Peek in this knot hole…Damn red squirrel has filled the apple tree knot hole with walnuts.

EPISODE 527 THE ‘MAIDENS BLUSH’ APPLE TREE.

alan skeoch

Jan. 31, 2022

Maiden’s Blush^[59]^[28]^[266]^[267]		Burlington, New Jersey, US	<1817	W 86, H 69. Stalk 19 mm. A thin-skinned, flattened apple. Pale yellow-green skin has a telltale crimson blush on the side that faced the sun. Flesh white, crisp, very juicy, subacid, good. Susceptible to scab. Heavy annual bearer. Good cooker. Excellent variety for drying because the flesh remains white and bright. Use September – November.	Cooking, (Eating)

The Maiden Blush apple tree is one of the oldest American apples. Coxe wrote in 1817 that Maiden’s Blush apples were popular in the Philadelphia markets of his day. Beautiful apple of pale thin skinned, lemon-yellow color with crimson blush. Flesh is white, sprightly, crisp and tender with a sharp, acid flavor that mellows when fully ripe. Maiden Blush apple tree is an excellent grower, comes into bearing young. Dependable producer, long harvest period, and displays resistance to fireblight.

Maiden Blush organic heirloom apple tree

Is it still alive? There is (was) a lonely apple tree standing between the

farm house and the red barn. I remember that farm auction as it it was yesterday

even though it was some 40 or even 50 years ago.

The farm is located north of Grand Valley, right at the second bridge over the Grand River…east side of

the road. It was a very tidy farm on auction day. A small farm selling mostly obsolete farm

equipment that reflected on time when most farms in Ontario were 100 acres in size.

Farm sales always seem to have a tragic aspect…a feeling that something will be gone and

never seen again.

Farm auctions now, in the second decade of the 21st century are rare. So many were put

up for sale between the years 1960 and 2000 that observers could not fail to notice

a great change was happening to rural Ontario. Surviing farms got larger and larger

using machines that cost $200,000 upwards. If the old barns were not pulled down then

they slowly fell apart with their carcases dotting the landscape like a war zone. Now, in 2022

even the carcasses are mostly gone.

So many lost farmsteads that most are lost in the confusion of my memory cells.

But this one remains. Why? Because of one lone apple tree loaded with fruit

ripe and ready for picking. The owner was present as were his neighbours.

“Apple tree is loaded,” I said, testing to see if he was open to conversation. Many owners

of auction farms are not. I can tell by the fire pits in the field where all their family documents

have been burned wiping out memories…or trying to do so.

“Pick what you want, just going to waste.”

“Taste nice…sweet .” As I Remember the apples were green with a bit of yellow, small

by super market standards…some, however, the size of tennis balls. And remarkable due

to the absence of worm holes or apple scab. This was one nice apple tree. All with the

distinctive red ‘blush’…made the apple rather intimate.

“What kind of apples?”

“ Maidens Blush”

“What kind?” I asked again…not sure of his response.

“Maidens Blush, old tree.”

At that Grand Valle auction I bid and won a small box of copper stencils. Never used. Must have been a winter plan for

an orhard that never happened. Gardeners and farmers do that kind of dreaming in February. I bought some copper nails

and mounted many of these stencils on an old baseboard as a gift for Marjorie. Selfish kind of gift, I know that.

Most prominent on the board is the Maidens Blush apple variety which I believed was a lost kind of apple. Here is the

list from the stencil board;

Ontario

Alexander

G. Russet (golden?)

Baldwin

Maidens Blush (*several other names, same apple)

Snow

Wealthy

R. Russet (red?)

Duchess

Belflower

Str. Streaks

Ribston

B.Orange (b?)

Wagener

Spitz

Mann

King

N.Spy (northern)

Can.Red (canadian?}

Culvert

Greenings

Talman Sweet

Seek

APPLE VARIETIES BOGGLE THE MIND

IN 1905, American pomologist W.H.Ragan published a 400 page book

titled ’Nomenclature of the Apple’. a compendium of Known apple

varieties between 1804 and 1904. The list is enormous….17,000 apple

varieties? SEVENTEEN THOUSAND! All with distinctive names.

Later the list was pared down to 14,000 when the overlapping names

were catalogued. FOURTEEN THOUSAND !

The 19th century was a period of ‘unparalleled interest in apples.’

What kind of apples? Many were cider apples. But lots were also

eating apples…and cooking apples. Cooking apples … apple pie

apples in other words. What variety comes to mind immediately?

The best cooking apple stencil is on my board…NORTHERN SPY. Discovered

almost by accident and rejected initially because colour was not prominent.

(see source Tom Hensley, June 2,2005)

MAIDENS BLUSH…RECONSIDERED

My snap judgment that I had found a lost apple variety of apple on

that single tree north of Grand Valley was dashed when I punched the

name into my computer. Turns out that Maidens Blush was (and remains)

one of the top ancient apple varieties still grown by heritage apple tree planters.

A year or so later I found another Maiden’s Blush tree on a doomed orchard

near Ravenna, Ontario. Once sold all the field apple trees were uprooted…killed

so diseases from an uncared for orchard would not contaminate other orchards.

But the killers missed one tree that grew near the house…a Maiden’s Blush

survivor I was told. Truth? I rely on the former owner for that.

Damned if there isn’t even a winery in the Napa Valley of California that

markets an apple wine under the name ‘Maiden’s Blush’. See Nashoba

Valley Winery. 49% percent Maidens Blush., 49% pears, 2% elder berries.

Wouldn’t it be nice to buy a bottle…cost about $20 Canadian. Doubt

carried in Canadian Liquor Stores.

It is even possible to buy a Maiden’s Blush Cultivar for $44.90…were

they not sold out. Sold out means apple fanciers are still planting Maiden Blush

apple trees in 2022…in the 21st century.

Maiden Blush Apple

$44.90

An award winning rose made from 49% Apples – 49% Pears – 2% Elderberries. Subtly perfumed, with an alluring flavor of apples, pears and elderberries. Similar in style to White Zinfandel. Named after the Maiden’s Blush apple, one of over 80 “antique” apple varieties grown in our orchard.

CONCLUSION

ART AND THE APPLE:

I HAVE already written 3 Episodes on apples. Probably overkill for most readers.

Let me leave some fine art as a conclusion. Apple artists have left all of us a legacy

of artistic treasures…apple varieties with romantic names.

STURMER PIPPIN 1831 SUFFOLK, ENGLAND

Sturmer Pippin^[370]^[6]^[8]^[21]		Sturmer,Haverhill, Suffolk, England	<1831	A bright greenish-yellow apple with a reddish-brown blush, often on one face only. W 69, H 62. Stak 12–25 mm. Flesh white, crisp, juicy, subacid, aromatic. One of the best English keeping apples, with proper storage Sturmer Pippin lasts 4 to 5 months. Flavour is sprightly, more sharp than sweet when first picked, but improves dramatically in storage, becoming sweeter and richer, while maintaining its crisp texture. This keeping ability made it ideal for long journeys, as such, it was brought to Australia where it is still widely grown. Parent of Granny Smith. Pick mid October. Use January – April.

WHITE PIPPIN CANADA USA

White Pippin(syn. Canada Pippin)^[3]^[392]		US or Canada		A yellow apple. W 80, H 65-70. Stalk 12-18 mm. Flesh white, crisp, juicy, subacid, very good to best. Use January – March.

WINTER MAIDEN’S BLUSH 1850 USA

RED ASTRACHAN 1800

Red Astrachan^[6]^[325]^[326]^[327]		Russia or Sweden	c. 1800	Extremely resistant to frost. H 76, W 82. Flesh white, fine, crisp, tender, juicy, subacid, aromatic, good to very good. The tree does not attain a large size. Pick and use in August.	Cooking

EPISODE 527 THE MAIDENS BLUSH APPLE TREE

Maiden Blush Apple

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