When we started eating with our eyes instead of with our taste buds the availability of some excellent apples took a serious hit!
Thousands of apple varieties have been named and grown in North America, but today 80 percent of the apples produced in Canada is made up of just 10 varieties, among them Courtland, Red and Golden Delicious, Fuji, Ida Red and, more recently, Honeycrisp.
When we consider the list we recognize that these top names have captured the market at the expense of ‘old timers’, the varieties that we now call, ‘heritage’ or ‘heirloom’ apples. Producers provide what consumers ask for and we have demanded apples that look perfect on the shelf: fruit that does not bruise easily, show signs of insect damage, or exhibit other ‘natural’ imperfections. Further, we expect that they will be available not seasonally as we welcomed the apples of yore, but that they be at our finger tips year round. They must tolerate storage without losing texture, colour or all-round ‘eye-appeal’. Flavour becomes a secondary concern when compared with such marketing expectations.
Fortunately, change has been occurring as savvy consumers become interested in locally grown food options, a trend which is stimulating interest in produce grown in cultural conditions and using production methods which bring forth their best qualities.
That means not only enhanced flavour but an increase in genetic diversity. Heritage apples such as Sheepsnose, Roxbury Russet, Rome Beauty, Jonathan, Snow, Spy and more than a thousand others – you probably have a favourite apple memory – are being reclaimed by heritage apple enthusiasts everywhere. Each of these varieties has a specific season, a unique culinary role, and a story of its very own within our country’s rich agricultural history.
The availability of host dwarf trees onto which treasured varieties can be grafted make this horticultural option accessible to urban gardeners who lack space for an orchard but have room for as few as two small trees. Early spring is the optimal time to launch such a nourishing new adventure.
Local and regional nurseries specializing in heritage apple production offer inexpensive materials and hands-on workshops to help gardeners get off to a good start. Scion (graft) exchanges are also often available. Resources are easily located on the web: search heritage apples Ontario, or contact experts at the University of Guelph.
You can also contact the Guelph-Wellington Master Gardeners Hotline by email at mgguelph@hotmail.com or call us at 519-824-4120 x 56714.
No offense, Granny Smith, but when you are picked too green and stored too long you sometimes just taste like the bottom of a refrigerator drawer!
— Dana Rogers, Guelph Wellington Master Gardener