Long before apples became polished and perfected for the produce section of grocery stores, they thrived in American backyards and family homesteads.<\/p>\n
They were passed from generation to generation, spread along the frontier by the beloved Johnny Appleseed, and satisfied humans and wildlife alike with their appealing varieties, shapes, sizes, textures and taste. The apples often arrived with their own backstories and rich personal provenance.<\/p>\n
Some ripened in late summer; others kept families fed through winter. Some were tart enough for cider; others perfumed an entire kitchen from the pantry shelf.<\/p>\n
Thanks to Trees of Antiquity, though, heirloom trees \u2014 ones that owner Neil B. Collins considers to have been grown before World War II, industrial agricultural and patented commercial cultivars \u2014 are still being cultivated and spread across America to gardeners who value biodiversity, heritage and want authentic and genuinely tasty fruit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe common supermarket varieties appeal to commercial growers because they need fruit that ripens all at once, doesn\u2019t bruise easily, grows high yields,\u00a0 ships and stores for extended lengths of time and sits on the shelf without a blemish,\u201d Collins said. \u201cFlavor is often a secondary consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n
That trade-off has left countless remarkable varieties behind.<\/p>\n
For more than four decades, Trees of Antiquity has become one of the country\u2019s leading sources for heirloom fruit trees, shipping more than 400 varieties of bare-root fruit trees to backyard growers and orchards across the United States. At the heart of the nursery are more than 250 antique apple varieties.
Collins had been the farm manager of Sonoma Antique Apple Nursery, founded by Carolyn and Terry Harrison in the 1970s, when he took it over in the 1990s, renamed it Trees of Antiquity and relocated the operation, first to Healdsburg where scions, or cuttings of the mother trees, were grafted, before migrating down to Paso Robles.<\/p>\n
By then, the nursery had long established itself as a pioneering organic grower of grapes, fruits and vegetables and cultivator of unusual apple and pear varieties.<\/p>\n
The stock includes apple trees, which our forefathers might have planted or enjoyed the fruit they produced. According to Collins, among the most notable in his Trees of Antiquity catalog are the following:<\/p>\n
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The antique Hewes Virginia Crab was the most important cider apple in the 18th century. It was used by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson for the estate ciders. (Courtesy of Trees of Antiquity)
\nRoxbury Russet<\/p>\n
\u201cConsidered America\u2019s oldest named homegrown apple variety, it originated in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in the early 1600s,\u201d Collins said. \u201cPossessing a dense, rough greenish-bronze skin, this heavily yielding winter keeper was widely used for cider production and was known to be a favorite of George Washington.\u201d<\/p>\n
Esopus Spitzenburg<\/p>\n
\u201cOriginating in Esopus, New York, in the late 1700s, this crisp, spicy, highly aromatic red apple was Thomas Jefferson\u2019s absolute favorite dessert fruit,\u201d Collins said. \u201cHe planted dozens of them in the South Orchard at Monticello.\u201d<\/p>\n
Newtown Pippin<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst discovered as a chance seedling in Queens, New York, in the early 1800s, this yellow-green apple holds a legendary spot as America\u2019s first major fruit export,\u201d Collins said. \u201cIt was deeply admired by both Jefferson and Washington, who planted them extensively on their respective estates. Jefferson famously wrote from Paris that Europeans considered it the finest apple in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hewes Virginia Crab<\/p>\n
\u201cA small, intensely tart apple that likely crossed a European variety with a native American crabapple,\u201d Collins says, \u201cit became the most important cider apple in 18th-century Virginia. Both Washington and Jefferson used it exclusively to brew their highest-quality estate ciders.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond the prominent estates, Collins says, several other legendary heirloom apples sustained early colonial life and those in the American Revolutionary War era.<\/p>\n
Rhode Island Greening<\/p>\n
\u201cDating all the way back to the late 1600s near Newport, Rhode Island, this is one of the very first named American apples,\u201d Collins said. \u201cLarge, grass-green and aggressively tart, it was the definitive culinary apple of the Revolutionary War era, cherished for its ability to hold its shape perfectly in pies and baked dishes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Original Winesap<\/p>\n
\u201cOriginating in New Jersey before 1800, this dark red heirloom became a staple of colonial orchards,\u201d Collins said. \u201cIts deep, wine-like, savory flavor made it an exceptional dual-purpose fruit that was highly prized for pressing into complex hard ciders and durable enough to remain crisp in root cellars all winter long.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baldwin<\/p>\n
\u201cDiscovered as a chance seedling in Wilmington, Massachusetts, around 1740, the Baldwin was originally known as the \u2018Woodpecker\u2019 apple,\u201d Collins said. \u201cIt became the defining commercial apple of New England, prized by Revolutionary-era families for fresh eating, cider and making winter preserves.\u201d<\/p>\n
These are just a few of the thousands of flavors waiting to be rediscovered by apple enthusiasts and home gardeners.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur heirloom and traditional fruit trees exist thanks in great part to the home gardeners who continue to explore beyond the store shelves,\u201d Collins said. \u201cWe encourage everyone to maintain this search and share in the revival of these relics from the past.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most of the nursery\u2019s stock is USDA certified organic, supported by five-year crop rotations, compost, native hedgerows and habitat that welcomes beneficial insects, birds and other wildlife rather than relying on synthetic chemicals.<\/p>\n
And while apple trees are the center of the nursery, Trees of Antiquity also offers pear, peach, plum, nectarine, persimmon, quince, medlar, almond and hazelnut trees, as well as grapevines, berry bushes and others. Most trees are available on semi-dwarf rootstock suitable for modern home landscapes but can also be espaliered for space and easy picking.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur trees come from all over,\u201d Collins said, \u201cbut primarily from folks who lived their lives with the trees and planted them with an eye to the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what Collins hopes Marin gardeners will do, too. He wants them to think beyond the next season and toward the next generation and to enjoy the flavors and varieties rooted in American history.<\/p>\n
Show off<\/p>\n
If you have a beautiful or interesting Marin garden or a newly designed Marin home, I\u2019d love to know about it.<\/p>\n
Please send an email describing either one (or both), what you love most about it and a photograph or two. I will post the best ones in upcoming columns.\u00a0 Your name will be published, and you must be over 18 years old and a Marin resident.<\/p>\n
Not to miss events<\/p>\n
\u2022 Eugene Rougeau of Petaluma\u2019s ED Wilson Roses will discuss his rose selection process and how to best care for David Austin roses at the Marin Rose Society\u2019s monthly meeting at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 11 at the Marin Art and Garden Center at 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. in Ross. The event will also feature a rose show and raffle. Admission is free. Go to marinrose.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n PJ Bremier\u00a0writes on home, garden, design and entertaining topics every Saturday. She may be contacted at P.O. Box 412, Kentfield 94914, or at\u00a0pj@pjbremier.com.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Even 250 years after the American colonists founded our United States, today\u2019s generations can still enjoy the fruit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":419946,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,17586,7997,7726,971,992,180,993,266,17587,420,19583],"class_list":["post-419945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-fineliving","tag-garden","tag-home-garden","tag-lifestyle","tag-marin-county","tag-newsletter","tag-north-bay","tag-northern-california","tag-pj-bremier","tag-things-to-do","tag-trees"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/419946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}