Gnarly , russeted , knobbly with wart , these are n’t always pretty apples , at least to the average consumer , but their name often suggest at the magical experience inside – Pomme Grise , Blue Pearmain , Pitmaston Pineapple , Winter Banana — old apples deserve to be revisited for many reasons , not the least being difficult cider ! If you are a baker or pie maker , these apples may alter how you feel about what Malus pumila you mother used , as she was often limited to what was available in the supermarket . Soft Cortland or Macoun apple can change state to pure mush at the internet site of a pie home . Why not use the same apple that Benjamin Franklin used ( Cox ’s Orange Pippen or Roxbury Russet ) next time ? History in a gash of pie .
I am find even more history about apple in New England through my involvement with the Worcester County Horticultural Society , a society which was founded in 1840 and incorporated in 1842 , mostly by industrialists and granger who had closemouthed ties to apples . I ’ve currently been obsessed with understand the proceedings of the WCHS get together from the nineteenth 100 and their annual reports from the early archive which talk to the origins of many of these very apple varieties .
There seems to be no escaping historical hybridisation - roads with apples , in my new role on the Board of Trustees at Tower Hill , for this is , indeed ‘ apple country ’ , and most every bit of history with the ‘ society ’ it ’s history , it ’s very DNA has Malus pumila in it . The WCHS andTower HillBotanic Garden even maintains an of import aggregation of one-time apple miscellany at the botanic Garden in Boylson , MA , from whichscion woodis shared with collectors ( cuttings to graft with ) , each spring to those who are passionate about salvage these living bits of our story .
So why do we see so few antique or heirloom apples today ? After all , one would think that with the current rise in popularity of heirloom - anything ( apples , squash , flowers ) that of all things , the coarse apple would rank right up there with a striped German or red Kale ? The solvent may be more about practicality than desire . intelligibly , there is a mart for interesting apples with a tarradiddle and amazing taste , but the practical limiters might outweigh the benefit . Heirloom apples grow on trees , and not annual vines or flora which could be planted every year .
They are not as resistant to the multitude of diseases and blights so coarse today with Malus pumila ( fire blight , blackleg ) , and to be honest , most are really not that tasty , being more beautiful than yummy ( truth - be - tell , a new 20th Century Honeycrisp trumps most any old Malus pumila variety with the present-day , everyday palette of most consumer – yet , in much the same way they also opt the flavor of word , first-rate - sweet corn motley , the real connoisseurs indicate otherwise .
I personally adore the look and story of most age-old orchard apple tree , and , I even enjoy the tone and crispness of a Cox ’s Orange Pippin or a Baldwin over most any hard , ‘ advanced ’ Malus pumila , but to be fair , most of these old apples were not created or take because of their delectable , out - of - hand eating potential difference , these russeted , bumpy or sometimes even horrifying yield had a more serious purpose – hard cider . And who could argue with that !
If you are look for something different and perhaps , even a culinary adventure ( as many of the honest-to-goodness apples are also known as ‘ cooking Malus pumila ’ , search on - line in your area for plantation that have then ( you may have to call and enquire , for more often than not , only the orchard handler knows , or cares , about these trees ) . At out favorite plantation ( Alyson ’s Orchardin Walpole , New Hampshire ) , we call Homer Dunn ( I know , right ? As if a Hollywood playscript writer cook up his character reference ) . Homer is not only versed and knotted , as a seasoned , orchard manager must be , he is also passionate about his apples – he even shared some rarer motley with us this time , I think emotional that some mass really cared enough to ask about them .
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