Chenango Strawberry

Chenango Strawberry originated in Connecticut or possibly Madison County, New York sometime before 1850.  It was thought to have been planted by an African American man named Frank and was known for a time as the “Frank Apple.” At some point it picked up the name Chenango, presumably from the New York county of that name. By the 1870’s it had become popular in Maine.

It’s a classic, late-summer, dessert and cooking apple that can still be found in old dooryards around the southern half of the state.  Chenango ripens in early September in central Maine.  The fruit is thin-skinned, very conic in shape and colored a light pastel pink and yellow. It’s instantly identifiable once you see it a few times. There’s no other cultivar like it. The flesh is fine textured, tender, moderately firm, pleasantly subacid and aromatic. The quality is good; but beware, the fruit bruises a second or two after you touch it.  Use it up quickly. Like many other summer-cultivars, it does not keep.