Heirloom Apples

Go into any major supermarket and your choices of apples are limited to five or six -- varieties. They are most likely bright red, green or golden color. The names are familiar: McIntosh, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Red Delicious. Uniform in shape and color, they can be – unfortunately – also uniform in taste.

That is not the way apples used to be.

A hundred years ago there was a cornucopia of apple varieties; in the U.S. alone there were 7,000 types of apples with names largely unknown to the average consumer today: Lamb Abbey Pearmain, Paula Red, Sheep’s Nose.

Heirloom Apples: A Rainbow of Colors and Tastes

Not only were these apples red, green and yellow, but they ripened to a wide range of earth tones -- orange, brown, even dark purple. Flavors ranged from barely edible (for making cider) to sweetness reminiscent of a banana or guava.

Some varieties exist today only as photographs in old horticultural books. But thanks to heirloom apple orchards cropping up across the country, some heirloom varieties are making a comeback.

Unless you have an heirloom apple orchard nearby (if you live near Vermont visit Scott Farm), you can try growing your own. Here’s just a few heirloom apples that you may want to try:

Roxbury Russett

This is the oldest American apple variety, dating back to 1635. Has a nectar-like flavor similar to guava.

Baldwin

A handsome, deep red apple originally from Massachusetts in the early 1700s. It is a hard apple, sometimes referred to as the “woodpecker.”

Ananas Reinette

From the French meaning “royal pineapple.” This is a small, yellow-skinned apple that was grown in France in the 1500s. It has a zesty pineapple-citrus flavor and flesh that has a fine grain texture.

Winesap

A deep reddish purple apple with a juicy, yet firm, yellow flesh and a tart, wine-like flavor. The Winesap apple is a good eating apple or served in salads, but does not make a good apple for baking.

Black Oxford

A beautiful winter storage apple from the 1850s with a high, sweet/complex flavor. It keeps until late winter, sometimes early spring. Makes great pies, cider, and is very good for eating but it is better after a month or two of cold storage than fresh.

Sheep’s Nose (also know as Black Gilliflower)

A New England variety from the early 1800s. Gilliflower refers to a cinnamon flavor and black refers to the color the skin sometimes gets as it ripens. It is also known as “sheep’s nose” because of its unusual shape which tapers towards the base.

Esopus Spitzenburg

From the early 1700s, this apple has the reputation as the apple that Thomas Jefferson considered a favorite. It is a large apple, oblong in shape, smooth skinned and colored a lively brilliant red approaching scarlet. It is covered with small yellow specks.

Lady (or Roman) Apple

This is the oldest apple still being grown today from the Roman Empire. Because it was a small and flavorful apple it was popular during the Renaissance when ladies would keep one tucked away in their bosom and demurely taken out to freshen their breath.

Rhode Island Greening

Pies made with this apple have won awards all over the world. Legend has it that this variety came from the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden.

For more information on purchasing heirloom apple trees visit Trees of Antiquity.

Try an Heirloom Apple

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