I’ve gone nuts for apples. This is typical behaviour for the men in my family, who tend to get obsessed by a particular topic, be it classic motorbikes in my brother’s case or cow bells (of all things) in my Dad’s. For me it’s Malus domestica, and all its various incarnations.
I like to think that genetics has something to do with it. My grandfather, Leslie Russell, was born and raised in Herefordshire, the English county famous for its apple and pear orchards. His parents were third generation inn keepers, and during the 1800′s the Russells ran a number of pubs throughout the county including The Hostelrie in the village of Goodrich, and in Hereford city, both The Lamb Inn and Half Moon Inn. No doubt they served their share of scrumpy, cider and perry to thirsty patrons.
Another ancestor, Tom Spring, was a pugilist who between 1821 and 1824, held the title of bare knuckle champion of England. Tom possessed a weak punch yet was quick on his feet for a big man and was widely admired for his sportsmanship and commitment to fair play. The crowd cheered Tom along in his fights with the barracking cry “Spring and old cider, Spring forever.”
It was a very Herefordian saying. Only in one of the world’s great pomological districts would you get such a shared enthusiasm for bare knuckle boxing, and the fermented juice of apples. So it’s in my blood, I reckon, and just in the last couple of years, I’ve suddenly become fascinated by all things pomological.
There are more than 7500 known cultivars of apple in existence, with the largest number being housed in the National Fruit Collection in Brogdale, Kent. Among the 1882 different cultivars at Brogdale, there is a wide spectrum of fruit for almost every purpose, be it eating fresh, stewing, baking, making cider or keeping stored in the shed over a long winter. Apples are variable, and historically at least, highly useful plants.
They are also plants with wonderfully poetic names, and fascinating histories. Take ‘Yarlington Mill’, which was discovered as a seedling growing from a crack in the wall of water wheel near the village of Yarligton, or ‘Cat’s Head’, a big cooking apple so named because in profile it resembles the head of a cat. One of my favourites is ‘Improved Foxwhelp’, an improved cultivar of the original Foxwhelp, which was found growing near a fox’s den.
But how many of the 7500 different apples do you find on the shelf of your local Woolies, two or three, four if you’re lucky? Who has actually tasted a ‘Cox’s Orange Pippin’ or a ‘Peasgood’s Nonsuch’. I’m not suggesting that the commercially acceptable varieties are bad apples. ‘Granny Smith’ for example, is one of world’s most renowned fruit. What bugs me is the notion of what is, and isn’t, acceptable fruit to the average punter.
Many apples are odd shapes and sizes and have uneven colouring. You can bet that few apples get picked with an attractive wax coating on their skins, and in fact, a lot of old varieties are actually russeted. This russeting, which you might have seen on a ‘Buerre Bosc’ pear, is the brown, sandpaper like texture of an apple’s skin, and a big no-no amongst commercial growers. For years plant breeders have gradually bred the russeting out of many varieties, despite the fact that many of the most delicious apples have a russet skin.
The antidote to this obsession with commercial acceptability is, as usual, to grow at least some of your own. There is an apple variety for all parts of the Downs beyond Stanthorpe, and with appropriate rootstock selection, backyards of every shape and size. Apples can be espaliered flat against a fence, grown in the standard fashion as a small shade tree, and on a the most dwarfing rootstocks, grown in a decent sized pot. They have a reputation for being cantankerous growers, and some are. But there are plenty of varieties suitable to even the novice gardener.
I’ve become so passionate about apples, and other heritage fruit varieties, that my wife and I have even started a small, mail-order nursery. Some people will assume we’re bonkers, launching a new business in the middle of a drought and with the big “R” lurking, but we’re convinced that growing your own is a most excellent way to live, and have learnt that there are plenty of people around who share our sentiment. I’m not keen on ramming heritage fruit down your neck, but if you’re interested in growing old fashioned trees ideal for the amateur gardener, then check out my new website at www.thistlebrook.com.au, or give me a call on (07) 4697 9371. She’ll be apples.
First published in the Toowoomba Chronicle 14th March 2009
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Justin,
I bought a couple of apple trees from you last winter and on the whole they are doing fantastically well.They have flowered a couple of times and are growing new branches with plenty of leaves.The only worry I have is that the Pink Lady seems to have some kind of disease.The leaves are curling a bit [thought it may have been from the strong westerlies we get here,at first]and the leaves have some reddish splotches on them,some black.It hasn’t seemed to have affected the growth,it’s flowered twice through this,so I am baffled.Would you have any idea what has caused this and how I could fix it?
Thanks
Mandy
Curling leaves are a response to hot, dry, windy weather, which pretty well sums up this year’s spring. Some varieties appear more prone to it than others, but if the leaves aren’t burning at the tips, or yellowing and dropping off, all is well. The plant is under a degree of stress, but not enough to kill it. I’d try giving it some shelter from the wind, even if it means making an over sized tree guard from hessian or shadecloth. Make sure the soil is kept evenly moist for the first couple of years. The finger test is always worth a try – poke your finger into the soil. If it feels dry water, if moist, hold off for a while longer.
The spots on the leaves sound like a minor case of apple scab (or blackspot, different to the blackspot that affects roses). This is probably the major fungal disease affecting apples, but minor cases aren’t anything to worry about. If the problem gets worse, the most effective organic control is to spray with lime sulphur just before the flower buds burst early next spring.
Hello Justin,
A short mail to ask you about your relative Tom Spring ,my close friend is trying to find out more about him as she is his Great Grand Daughter , I have looked up plenty of sites for her but as she doesn’t have a PC it is hard for her, I would be very pleased to pass on anything you can tell me of relatives and she is most interested in the names of his children I can’t seem to find that out.She knows alot about him but not of his family.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincere regards.
Margot Billington. (on behalf of Margaret Crocker nee Spring)