So You Want To Know What Variety Your Apple Is
It is amazing how many apple trees there are in Maine. You can find them arranged in rows in old fields, scattered throughout the thickest woodlots, standing like forgotten sentinels in parking lot islands or adjacent to industrial buildings, waving their branches at you from the side of the highway as you speed past, or spreading their leafy branches across the manicured lawn of a suburban backyard. And just as surprising as the varied places they grow is the number of people who are curious about the names of these apples. So much so that starting about mid-August our mailbox starts overflowing with boxes of apples sent by curious apple lovers from around the country in hopes that John can identify them. Local enthusiasts wait in line at the Common Ground Fair and at John’s talks just to hand him apples and share their stories. While many of the apples turn out to be seedlings (which means they have no official name), others are old favorites from more than 100 years ago. And every once in awhile, an apple turns up that is just the one John and his merry band of fruit explorers have been searching for - they love the mystery of it all.
If you have an apple you are curious about, before you mail it or bring it to John or someone else to identify, please take a few minutes to follow the steps below. Each step will provide some clues to the identity of your apple and help unravel their mysteries and histories.
The first step in learning about an apple is to determine if it is a wild seedling or a grafted tree. Seedlings grown from seeds planted by wildlife or an apple core tossed from the window of a car do not have names. The only named varieties are those found on grafted trees that were propagated by nurseries, old timers on the farm or perhaps by your neighbor who took a MOFGA grafting class. If you can, take a couple of pictures of your trees from different angles. It may be possible to see an old graft line on the tree or tell if the tree was once pruned and cared for in an orchard. (For a more detailed explanation, read Do You Have A Seedling Or A Grafted Tree? .)
Focus on the oldest trees. Apple trees can live well over 100 years, and the older they are, the more interesting they are. Old trees can be massive or broken, hollow, turned inside out or growing in waves across the ground where a branch has fallen down and ressurected itself like a phoenix from the ashes. It is the apples from these ancient trees that will cause the most excitement among your friendly apple geeks.
Bring 6-8 apples per variety/tree. Apples from the same tree can differ in size, shape and color so several specimens are needed to tease out the commonality between them and get an accurate picture of the apple.
Bring apples in paper not plastic. Apples in plastic bags sweat and begin to rot almost immediately. Apples in paper bags keep surprisingly well.
Be patient. It can take time to identify apples, especially if you have something unusual. We don’t charge for this service, but we appreciate your donations to support the Maine Heritage Orchard at MOFGA in Unity.
Our goal is to track down and preserve all the ancient apples of Maine, including the one in your back yard or just down the road.