Apple tree - Jacques Lebel

Jacques Lebel apple tree (Malus domestica 'Jacques Lebel')

An old and rustic French variety, the Jacques Lebel is a versatile apple highly valued for its productivity and ease of cultivation.

🍎 Fruit description

A large, flattened, and irregularly shaped apple. The skin is smooth, greenish-yellow streaked with carmine red on the side exposed to the sun. The flesh is greenish-white, tender, juicy, and slightly tart. It has a fine, melting texture when ripe. The flavor is sweet and refreshing, slightly sugary with a pleasant hint of acidity.

🥧 Usage

An excellent cooking apple, ideal for compotes, tarts, fritters, and jellies. A good eating apple when first stored. Perfect for juice and sweet cider. Its meltingly tender flesh lends itself well to all culinary preparations.

📅 Harvest

September to October. Harvesting takes place when the fruit detaches easily. The harvest is generally abundant and regular.

🏺 Conservation

Keeps well for 2 to 4 months in a cool, well-ventilated cellar. Best consumed from September to October. The flesh becomes more tender with age.

🐝 Pollination

Self-sterile variety requiring a pollinator. Good pollinators: Reine des Reinettes, Belle de Boskoop, Reinette Clochard, Cox Orange, Pate de Loup. Mid-season to late flowering. Excellent productivity.

🛡️ Disease resistance

Good overall disease resistance. Moderate scab resistance. Hardy and vigorous variety, well-suited to cool, damp climates. Tolerates poor soils well.

📖 History

Developed in 1825 by Jacques Lebel in Amiens (Somme). Originating from a chance seedling. Widely cultivated in France during the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly in Normandy and Brittany. A benchmark variety for family orchards and traditional cider production.

🌱 Cultivation characteristics

A very vigorous tree with a spreading, upright habit. It bears fruit quickly and produces abundant and regular yields. It adapts to all types of soil, even poor soils.

Sunny to partial shade location. Easy variety and recommended for beginners.