Norridgewock sweet

Norridgewock Sweet is our provisional name for an old, grafted, true-sweet (low-acid) apple that Cammy and I discovered on the road from Smithfield to Norridgewock, ME when we were out fruit exploring on Oct 8, 2022. The tree was laying down in an untended field behind a larger Twenty Ounce tree. I’ve spent quite of bit of time attempting to identify the cultivar. It might be Northern Sweet (of Vermont), one of the multiple historic Northern Sweets. The DNA profile (AMAL 0074) matched no cultivar in the reference panel, but it did show the parentage to be Tolman Sweet and Ben Davis. Tolman Sweet was growing in Maine prior to 1800. Ben Davis came somewhat later. Tolman would have provided the low-acid genetics.

The fruit is large, and the skin is yellow with some minor striping and blush around the cavity. Some of the apples are deeply ribbed. The stem is distinctively long and medium to almost thick. The cavity is rather deep, wide and russeted, and the basin is wide, medium deep and abrupt. It ripens in October and keeps for about a month. This interesting apple could be valuable in cider or for kitchen use. We obtained our scionwood from the reclining tree that we discovered. Currently growing at Super Chilly Farm.