EPISODE 908 DISCOVERY OF A FERAL APPLE TREE — APPLES THE SIZE OF GRAPEFRUIT— BUSHELS OF THEM
alan skeoch
Nov. 8, 2023
FERAL APPLE TREE BONANZA
It is a wretched looking tree. branches twisted and contorted as if being punished. It grows in the roadside ditch between
the two Skeoch farms on the Fifth Line of Erin Township. In short the tree would never win a beauty contest. But it
could become famous for its fruit. Bushels and bushels of apples some of which are as big as grapefruit..
But I am getting ahead myself. I have crawled, walked, ridden, skated down this road piece for my whole life and i am 85 errs old
In all that time I never noticed this tree until this cold November day as I Was driving from one farm to the other.
“Holy Samoley, that tree is loaded..big apples. No! big is a poor term. Huge apples.”
“How many?” quizzed Marjorie
“Enough for you to make apple pies all winter.”
“Like spy apples?”
“Almost identical but they taste better.”
“Many on the tree? Are you exaggerating?”
“Here are four pails of the apples …all picked in 15 minutes … I can stand on
the gravel road and pick them with ease.”
“In my 85 years I never noticed this tree. I am older than the tree . Eric and I played
hide and seek among the huge boulders that the McLeans dumped along the fencerow in
years past. Jack in the pulpits attracted our attention but we never noticed this
apple tree growing ….never noticed apples until this year. And the biggest apples are
at the top …all I need is a ladder courage to get them meanwhile you can peel a bunch
and make an apple pie.”
“Will they keep? So many apples turn to mush when they touch each other..”
“These apples grow in clusters….five,six, seven apples in a clump. “
“Most Wild apples are small…these are huge. Are you kidding me?
Did you buy these apples?”
“Come along…you can boost me.”
“It wil take too long.”
“If we walk slowly it will take five minutes…ir we run two minutes. I tell you
without word of a lie you are about to make a discovery that you will never forget.”
“I bet that guy Husband from the University of Guelph would like to take a cutting from ‘our
feral apple tree.”
“What do you mean by the term ‘our’…..this tree grows in the roadside ditch…public…owned by the township.”
“You just explained why I never noticed this tree before now.”
“How?”
“Remember the big storm last spring?
Devastated the trees”
“Think this feral apple tree has been hiding behind other trees….the storm ripped out the cover and
the township forestry people cleaned up….cut all the crap around the feral tree….gave
it the breathing space it was waiting a lifetime to have happen. That’s just a guess.”
“Why did they not cut up the feral tree?”
“Come along…you will see why. The tree is protected by a jungle of twigs and branches…hard to
penetrate with a chain saw. Why bother”
“Why not call Brian Husband….the professor”
“He might not give a damn. No-one cares.”
alan
Postscript: Wonder of wonders…Brian Husband is alive and well and interested
NOTE FROM BRIAN HUSBAND (NOV. 8, 2023
Hello Alan,
Thank you for including me on your latest episode about the orchard. I appreciated the photos and the words. They made me curious about the history of that orchard. Do you have reason to believe those trees were part of an actual orchard of cultivars or might they be seeds that established and persisted because they were protected from cultivation for some reason. I always enjoy those little discoveries and the questions that arise about their origin.
Thanks for your observations and thoughts.
Best,
Brian
Dr. Brian C Husband (he/him) |Professor of Integrative Biology | University of Guelph, Summerlee Science Complex Rm 1477 | 50 Stone Rd E | Guelph, ON | N1G 2W1
“After comparing the genes of 578 naturalized feral trees to those of 156 non-feral varieties, as well as some ornamental species, the researchers discovered feral varieties originate strictly from commercially grown species. The study revealed parents of many feral apple trees comprise nine heritage cultivars — all varieties grown before 1900 — that accounted for 72 per cent of the identified parental lineages in the analysis.
“The origin of feral trees wasn’t so much the commercial apples fertilizing native crabapple, but rather these escaped apples that were now out there and growing wild,” said Husband. “The legacy of these old cultivars, some of which are no longer in production, reside in the mixed genomes of these wild apples.”
Some cider producers have begun mapping and evaluating unique apple strains found growing in abandoned orchards, hedgerows and historical properties, looking for those that are suitable for making hard cider, Husband added.
“There is definitely a growing interest in feral apples. Cider producers are looking for interesting flavours, and feral apples with heritage traits may be just what they are looking for.”
“Marjorie, I took two of these apples to our high school reunion today…seven old timers from Humberside C.I.”
“were the excited?”
“Not much…only Zig Novak who said “this looks like a Northern Spy Apple”
“Cynical?”
“No, I think he was perceptive…asked him to take a bite as I did.”
“His comment?”
“Alan, I am taking this apple for my wife to taste.”
“Seemed to support your great discovery How did the others feel?”
Apple trees – and the fruit and seeds that grow on them – are produced only through mating of two genetically different varieties. That means feral apples are combinations of past varieties. Two distinct feral trees can also mate with each other, as can a feral tree with a commercial variety.
Feral apples were long suspected to be hybrids between commercially grown species and a native crabapple tree, but this study found that not to be the case.
After comparing the genes of 578 naturalized feral trees to those of 156 non-feral varieties, as well as some ornamental species, the researchers discovered feral varieties originate strictly from commercially grown species. The study revealed parents of many feral apple trees comprise nine heritage cultivars — all varieties grown before 1900 — that accounted for 72 per cent of the identified parental lineages in the analysis.
“The origin of feral trees wasn’t so much the commercial apples fertilizing native crabapple, but rather these escaped apples that were now out there and growing wild,” said Husband. “The legacy of these old cultivars, some of which are no longer in production, reside in the mixed genomes of these wild apples.”
This finding provides insight into why feral apples have the strong taste that hard cider producers are after.
Over the last century or more, the Canadian apple industry has focused on the fresh market and eating apples, which are not ideal for cider, said Husband.
“Few suitable cider varieties are currently available in Ontario, so cider producers have begun looking at feral apples because they have the right taste.”
Cronin said the characteristics of feral populations may resemble varieties of apples that were grown hundreds of years ago by Ontario cider makers.
“The interesting flavours and aromas found in feral apple fruit might appeal to the Ontario apple industry in creating unique cider beverages,” he said. “There is a vast trove of untapped genetic potential in the natural landscape of southern Ontario that could be used to enhance or diversify the commercial cider industry.”
Some cider producers have begun mapping and evaluating unique apple strains found growing in abandoned orchards, hedgerows and historical properties, looking for those that are suitable for making hard cider, Husband added.
“There is definitely a growing interest in feral apples. Cider producers are looking for interesting flavours, and feral apples with heritage traits may be just what they are looking for.”
Yes, black walnuts are edible but they need to be prepared. Here are long
and short instructions.
SHORT INSTRUCTIONS
Gather a basket of black walnuts. Peal off the soft outer
shell which turns black and gooey then put the walnuts
some place dry where the squirrels can’t get them.
Then place each walnut in a workshop vice to smash
open the shell. Use a small sharp tool to weasel out the nut
in pieces.
LONG INSTRCUTIONS
1) Gather pile of black walnuts
2) Let the worms (invisible) help get much of the black outer casing removed
3) Use gloves so you do not stain your hands.
4) Wash the shells in pail of water, stir with paddle…rinse.
5) Wash again…rinse again
6) Wash again until water is clear
7) Allow nuts to dry in warm place
8) Be sure squirrels cannot get access.
9) Place each nut vertically workshop vice….crush
10) Separate shell fragments from nut meat carefully
11) Taste nut meat
12) Plan gourmet use for nut meats
13) Or…put some nut meat on your bird feeder as a treat
“Black Walnuts are delicious to eat. We used to gather hundreds of the walnuts and put them on top of the hot air ducts in the basement to dry for a few weeks. When they were dry we would take them down and crack them open. The work bench vice was great for cracking them. The trees themselves do tend to prevent other trees from growing under them. Their roots seem to secret some kind of toxin that discourages them but smaller shrubs and grasses would grow under them. The squirrels really liked them and would hoard them for winter.” Quote from Rooter
The black walnuts turn back and gooey . Get rid of this guck by washing. Then give nut time to dry. Be on lookout
EPISODE 900 THOUSANDS OF BLACK WALNUTS — ARE THEY POISONOUS?
alan skeoch
Nov 1, 2023
Our original Black Walnut tree which was planted by me (as the legend goes) around 1944 or 1946.
The tree is now, like me, in its 80’s. Perhaps 80 to 100 feet high. Dominating all living things
nearby with a poison chemiical called JUGLONE
I must ask my chemist friend Rooter…Robert Root…about that poison. SEEMS TO KILL
LIVING THINGS
IS THIS CAUTION TRUE, ROOTER? (ASKING BOB ROOT) ???
The effects of juglone
The fruit husks contain the highest concentrations of juglone. (Photo by Franklin Bonner, USFS, ret., Bugwood.org)
Some people and animals are susceptible to juglone damage. Consuming too many leaves or using walnut sawdust for bedding can cause a number of problems with animals. Some people are especially sensitive to juglone, and even sawdust from cutting walnut lumber can coat skin and produce a red welt where it lands. Juglone is a strong respiratory toxin and small amounts will damage other living creatures.
In the soil, juglone will damage many living things, including plant roots. Once it’s released into the soil, small amounts can damage and kill the roots of neighboring plants. Beneath the tree, this walnut chemical severely damages annual plants, garden vegetables, fruit trees and some broadleaf perennials. Most grasses seem immune. If it leaks back onto a walnut root, however, it is quickly made nontoxic again and stored. Wherever walnut roots travel, they change the soil they move through by adding juglone.
GRANDMA LOUISIA FREEMAN SAID I PLANTED THE WALMUT TREE
(She may have told cousin Ted Freeman the same thing we were about the same age)
“Alan, you planted the walnut tree beside the back house.”
I do not remember doing so but I was just a little boy at the time. If I did then I
sure knew the right spot. The outhouse. Lots of fertilizer, the real stuff must have seeped into the ground on
that spot. The Black walnut loves good land.
And lots of walnuts began to drop each fall as the tree thrived and now
towers over the farm house. 2023.. A bumper crop. A thousand walnuts from one tree. So many walnuts
that we need a Bobcat to move them.
“Alan, do not go under the walnut tree…you will get boinked.”
“A thousand hard balls falling.”
“Too many. I hate that tree.” (Marjorie’s opinion)
“Grandma loved it and so do I…part of our heritage. When I was a teen ager
I would gather a basket of walnuts and hurl the into roadside ditches from
our old 1953 Meteor. Some big trees on the fifth line were planted that way…like
Johnny Appleseed.”
“They are poison, Alan. Their roots kill any other tree that thinks it can
move into walnut territory. That walnut tree killed the hickory tree. Scares me.”
“Are black walnuts edible?””
“They are. But they can also hurt people who are allergic to them. I think Bill
Doyle’s brother was killed by a walnut allergy”
“Wow! And you eat them?”
“Never knew better as a kid.. thankfully it was Difficult to get at the walnut core. “ (We are talking about Black Walnuts. Not the
domesticated English walnuts tucked in an ice cream cone or brownies.)
“Black Walnuts?”
“They like good soil. In distant times..pioneer days….settlers searched for
walnut groves because they knew the land of the Black Walnut would be superb.”
“”Can I taste a Black Walnut?”
“You can but it may nto be worth the effort.”
“Why?”
“You will need a sledge hammer to break the shell…needs a good
smash and all you will get are little bits of nut. If ,by error, you
bite on a piece of walnut shell you will need a dentist . Black
Walnuts break teeth.”
“Alan, get serious, have you ever eaten a black walnut?”
“I have tasted the nut long ago.”
“And you are still alive…or seem so.”
“Then Black Walnuts are edible.”
“Seems so.”
“This year we have a bumper crop…perhaps a thousand pounds of walnuts…so
many that we need a fork lift to move them.”
“Hold on. Can I eat a Black Walnut…just one?”
“You can but that is another story…..another episode.”
“Why make it so difficult?”
“Because Black Walnut trees want to be sure to create more black walnut trees
and to discourage enemies like you or, particularly, those red squirrels who just love
the nuts and have teeth that can chew through the hard nut casing.”
“What’s wrong with my teeth?”
“Your teeth wold be shattered by the nut casing.”
“What about the poison?”
HOW TO PREPARE BLACK WALNUTS FOR A GOURMET FEAST… NEXT EPISODE
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