Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

10 pioneer-era apple varieties, thought extinct, found in Pacific Northwest
Los Angeles Times ^ | 4/14/20 | AP

Posted on 04/15/2020 11:59:45 AM PDT by 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.

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Agriculture; Food
KEYWORDS: agriculture; apples; dietandcuisine; godsgravesglyphs; helixmakemineadouble; huntergatherers; johnnyappleseed; pomologist; pomologists; pomology
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-87 next last
To: moovova
1, 2C, 2E, 2GS, Lisa, Mac, ??

The 3 is yucky. The Mac XL is like a hybrid between a FatMac and a Lisa. The Newtons never ripen.
41 posted on 04/15/2020 1:09:11 PM PDT by Dr. Sivana (There is no salvation in politics)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Artemis Webb; All
If you ever find yourself in Spokane, Washington, be sure to drive north to the Green Bluff Agricultural District. There are 62 growers open to the public and the variety of apples in the fall is just unbelievable. They all try to out-do each other with fall festivities for families and kids, so it's a fun all-day outing. Lots of freshly baked pies available, too. Quite a few of our neighbors in North Idaho head to Green Bluff to buy fresh peaches for pies and canning, then head over in the fall to get the fresh apples.


42 posted on 04/15/2020 1:09:13 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Artemis Webb

Descendants of Johnny Appleseed?


43 posted on 04/15/2020 1:21:42 PM PDT by Albion Wilde (He's a fake whistleblower. And, frankly, somebody ought to sue his ass off. --D.J.Trump)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: lonevoice

I don’t know why, but this sounds like a wonderful way to spend your time. What a great “hobby!”


44 posted on 04/15/2020 1:30:15 PM PDT by Pride in the USA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pride in the USA

The productive way these seniors are spending their retirement is like a combination of hobbies - hiking, treasure-hunting, and preservation. I think there’s a movie or TV series in there, something like “The Dectorists”. It will make me smile for days. Thanks!!


45 posted on 04/15/2020 1:45:17 PM PDT by lonevoice (Music in the soul can be heard by the universe ~ Lao Tzu)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 44 | View Replies]

To: Vermont Lt
I hope they still have some flavor. All of the apples in the grocery store are devoid of any good apple flavor these days.

Maybe it is because our stores buy locally (next year from us!) but we always have really good apples even at the Megalo-Mart. But else where the bagged apples are the best. The big polished "buy one at a time" apples really are not that good. They are what our neighbor who raises cider apples calls "Water Bombs".

46 posted on 04/15/2020 1:53:47 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Leave it to me to be holdin' the matches when the fire truck shows up & there's nobody else to blame)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: DuncanWaring

I was going to post the same thing. Great for dutch pancakes too.


47 posted on 04/15/2020 1:58:09 PM PDT by Boogieman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Vermont Lt

They are wonderful - there was a variety here in WI on my sister’s farm that was pink on the inside; it was 2.5 feet in dia and hollow - fell over in a high windstorm before we could get cuttings.

Then there were several varieties back were I used to live in WA across a creek past a dense forest including some plum and cherry trees from a long gone homestead.


48 posted on 04/15/2020 2:01:49 PM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Artemis Webb

How many Bigfoots did they see?


49 posted on 04/15/2020 2:13:58 PM PDT by fso301
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Artemis Webb

Johnny Appleseed got around.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Appleseed


50 posted on 04/15/2020 2:14:49 PM PDT by minnesota_bound (homeless guy. He just has more money....He the master will plant more cotton for the democrat party)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Artemis Webb

Growing u p deep in rural Ohio, my sister and I were always exploring. On one of our expeditions we came across an apple tree, picked a lot of the apples, and they made wonderful pies. They were unlike any apples we had ever seen. They were a dull, muted gold color, a lot like a Bosc pear. Always wondered what they were, after I was able to do a little internet searching, I thought it might be a Rustic. But still don’t know for sure. But what a wonderful discovery for two little girls who just had to go roaming in the woods.


51 posted on 04/15/2020 2:34:00 PM PDT by smalltownslick
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Artemis Webb

NY is known for its apples and we grow all kinds of varieties here and people in these parts are quite the connesuriers of apples.


52 posted on 04/15/2020 2:34:25 PM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: PIF

My house in NH was built on an old orchard. Across the stone wall, I would go into the overgrown orchard and grab the few non-wormy apples. They were great.


53 posted on 04/15/2020 2:36:09 PM PDT by Vermont Lt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies]

To: Harmless Teddy Bear

Sounds like you’re an apple grower...Maybe you know what’s happened to Jonathan apples? My late wife made incredible apple pies with Jonathans, but lately they’re about impossible to come by...One story I was told is the Jonathan orchards have (mostly) been torn out and replaced with the new patent apple varieties like Honey Crisp...More profitable...


54 posted on 04/15/2020 2:46:29 PM PDT by elteemike (lable)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: elteemike

We still have them around here (Michigan) although not in our orchard currently. They can get fire blight and scab where the Honeycrisp trees are more resilient so that may be a factor.


55 posted on 04/15/2020 3:00:57 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Leave it to me to be holdin' the matches when the fire truck shows up & there's nobody else to blame)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 54 | View Replies]

To: elteemike

Love Jonathans


56 posted on 04/15/2020 3:02:14 PM PDT by combat_boots (God bless Israel and all who protect and defend her. Merry Christmas! In God We Trust!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 54 | View Replies]

To: Tijeras_Slim
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.

When I was a kid (the war years)we lived in Carrizozo, New Mexico. I remember my Dad taking us kids to pick apples.

57 posted on 04/15/2020 3:08:25 PM PDT by saminfl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: Vermont Lt

take some cuttings and graft them onto a newer healthy variety


58 posted on 04/15/2020 3:13:13 PM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: metmom

“NY is known for its apples and we grow all kinds of varieties here ...”

Thanks for posting that. I spent most of my life in Wayne County. We make a special trip back there each fall just to buy fresh ripe apples.

I also spent some time in the Apple Country of Washington. The folks saying apples look good but have no flavor are obviously talking about Washington Red Delicious. Yuck.

The best apples in the world come from orchards within 10 miles of the southern shore of Lake Ontario. Lots of flavor, many varieties from which to choose.

Many people are surprised to learn that NY State is the second largest producer of apples.


59 posted on 04/15/2020 3:29:58 PM PDT by Nik Naym (It's not my fault... I have compulsive smart-ass disorder.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies]

To: Artemis Webb

A few years back my wife and I were hoping to buy a place that was one of the first homesteads in our area, built about 1870. It still had the bulk of its small orchard, which produced, IIRC, late June to about October (we’re in mid-North Ontario, and it was snowing about ten minutes ago, so we don’t get apples as early as some places).


60 posted on 04/15/2020 3:59:45 PM PDT by Hieronymus (“I shall drink to the Pope, if you please, still, to conscience first, and to the Pope afterwards.Â)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-87 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson