Sierra Beauty Apple

Malus pumila

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Hailing from the coastal valleys of northern California, the Sierra Beauty apple is a late harvest variety maturing from mid-October into November. The trees are vigorous upright and hard, with heavy crops every other year.

Photo courtesy of David Karp

The apple has a round blocky shape that is slightly conical at the base and medium to large in size. Its skin is thick with a netted texture, colored green-yellow and aggressively striped with red that matures into distinct deep pink or red patches. The flesh of the Sierra Beauty is fine-textured, pale yellow, firm, crisp and juicy. The apple has an excellent balance of sweet and tart, with a tart finish. The flavor is robust, complex and lingering with notes of spice, herbs and flowers. It is an excellent choice to eat out of hand, but also is a favorite, by those familiar with it, for pies and preserves because of its full flavor and ability to hold its shape in firm pieces when cooked.

Discovered on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California in the 1890s as a seedling apple tree, it was thought to be a remnant of the miner’s movements during the earlier days of the California Gold Rush. In the 1920s this apple emerged again in the foothills of the Sierras near Chico, California and was carried for a time by a number of regional nurseries but again disappeared. The Gowan family officially rediscovered it in their Anderson Valley, California commercial orchard in 1980.

Since the rediscovery, the Gowan family has expanded their planting and sells the limited production directly to the public. Others have planted the apple as well, and it has become available as nursery stock to a limited degree, but not in sufficient quantities to be considered commercially viable.

The Sierra Beauty apple is an excellent keeper, even without refrigeration.

Sources

NURSERIES

Greenmantle Nursery
3010 Ettersburg Road
Garberville CA 95542
707-986-7504
http://www.greenmantlenursery.com

Seeds of Change
888-762-7333
http://www.seedsofchange.com

Clifton’s Nursery
1254 W. Olive Ave.
Porterville Ca., 93257
888-209-4356

http://cliftonsnursery.net

Trees of Antiquity
20 Wellsona Road
Paso Robles, CA 93446
805-467-990
http://www.treesofantiquity.com/

PRODUCERS

Gowan’s Oak Tree Fruit Stand
6600 Highway 128
Philo, California 95466

Walker Apples
10955 Upp Road
Graton, California 95444
707-823-4310

The Apple Farm
14111 Highway 128
Boonville, California 95415
707-895-3996
http://wwwphiloapplefarm.com

Find Producers on LocalHarvest

http://www.localharvest.org/ark-product.jsp?id=255