Apples to Apples

Solar panels and windmills, chickens and berry patches—there’s plenty to look at on Big Horse Creek Farm in the highlands of Ashe County, North Carolina. But perhaps nothing is more striking than the rows of apple trees. These aren’t ordinary fruit trees, a fact that becomes obvious when examining the nuanced spectrum of yellow, green, pink, and red apples. Rather, these heirloom varieties bear the fruits of heritage.

“We have always been fascinated by the history of apples and the deep cultural, almost mystical, connections Americans have had with this wonderful fruit,” explains Ron Joyner, who started Big Horse Creek Farm with his wife, Suzanne, in 1985.  “The first European explorers who arrived in the New World brought all the tools and resources necessary to survive on this continent, including their prized apple trees and precious apple seeds. The value and importance of apples had long been established in European agrarian communities, and so it was quite natural that these early adventurers would bring apples to establish in the new colonies.”

Over subsequent generations, the Europeans’ ingrained cultural connection with apples became the norm for the new Americans as well. “This identification with apples—Mom and apple pie—continues to be a profoundly significant part of American culture to this day,” he says. “We feel it is critical to keep the stories and histories of heritage apples alive for future generations to enjoy and explore.”

The Joyners attribute their interest in heritage apples in part to Tom “Professor Apple” Burford, whose orchard in the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge offers a case study in heritage apple varieties. For decades, Burford has advocated for America’s need to preserve its apple-growing heritage. According to the RAFT Alliance (Renewing America’s Food Traditions), of the 15,000-some varieties that once were grown and eaten in North America, only about 3,000 remain accessible.

Two years ago, Burford authored Apples of North America: 192 Exceptional Varieties for Gardeners, Growers, and Cooks (Timber Press, $30), which is on its way to becoming a classic tome on heirloom apples akin to Old Southern Apples, by Lee Calhoun of Pittsboro, North Carolina.

Both books contend that apples should stimulate our taste buds more than supermarket varieties that often taste like moist cardboard (think Red Delicious) or are bland and inconsequential (Golden Delicious). All too often the only things “delicious” about these and other modern-day varieties are their names, which suggest an appeal that is far better than how they taste.  In his book, Burford laments “the emergence of the so-called beautiful apples, a source of malnourishment that even posed a consumption risk from chemical contamination. Eating with our eyes brought this tasteless object to the fruit bowls of America.”

Like Burford, Tim Hensley emphasizes that there’s more to this fruit than tasteless “lunchbox apples.” He operates the Urban Homestead, a heritage apple nursery in Bristol, Virginia, and says that heirloom apple varieties take in a “wider spectrum.”

“Yates are quite small but an excellent grower—high flavored and a superior keeper,” Hensley explains. “Wolf River is downright bland off the tree, but it makes choice apple butter. Red Royal Limbertwig doesn’t look like much with its dull red, medium size, but it’s hard to eat just one. Black Limbertwig is also dull, dark, and hard when you first pick it. But it’s immune, or nearly so, to all major apple diseases, and with a little mellowing it’s one of the best-tasting apples.”

Flavor superiority aside, it all comes back to the fruit’s role in history for Ron Joyner. “Apples have a unique and revered place in human history,” he says. “That is why it is so important we recognize and acknowledge this deep and personal connection our species has always enjoyed with the common apple. This is also why we feel our work in preserving the astonishing diversity of apples is of critical importance.”

About the author: Outdoor writer and photographer Bruce Ingram lives in Southwest Virginia.

How Do You Like Them Apples?

Throughout much of this country’s history until after World War II, Americans grew apples for numerous reasons, choosing varieties that might excel at just one or two things such as drying, keeping, stovetop cooking, eating out of hand, and making cider, brandy, apple butter, pies, cobblers, jams, and moonshine, also known as applejack.  Our forefathers might have grown eight or nine or even more varieties, selecting, for instance, a variety that might ripen in July and be good for applesauce (for example, the Yellow Transparent); in August and be good for stovetop cooking (Summer Rambo); in September and be good for cider (Grimes Golden), in October for pies (Stayman Winesap), and in November for long keeping (Black Twig). 

Tom “Professor Apple” Burford suggests a few varieties particularly well suited for the mountains:

• The Old Fashioned Winesap grows well in the mountains, but thrives in many other regions as well. This classic American fruit is known as a dessert apple as well as for making apple butter, cider, and pies.
• The Albemarle or Newtown Pippin thrives throughout the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains and is wonderful for desserts, baking, pies, vinegar, and cider.
• The Chehalis—a favorite among organic growers because of its disease resistance—is known as a dessert, baking, and pie apple.
• The Fall Russet originated in Michigan, which means it can withstand those cold spring mornings in the mountains. Another favorite of organic growers because of disease resistance, it’s good for desserts, drying, cider, and more.
• The Roxbury Russet is ideal for drying, pies, and cider.
• The Baldwin is particularly popular in New England as an all-purpose apple, but fares well in any mountain climate.
• The Stayman originated in Kansas but also thrives throughout the Appalachian Mountains. It’s known as a superior dessert apple and for pies, apple butter, frying, applesauce, and cider.
• The Twenty Ounce excels as a backyard variety. Try it for baking, frying, and desserts.
• The Wealthy is noted for its hardiness in New England, Minnesota, and even in parts of Canada, so it holds up well in our region, too, and is a superb variety for desserts, applesauce, and pies.

Tim Hensley, whose nursery and home is located in downtown Bristol, says even urban and suburban dwellers can raise and enjoy heritage varieties. “The benefit of heritage home orchards is variety and of course freshness,” he says. “We gather June apples in the evening and cook them the next morning for breakfast. There’s Rusty Coat for apple salad, Wolf River, Black Ben Davis, and Grimes Golden for apple butter. Whitney Crab for high-flavored jelly, Virginia Beauty for eating out of hand, Horse Apple and Maiden’s Blush for drying. Early Harvest for apple sauce and Cox’s Orange Pippin for a classic apple pie.” Here are a few more varieties he and Ron Joyner of Big Horse Creek Farm consider ideally suited for the Smoky Mountains:

• Any discussion of Southern apples should begin with Limbertwig apples. Referred to as the “quintessential Southern Appalachian apple,” the Limbertwig has dozens of strains, most of which originated in East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and southeastern Kentucky. Some of the better Limbertwig varieties include Old Fashioned, Red, Black, Royal, Myers’ Royal, Brushy Mountain, Smoky Mountain, and Kentucky Limbertwig.
• A parent of Golden Delicious and one of the highest-quality dessert apples available, the sweet, flavorful Grimes Golden originated in West Virginia and is excellent for cooking, baking, making cider, and eating out of hand.
• The Ozark Pippin originated in Washington County, Tennessee, and keeps well for a summer apple. Its flesh features a juicy, rich taste.
• The early-ripening Summer Rambo originated in France in the early 1500s. Popular since colonial times, the fruit makes superb applesauce and butter.
• Of Russian origin, the Yellow Transparent ripens early and offers a tart, tangy flavor that is particularly popular for making applesauce.
• Once recognized as one of the most important apples in the South, the Virginia Beauty fell into relative obscurity after the introduction of Red Delicious. This versatile apple provides truly outstanding flavor with hints of cherry and almond. 
• The Wolf River originated in Wisconsin but has been a longtime favorite in the South for making high-quality apple butter. Large to enormous in size, the apple ripens in September and remains an important heritage variety for making apple butter as part of day-long family and communal gatherings.