{"id":551951,"date":"2026-03-20T03:29:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T03:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/551951\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T03:29:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T03:29:17","slug":"rare-rymer-apples-found-on-nsw-southern-tablelands-farm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/551951\/","title":{"rendered":"Rare Rymer apples found on NSW Southern Tablelands farm"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rudi Stachow spent his early years in his family’s orchard on the NSW Southern Tablelands eating a variety of apple experts once thought was extinct.<\/p>\n

“I’ve only known them as Rymers,” Mr Stachow, 76, said.<\/p>\n

The sweet but slightly acidic fruit grew from three brightly coloured trees that his father had propagated in the back paddock.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As it turns out, only three other countries in the world are home to the Rymer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The trees are the last of their kind on the property, now under different ownership, at Majors Creek, about 300 kilometres south-west of Sydney.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Rudi Stachow, a Vietnam veteran, says he formed a lifelong love of Rymer apples on his family farm. (ABC South East NSW: Floss Adams)<\/p>\n

The Rymer is an English cooking apple characterised by its large size, smooth skin and yellowish flesh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Braidwood cider maker Gary Sully, who often refers to himself as an “apple nerd”, thought he recognised the fruit when he first visited Mr Stachow’s family farm in 2008. \u00a0<\/p>\n

“I just thought it was nice to have these trees, so I planted some for myself,” Mr Sully said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Pair<\/p>\n

The Marcher Apple Network discovered eight Rymer trees between 1995 and 2005: six in Wales, one in India and one in the US.\u00a0 (ABC South East NSW: Floss Adams)<\/p>\n

In 2023, Mr Sully began corresponding with a UK-based charity, the Marcher Apple Network, near his Welsh hometown.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I was just keeping an eye on what they were doing because they’ve had huge successes in finding lost varieties over the last 20 years,” Mr Sully said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last year, he asked group member Ainsleigh Rice to help verify the identity of the apples on the Stachow property.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Gary Sully has been working to incorporate different types of apples into own blends, including Rymers.\u00a0 (ABC South East NSW: Floss Adams)<\/p>\n

Dr Rice said the Rymer apple variety was thought to have died out before 1995, when his group began finding the odd tree: six in Wales, one in India and another in the US.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The last time we found one was in 2005,” Dr Rice said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It’s very hard to estimate, but there could be another half dozen in old, forgotten orchards.”<\/p>\n

DNA was needed to prove whether Australia could be the fourth country in the world with live Rymer trees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“[Dr Rice] wanted to test our Rymers against his Rymers,” Mr Sully said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Gary Sully supplied DNA samples of the Rymer trees to the Marcher Apple Network for verification.\u00a0 (ABC South East NSW: Floss Adams)<\/p>\n

Collecting samples for shipment overseas involved cutting leaves from the Rymer trees at Majors Creek, storing them in tea leaf bags, and topping them with silica gel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Mr Stachow had to gather historical evidence of how the Rymer trees came to Majors Creek.<\/p>\n

He was able to trace them back to 19th-century settlers in the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The Rymers can be attributed to Fredrick Routley and his father Richard Routley, who planted them, I think, around 1895,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Historic<\/p>\n

Rudi Stachow’s childhood home, where the Rymer trees are located, is in Majors Creek, outside the town of Braidwood.\u00a0 (ABC South East NSW: Floss Adams)<\/p>\n

Late last year, a positive result came back, proving the Major Creek property was, and is, home to rare Rymer trees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I think of all the varieties we have accredited, it was the one that was far and away the most clear cut,” Dr Rice said.<\/p>\n

“And it involved the largest number of people and occurred over the longest period of time.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was a huge relief for all involved and sparked some emotion for Mr Stachow.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The fact these trees are here 70 years later too makes them better than anything else,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Seeing it all come together is really good. I’m very proud,” Mr Sully added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Men<\/p>\n

If mother nature if kind, Gary Sully and Rudi Stachow believe the Rymer trees could live for another 40 years.\u00a0 (ABC South East NSW: Floss Adams)<\/p>\n

As the last living memory keeper, Mr Stachow accepted an invitation to the UK to celebrate the accreditation of the Rymer trees in Australia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I did get a bit emotional, which I don’t normally do, because memories did start to flood back,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“And I did say to the scientists, ‘You can form a love affair with these apples because they are so beautiful.'”<\/p>\n

\"Small<\/p>\n

A section of Gary Sully’s Braidwood home is covered in Rymer saplings thanks to his propagation work.\u00a0 (ABC South East NSW: Floss Adams)<\/p>\n

Of the Rymer trees planted by Mr Stachow’s father on the Majors Creek property, only three remain, and unfortunately, they are not faring well, as the trunks are rotting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So Mr Sully has been using propagation to grow dozens of Rymer’s in his own backyard.<\/p>\n

“By getting these old varieties back, you are giving plant breeders an extra arrow in their quiver,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Because they can now use all these different apples to breed varieties that are resistant to climate change and disease.”\"Woman<\/p>\n

Sandra Rayner says the apple trees are one of the reasons she bought the Stachow family farm. (ABC South East NSW: Floss Adams)<\/p>\n

The former Stachow orchard was bought by Sandra Rayner in 2015, who said she was happy to provide fresh supplies whenever Mr Sully needed them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For years, Ms Rayner and her late husband, Craig, had eaten the Rymer apples without knowing just how special they were.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It’s mind-blowing to be honest,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rudi Stachow spent his early years in his family’s orchard on the NSW Southern Tablelands eating a variety…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":551952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[17250,64,63,84571,176674,177414,273010,44,208199,124700,273009],"class_list":["post-551951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-apples","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-extinct","tag-fruit-trees","tag-horticulture","tag-marcher-apple-network","tag-news","tag-orchard","tag-rare","tag-rymer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}