the tree is a memory to anticipate for next year. The other crazy thing about them is that in storage, where skin waxes up--all apples do this to some extent, but the Red Free produces a lot of this wax in trying its best to let it keep a bit longer. Can never pick them as red as in the photo--there is a kind of woodpecker that pecks up the largest, reddest, sweetest of them. I am told that this bird doesn't eat the apple, rather, it wants to attract insects that are its protein serving.
• 05 Sep 2018  AdamME, United States

  One of the worst apples I've tried, and I eat at least one apple a day. Soft and flavorless. Maybe I got a bad batch, but will avoid in the future.
• 24 Oct 2017  DonMICHIGAN, United States

  Picked mid August, ate some and made apple sauce . Enjoyed, good flavor and texture. Would recommend Redfree to others. Extremely low maintenance tree
• 21 Jul 2017  JimPA, United States

  July 21 and our Redfree apples are ready--crisp and juicy and just the right size for a snack. Many more than we'll be able to eat. My wife is going to dry some, and I'm thinking about getting out the cider press. I don't know what kind of cider they will produce, but I won't know unless I try.
• 23 Jun 2016  Gil SchieberWASHINGTON, United States

  I agree with the above. W.P is a better apple, but if you like the snaping texture of crisp (which it holds for a week or so) then this is fresh eating mild apple. Most importantly for me is the Scab resistance.
• 20 Sep 2011  MattWISCONSIN, United States

  Redfree are nice early season eating apples. The flavor is balanced sweet with a bit of zing but very mild over all. The best feature of these apples are their outstanding texture when eaten out of hand. Redfree apples are a simple refreshing treat that has built disease resistance. I prefer William's Pride to Redfree. W.P. is also an early dessert-quality apple with disease resistance but seems to have something more to the flavor than just sweet. I say try both!

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Where to buy trees

The following tree nurseries offer Redfree apple trees for sale:

• Orange Pippin Fruit Trees (USA) United States
  Redfree apple trees

References

• Cedar-Apple Rust  
  Author: Stephen Vann, University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture (FSA7538)
  Rated as very resistant - no control needed against CAR.