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Awakening in the Winter Orchard
Posted on Fri, February 27, 2009 by Jerusha Klemperer
8 Comments | Categories: Biodiversity, Farms and Farming,
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This year, for the first time ever, the RAFT alliance (Renewing America’s Food Traditions) will be focusing on apples. Filling us in on their activities is our apple expert, author Ben Watson. Ben is chairing the Ark of Taste committee and helping Gary Nabhan and the RAFT alliance’s efforts to record, restore and renew disappearing heirloom apple varieties. On the docket are fruit tree grafting workshops, an heirloom apple experts summit, and education efforts such as a forgotten fruit manual/manifesto, and a series of posts for us here on the blog.
by Ben Watson
(Ben Watson is Chair of the Slow Food USA Ark of Taste Committee and an amateur nurseryman and fruit grower.)
Late February, western New Hampshire. Tonight snow comes down in heavy wet flakes, leaving a fresh white comforter several inches thick over the landscape. Yet those of us who live and garden in this place aren’t fooled by the weather. The sun, when it shines, is stronger now, the days longer, and the signs of spring are only a few weeks away. Soon enough sap will be rising in the sugar maples, small sugarhouses will open their louvered roofs, and white steam clouds billowing from the wood-fired evaporator pans will puff into the bright blue sky. Soon too the snowpack will retreat, and on the sunny, exposed edges of the lawn the first species crocus will emerge, tentative and yellow, followed by other early bulbs: snowdrop, squill, and grape-hyacinth.
It’s a season pregnant with potentiality. We order seeds, clean and sharpen our tools. Like baseball players arriving at spring training, our outdoor ambitions for the growing season are a blank slate. Anything is possible as we enter this Lenten season – we’ve no hits, no runs, no errors. And now is the time that apple growers are contemplating the orchard, though in truth we have never forgotten about it. The trees have stood silent, dormant, but we’re still eating some choice, long-keeping fruits from cold storage: Roxbury Russet, Mutsu, Northern Spy.
The larger orchards around here have had their pruning crews working amongst the trees since early January, shaping and cutting back the dormant wood to allow for healthy trees and for abundant, well-sized fruit this coming fall, which seems a lifetime away. And we ourselves been working the phones and email, contacting fellow orchardists who have apple varieties that we’d like to propagate this year, making deals to swap cuttings (or scions) which we’ll use to graft onto young rootstocks, or “topwork” onto mature apple trees, to get a first crop in, if we’re lucky, two or three years time instead of waiting the usual five or six (or maybe eight) years for the tree to reach adolescence. Maybe we’ll take a twig or two from the feral apple tree down the road, which except in bloom time goes unnoticed by anyone save us and the deer. The same tree whose fruit we tasted last fall (it was astringent, but had good sugars, we noted, and it might make – or might once have been—a locally famous cider apple). Or perhaps we’ll make an effort to graft some more of those rare historic or regional varieties this year, ones whose names our ancestors certainly knew – names like Granite Beauty, Nodhead, Black Oxford, American Beauty, Orange Sweet, Mother, Garden Royal, Shiawassee Beauty, and Opalescent – but that have been almost entirely forgotten today, except among a few apple connoisseurs and conservation orchardists (the two so often go hand in hand). For although there are thousands of cultivated apple varieties, exhibiting an incredible diversity of flavors, colors, shapes, and uses, the vast majority of Americans never see them for sale, even at small regional orchards, which themselves are becoming an endangered species in the face of rising land values and the dictates of a corporate food system that has decided only fifteen or so apples really deserve a place on the table.
In recent years, we’ve witnessed a retreat from the attractive but tasteless Red Delicious apple (though this is still a leading variety) and a turn toward much better but still one-dimensional apples like the much-ballyhooed Honeycrisp. Yes, it is sweet, yes it’s crisp and juicy – but like so many “improved” apples it was selected not for its uniqueness, or because one person or one small community loved it or thought it tasted superb, but because it fits our extremely narrow 21st-century preconception of what an apple should be. It appeals to the mass market and offends almost no one. It is considered the “next big thing” and commands a premium price in the market; orchardists are scrambling to plant it, and will continue doing so, until the next “must have” apple is developed, released, and patent-protected by some breeding program.
This year, however, there is a notable addition to the rhythms of work in the winter orchard – and Slow Food USA is playing a role. On March 19, the RAFT alliance, of which Slow Food is a founding partner, will host a “Forgotten Fruits” meeting in Madison, Wisconsin, at the University of Wisconsin Arboretum. This extraordinary “apple summit” is the first of its kind in modern times, and it brings together a critical group of small nurserymen, fruit growers, researchers, and orchard consultants, all of whom have dedicated their lives, at least in part, to preserving America’s apple varieties and traditions, as well as those of other fruits.
One important aim of this multi-generational meeting is to pass along much of the living wisdom and practical skills of older orchardists to those eager, but less experienced conservators who will be carrying the torch in the coming decades. Other questions will include: how best to identify, propagate, and promote local and regional heirloom apples; how to focus our conservation efforts over the short and long term; and how to leverage the currently strong interest in heritage varieties and local food systems to bring the finest historic apples back into commerce, making them available through small community orchards, local farmers’ markets, and specialty food stores.
Of course with apples, as with anything else, older is not necessarily better. Yet the prospect of rediscovering and reintroducing these great old American apples, each of which has its own individual character and unique attributes, its own peak of perfection, its own optimal growing conditions or terroir, and its own special usefulness (whether it makes the best apple butter, or pies, or apple brandy) is incredibly exciting, and may lead to an ongoing Heritage Orchard initiative under the aegis of RAFT – one that in time will include other endangered and superior-tasting fruits, such as those listed on the Slow Food USA Ark of Taste.
Look for updates on the Heritage Orchard initiative in the coming months, but for now try to spend some time looking at the US Ark of Taste or RAFT regional lists to see which heritage varieties of apples have commonly been grown in your part of the country. Because, for this orchard renaissance to have a lasting effect, it will require a grassroots effort among Slow Food chapters and our many fellow travelers who care about local foods and farms. One strategy is to “adopt an apple”: find a local orchard that already grows old regional varieties such as those on the Ark or RAFT lists. If local orchards don’t grow them yet, suggest that they do, and then tell your friends and help create a local demand for them. (Read about Slow Food NYC’s apple project here). Only in this way will these unique apples – which represent our common taste history—remain relevant in a one-size-fits-all, Honeycrisp-uber-alles world.
[Further interest in heirloom apples? See some other apple posts from our blog during the past year! Click here for a piece about the Shiawassee Beauty and and here for more about RAFT’s planned work with apples this year. -ed.]
Member Comments
From Peter W Bixby on Thu, March 12, 2009
I looked at the raft apple list, and most of the entries for classic heirlooms were not surprising. I have seen many of them in the literature, although I only have two in my orchard at the moment (King David and Winesap, both of which certainly are worthy of places in the raft). I was surprised to see Ben Davis on the list. Although I have not tried one myself, I have heard and read reports attesting to its qualities. John Bunker of Fedco trees notes that it is easy to grow, stores well, ships well, and is a pretty apple. Its only drawback is a taste like cardboard.
Ben Davis was one of the most successful commercial varieties in the 19th century because of its storage and shipping qualities. Red Delicious fills a similar niche in the 20th century. I am not sure why we are making space in the RAFT for Ben Davis when there are any number of excellent varieties that did not make their fame in a barrel on a train, but instead in the cellars and hearts of local home orchardists.
What about Red Gravenstein and Red Astrichan, both excellent apples of historical importance. What about Black Oxford, an old Maine variety that has recently been brought back from the brink of extinction?
From Ben Watson on Thu, March 12, 2009
I think this is a valid criticism, but it’s also important to recognize the distinctions between the RAFT regional lists (not all entries are endangered or even necessary “high-quality”—though this can be a subjective judgment based on our modern circumscribed tastes) and the Ark of Taste, which in the US uses taste evaluation as a major (but not the only) criterion for inclusion.
When we prepared the initial US Ark list of apples, we went back and forth on Ben Davis, because it is very hard (I have seen tractors drive over them without damaging them) and the flesh is typically coarse, white, and rather dry (resulting in the ironic nickname, Cotton Apple, according to Tom Burford). It was a major commercial variety, not because of its taste quality but because of its shippability and long storage qualities (very important before modern refrigeration, and maybe in a lower-energy future). In the South it was sometimes shoveled into train cars or barges for transport to distant markets.
However, it is a traditional American variety, and I think the reason we wound up putting it on the Ark and RAFT lists is because we wanted to highlight the great diversity of American apples as a group and suggest that we should be conserving these apples, especially in their own regions of origin. Ben Davis reportedly originated in Washington County, AR around 1880, and it would be interesting to see if trees grown in situ have a higher taste and usefulness in their terroir. Every apple has its ideal soils and climate, just as every one has its moment of perfection. I don’t think much of some other historic apples, either (Black Gilliflower or Sheepnose from Connecticut comes to mind), but they often have that “fifteen minutes of perfection” for fresh eating, or otherwise are useful for a very specific use—Sheepnose, when harvested and stored correctly is a fine baking apple; the southern apple Parmar makes excellent apple brandy; and so forth.
What I’m trying to suggest, perhaps not very clearly, is that the heritage apple initiatives of RAFT and the US Ark of Taste may have a broader goal than other single biodiversity projects: the real objective should be to reintroduce Americans to the incredibly diverse palette of heritage apple varieties through public tastings and other events—and, just as importantly, to increase our “apple literacy” and recognize that there are different fruits for different seasons and uses. So we sought to be inclusive rather than exclusive.
In terms of conservation, apples and other long-lived fruit trees present a different face than critically endangered animal breeds or even garden seed varieties. That’s because, even outside the marketplace, “lost” apples may still exist in home orchards or abandoned farms. The Harrison is a good example of an apple once thought to be extinct, but now in recovery. New Hampshire’s Granite Beauty is another apple rescued from the brink of possible extinction.
So, for our future conservation efforts, we will work with partners and focus mainly on those varieties that are strongly place-based and rare, with the goal of getting them into the hands of more growers at all levels and reintroducing them to local markets. Local Slow Food chapters will be crucial to this effort, and we seek to work with them and provide the information that will inspire them to “adopt an apple.”
Specifically to Peter Bixby’s comments, I believe that Black Oxford (one of my favorite rediscovered apples) is on the US Ark apples list, and it is one that deserves much wider recognition. The other varieties he mentions—Red Astrachan and Red Gravenstein—were not developed in the US, which is why they were not on the list of 130 heritage apples. Red Astrachan is originally a Russian apple that came to this country around 1835; Red Gravenstein comes from Denmark. Arguably, both have been in this country long enough to qualify as having an American terroir (and in fact Gravenstein of Sonoma County is on the international Ark of Taste and is a Presidium project based in northern CA). In fact, Red Astrachan was a variety that was recommended for US Ark listing in the latest proposed changes.
I realize this is a long-winded response to a simple question/criticism, but I wanted to lay out some of the thought process that has gone into the US Ark and RAFT listings, and to suggest that this is not a static or completely rigid process—the knowledge and opinions of our own experts continues to evolve, and we will make changes and additions as needed, both to conform with the international Ark guidelines and to further our much broader biodiversity goals at Slow Food USA and in the RAFT alliance.
From Donald L. Gibbon on Mon, March 16, 2009
For the last three years we have been holding a SW PA Apple Festival inside the city of Pittsburgh. Our purpose is several fold: to promote local apples on the shelves of the local markets and restore the viability of growing apples as a vocation; to reduce the transportation component of the costs of our foods; to restore the pleasure of TASTE in our apples and a sense of knowing a really good thing when you have one, rather than just eatin’ some darned unknown apple! Your tremendous commitment to the knowledge and joy of apple-dom spurs us on in our work.
We also hold the Regional Pro-Am Apple Pie Baking Competition,(the Fourth this year, 24Oct09) with the avowed intent of making Pittsburgh the Apple Pie Baking Capitol of the World… and throw out the challenge to all comers to take us on! We dare you! We have over 40 growers in the area with sales in over 15 varieties of apples. We believe our apples make our pies unbeatable. There, the glove is down!The Pittsburgh Culinary Institute is on our team too. You should tremble as our team takes the field! Hah!
Donald L. Gibbon
From Mark Garner on Sun, March 29, 2009
My wife and I are in the process of planting 7 acres, about 750 Apple root stocks, in north central AR. Our intention is to reach back to the cider tradition of this area that was lost in the 1940’s. We are novices but passionate about this and welcome any advise. We will be budding the following come August;
Ashmead’s Kernel
Baldwin
Bramley’s Seedling
Brown’s Apple
Chisel Jersey
Cox’s Orange Pippin
Dabinett
Esopus Spitzenburg
Freiherr Von Berlepsch
Golden Russet
Grimes Golden
Harry Masters Jersey
Kerry Pippin
King David
Kingston Black
Michelin
Roxbury Russet
Stoke Red
Wickson
Yarlington Mill
Golden Hornet
Snowdrift
Novole
I appreciate your comments.
Mark
From Ben Watson on Sun, March 29, 2009
To Mark:
You don’t indicate what region of the US you live in, but you certainly have assembled a great selection here. Most of them I have used myself in my amateur cidermaking, though a couple (Freiherr von Berlepsch and Golden Hornet) I’m familiar with by reputation only. I’ve not heard of Novole—is it an Italian apple?
Depending on where on you live, these apples should do well for you. Some are rather fussy in terms of growth habit and pruning (Esopus Spitzenburg and some of the European cider apples) or disease susceptibility (again, Spitz is notoriously prone to fireblight, even in New England these days). Also, Dabinett seems particularly toothsome for porcupines and other critters; I have seen them pass by whole blocks of other apples to get at this one.
If I had my choice of only a few US cider apples for blending, I guess my favorites among the ones you list would be Baldwin, Golden Russet, King David, and Wickson. Of the European ones, I like Ashmead’s, Dabinett, and Harry Masters Jersey, though the other bitters you list do well in the North too. One advantage is that many of the traditional European cider apples tend to flower a bit later than the North American dessert varieties in the spring. Thus, you might lose a few of the latter to a late frost during bloom, and still have a decent cider apple harvest. Diversity is usually a good idea, whether in the orchard or the cider house.
From Mark Garner on Sun, March 29, 2009
Ben,
Thanks for the comments. We are in North Central Arkansas near Harrison.
I expect that we will narrow down the selection to 10 or so as we see which do best in our area. We have erected a tight 8’ electric fence so hopefully critters will not be a problem.
NOVOLE is a pollenizer for later-blooming varieties. It was introduced as a vole-resistant trunk stock. Precocious, very heavy pollen production over 10-day period. It is resistant to Fireblight and Scab. It is from the US.
From Simon on Fri, April 10, 2009
I think apples are a great fruit. They are relatively easy to grow and are very hardy ! They also provide plenty of vitamins as well as being excellent for teeth. I had a
labrador once and he loved apples, when he used to go to the vets he thought we used to brush his teeth they were that clean ! Just goes to show what nature can do sometimes !
From Sheila Connolly on Fri, May 29, 2009
I’m writing a mystery series about a woman who inherits an old apple orchard in a small town in western Massachusetts and is trying to run it (well enough to make a modest living). She is facing all the problems that small farmers do, and wrestling with problems like pesticides and marketing.
I admit I’m not a farmer or an orchardist, but I support the slow food movement and the preservation of (diversified) heirloom varieties. I would love to find a way to use my books to promote these ideas. The first (One Bad Apple) and second (Rotten to the Core) are already finished, but I’m just now completing one about a young couple opening a local foods restaurant in the small New England town where the series is set. The fourth book, as yet unwritten, will focus on my heroine’s first apple harvest—and I have free rein to put whatever apples I choose in her orchard, so this seems like a wonderful opportunity to discuss heirloom fruits.
I had the chance to attend Gary Nabhan’s seminar at Sturbridge Village, which was wonderful.
Please let me know if you think there is any way we could work together!
