10 pioneer-era apple varieties, thought extinct, found in Pacific Northwest

Los Angeles Times ^ | 4/14/20 | AP

[Artemis Webb]

PORTLAND, Ore. — A team of retirees who scour the remote ravines and windswept plains of the Pacific Northwest for long-forgotten pioneer orchards has rediscovered 10 apple varieties that were believed to be extinct — the largest number ever unearthed in a single season by the nonprofit Lost Apple Project.

The Vietnam veteran and former FBI agent who make up the nonprofit recently learned of their tally from last fall’s apple sleuthing from expert botanists at the Temperate Orchard Conservancy in Oregon, where all the apples are sent for study and identification. The apples positively identified as previously “lost” were among hundreds of fruits collected in October and November from 140-year-old orchards tucked into small canyons or hidden in forests that have since grown up around them in rural Idaho and Washington state.

(snip)

Each fall, Brandt and Benscoter spend countless hours and log hundreds of miles searching for ancient — and often dying — apple trees across the Pacific Northwest by truck, all-terrain vehicle and on foot. They collect hundreds of apples from long-abandoned orchards that they find using old maps, county fair records, newspaper clippings and nursery sales ledgers that can tell them which homesteader bought what apple tree and when the purchase happened.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Very cool.

The Spanish established orchards in New Mexico (in the Manzano Mountains - that’s Spanish for apple) in the 1600’s and some old varieties have been found.

[null and void]

You should try the new Cosmic Crisp hybrid, expensive but worth every penny!!

I was a little disappointed in Cosmic Crisp. Not that it wasn't good, but that it was so over-hyped, it simply didn't live up to the expectations.

Have you tried Envy apples?

[hoagy62]

I will whole-heartedly agree with you about those Cosmic Crisps! Best apple I’ve had in a while!

[weston]

These guys worked with my friend, the late Nick Botner. Nick pioneered new ways if grafting tree varieties and has worked with Universities and Conservancy Organizations.
He was an awesome person who tilled my garden for me every year. RIP Nick, your trees live on.
http://www.temperateorchardconservancy.org/about/botner/

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

How do you like them apples?

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Thanks so much for posting this article! My great grandparents had a small fruit orchard operation in Creston, British Columbia in the first half of the 20th century. The Creston Valley produces amazing fruit as does the entire northwest US and southwestern Canada.

This is incredible: "North America once had 17,000 named varieties of domesticated apples..." I had no idea.

We have a "heritage apple" orchardist just up the road from us in Athol, Idaho called (appropriately enough) "Athol Orchards." The owners are doing an amazing job re-creating orchards with lost heritage apples. Nikki and her husband are at the farmer's markets in Hayden, ID and elsewhere. Their scrumptious Apple Syrup and their Hot Apple Syrup (with a touch of pepper to warm it up) is just wonderful on pancakes, waffles and ice cream.

I sent the article link to Nikki via her website a couple minutes ago and she responded immediately! Nikki wrote

"That is my good friend Dave Benscoter! I just met up with him over the weekend for a large bag of scion wood he gifted me and the Buttersweet of Pennsylvania is one of the varieties we just grafted yesterday! He had told me about the latest story that he was anticipating hitting the AP this week. I'm on the committee of the Lost Apple Project and have done some work for him - cataloging apples by photograph, some design work, it's one of my most proudest causes.

Thanks for the share and for thinking of us! We are adding roughly 100 old varieties to the farm this year! Grafting taking place as we speak!"

That's what I love about FR -- you get a random story about apples, I pass it on to my favorite orchardist, she's thrilled to see the article and she just met with her good friend Dave Benscoter (featured in the article) this past weekend. Amazing how FR can bring us together in unexpected ways.

If you are interested, you can visit their site at Athol Orchards or purchase Nikki's products at Shop Here. Try her syrup - you will love it!

[gbs]

Have not, will though next time I’m at the store. Granny Smith used to be my fav, the CC’s replaced them

[gbs]

Sounds like a Q lisp😳🤔

[null and void]

I haven’t see a pippin apple in a grocery store in years and years.

I’m given to understand that variety dates back to colonial times, where it was used for hard cider.

Small hard, crisp, green, deep apple flavor, used to be my favorite eating apple with a saltshaker in the other hand, but I’ve been told the recent revival and fad of hard cider has sucked down the entire supply.

[goodnesswins]

We have 100+ year old pear trees in the family’s commercial orchard....I should take a pic of the one that has a hole in it’s trunk, but still is producing.

[goodnesswins]

Ripped the pippins out of the orchard in the 70’s I believe...people (consumers) are so fickle....they wanted bright Red Delicious (that had no taste, but looked like they did.)

[ProtectOurFreedom]

My son and I were hiking up at Montebello Open Space Preserve in the hills above Palo Alto, CA a few days ago. There’s an abandoned orchard there on Black Mountain; I don’t see the trees producing any fruit any more. It’s always a bit heart-wrenching to see abandoned orchards. The ranch was owned by George Morell, a wealthy newspaper publisher (the Palo Alto Times). His ranch plus the Winship and Johnson ranches are now the Montebello OSP.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“I hope they still have some flavor.”

The heritage apples are unbelievably good!

[Scrambler Bob]

All of the apples in the grocery store are devoid of any good apple flavor these days.
= = =

But they can be stored for a long time, have a patented ‘cool’ name, can be grown and harvested like a hedge, and look good (well, look OK).

[DuncanWaring]

“Trees of Antiquity”.

https://www.treesofantiquity.com/

[ProtectOurFreedom]

The story of the Cosmic Crisp is amazing.

See also The new Cosmic Crisp apple hits stores — after years of development

Cosmic Crisp® apples have been in development for over 20 years. This deliciously exciting new branded apple variety is the dream apple created from the collective and inspired thinking of many people. Bruce Barritt, horticulturist and developer of the Cosmic Crisp®, set out on a mission to fill a produce void for a firm, crisp, and juicy apple. After decades of cross-pollinating, tasting, and testing, along with research and development with Washington State University’s world-class tree fruit breeding program, the Cosmic Crisp® apple was discovered. WSU researchers, including pome fruit breeder Kate Evans, have invented a new variety that will change the face of the industry and win enthusiasm among consumers with a combination of taste, texture, and usability. The Cosmic Crisp® apple demonstrates how the science of breeding and the art of imagination can work together to create an utterly new and delightful apple.

[jimmygrace]

Wow, there really is a silver lining on every cloud!

[jimmygrace]

I voted for Quake- much heartier than Quisp. Too bad it didn’t really matter for either one.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

LOL...Red Delicious did look yummy, but the beauty was truly only skin deep. Can’t believe I used to eat those and think they were good.

I think all Mom and Dad bought were Red Delicious, Cortlands and Rome Beauties for cooking. We were in the Finger Lakes region of NY at the time, so we had a lot of local apples.

[Bob434]

bet he had all kinds of apple varieties likely- Yeah, i spend a bit of time at old homestead and always think about how they made it- I mean these places (or rather foundations) are way way back in the woods i n the middle of nowhere- must have been very hard to make it there- fruit trees were a big deal back then- as was maple sugar (I see lots of evidence of sugaring operations too- ) hand dug wells- hand built rock fences-

And today i panic if the electricity goes out for an hour lol- (Not really- we grew up living off the land too- just not as totally as did our ancestors)