An Antique Apple Harvest
"Small-Scale Fruit Production" , Missouri Cooperative Extension's Home Fruit Production: Apples, Welcome to the Four Seasons of Growing Apples from The Big Apple, Apple Growing at The Natural Food Hub and Growing Apples -- Naturally.
Southmeadow Fruit Gardens singles out exceptional varieties each year on their Featured Apple Page. Among this year's standouts were varieties prized by two of our early presidents: "Esopus Spitzenburg", a favorite with Thomas Jefferson and "Newtown Pippin", formerly called Albemarble Pippin and grown by George Washington. "Cox's Orange Pippin", "Calville Blanc D'hiver" and ""Ashmead's Kernel" are lauded here as well as in "An Apple Lexicon" from Kitchen Gardener Magazine. This article points out, in words and pictures, how antique apples offered a great variety of tastes and colors. They weren't all expected to be round, red and unblemished. The Historic Orchard at Seed Savers Exchange Heritage Farm contains 700 varieties of 19th century apples, all on public display.
If you think you would like to try growing antique apples, your local nursery may be a good place to start. The variety might not be great, but they'll be able to tell you which types will do well in your area. If you'd like to do some research for yourself, try one of these online nurseries:
Bear Creek Nursery
Sonoma Antique Apple Nursery
Big Horse Creek Farm
Southmeadow
Fruit Gardens
Boyer Nurseries and Orchards
Maybe you'd like to order some fresh apples or a sampler basket, so you can try several different varieties. You'll find a good selection at either Tree-mendus Fruit or Applesource.
Once you find your apples, try out some sample recipes from the US Apple Association's "In Praise of Apples", including Apple, Chicken and Pecan Strudel and Roasted Salmon with Red Onion and Apple Puree Crust with Ginger-Cider Reduction. And don't forget that All American apple pie!