click to enlarge COURTESY OF ECKERT'S INC.

Behold, your new favorite apple: the EverCrisp.

The EverCrisp, the next big thing in apples, is here, and it's ready for picking. The only catch? You have to do it yourself.That's because Eckert's three Metro East farms are the only places in St. Louis growing the varietal — a brand new offering with a great pedigree that's been in the works for twenty years. Developed by the Midwest Apple Improvement Association, an organization founded to breed new, superior apple varieties, its parents include the Honeycrisp, which debuted in 1991 to near-universal acclaim.To get a taste, you'll need to stop by Eckert's this weekend, from Friday, October 12 through Sunday, October 14, and get ready to acquire your apples the old-fashioned way. And by that we mean standing in line, getting a hand stamp, taking a wagon ride, and then filling the bag that's helpfully been provided ... naturally.But if any apple promises to be worth the effort, it's the EverCrisp. The new late-season varietal promises to combine the best qualities of Honeycrisp with Fuji apples, maintaining "sweetness and firmness like no other." In blind tastings, apple fans have rated it equal to Honeycrisp and better than another new production, SweeTango “We are honored to be one of the first places in the world to bring the EverCrisp apple to our customers,” Chris Eckert, president of Eckert’s Inc. said in a prepared release. “I’m confident this will become a new favorite. EverCrisp is special to us because we helped create it.”See Eckert's website for more information.