In the "Miss Jessamine" thread I mentioned another seedling apple which I planted the same day (in 2002). Its growth was pretty stunted until about 3 years ago when it started some fairly vigorous growth. A few days ago it produced its very first flowers:
So hopefully I will have one or two apples from it this fall. I think the chances of them being any good are very slim, but who knows.
Well the world is going to have to wait until next October. Some creature took the only apple, fruit sock and all 🙁
I would guess that next year I will have more than just one apple, and it will probably be bigger. At least that's what the Miss Jessamine tree did when it first started bearing fruit.
Oh and re: parentage, I planted it back when I was ignorant about growing apples from seed - I thought the seedling would be a near clone to the parent. I did not keep track of the parent name. I only remember that it was an unusual variety that my wife found in the store, which I had never heard of before. So it would be something that was in stores in 2002 but was not real common.
Not too helpful, but that's all I've got, sorry!
Ah, davem,... the amazing disappearing apple trick! That happens. I have a 'Colvis Spice' apple that produced its first 3 apples this year. The first two I had to collect early because birds had pecked at them; the third one lasted an extra week once I put 1/2-inch hardware cloth around it and then -- gone without a trace!
That same day, an apple that I wanted to try and identify got severely pecked into by a bird with a relatively long beak. It was scion wood from HOS about 3 years ago that was supposed to be 'Pomme Gris', but definitely isn't. I have it in a plastic bag and I figure I'll try to take diagnostic photos of it, print those out with my comments and assessment of taste, then staple it together and turn it over to the HOS apple ID experts at the AAFS coming up soon. I wanted to be able to taste it myself so that I'd know whether it was worth growing for its own sake, or whether I should discard it early if it didn't meet my criteria.
The day of the attack, my 'Bramley' apple that was hand-pollinated with 'Kidd's Orange Red' was still in beautiful, virginal condition and I decided it was time to collect before it fell victim to a bird, or deer, or dog, or chicken, or sasquatch, or whatever makes apples disappear. Just didn't want to risk losing my first apple hybrid seeds.
Tim.
I think it would be very rewarding to grow an apple tree from seed and eat your own fruit from it. Even if it tasted bad, I would want to keep it.
Somewhere I read that with ongoing development of apples, each generation getting better, the seedlings also have a better chance to be good. Even if you can't predict everything about the flavor, size, appearance, a seedling apple could have a better chance of being good than in past generations.
A lot of apple varieties in the past originated as chance seedlings. Of course, a lot of old apple varieties were turkeys, too. 
Or for cider.
Counter to that, however, is if they are pollinated with crab apples. I have a Prairie Fire with tiny, highly astringent apples the size of a beebee. Those would be a poor choice for a pollen parent.
If by any chance it turns out to be ‘a keeper’ (the fruit looked good), you’ll eventually want to propagate it onto a known rootstock. I’d lost two magnificent Gravenstein apple trees, around 30 years old, as their seedling rootstock succumb to what appeared to be oak root rot fungus.
But you’ve a long time, if ever, for making that decision. And nice bloom 
After being gone for 2 weeks, I found that several of the apples had dropped so I tasted them. I did not thin them, so they are quite small this year. The flavor was quite pleasant. They also have an interesting shape. I'll bring a few to the show on Saturday morning, let me know if you'll be there and would like to try one. I haven't thought of a name yet although I should let my son pick a name since I named my other seedling after my daughter. I'll post some pictures here soon.
This one definitely ripens late - the flavor got much better after Oct. 20. Probably not enough to win any awards, but still quite pleasant. The main attribute that stands out to me is that the flesh is very smooth.
I dried some, and they tasted much better than my other apples I have dried. A light and delicately sweet flavor.
Next year I will thin them to hopefully yield fewer, larger apples. I did not thin them at all this year. I think it is hard to identify the flavor with small apples because you are tasting a lot more of the skin.
I put footies on all of them so I cannot speak to their natural resistance to insects.
A few of them got some scab, but nothing too serious.
Late October next year I should have some to share.
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