{"id":19909,"date":"2022-02-03T10:50:44","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T15:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=19909"},"modified":"2022-02-03T10:54:14","modified_gmt":"2022-02-03T15:54:14","slug":"episode-527-the-maidens-blush-apple-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=19909","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 527 THE MAIDENS BLUSH APPLE TREE"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Peek in this knot hole\u2026Damn red squirrel has filled the apple tree knot hole with walnuts.<\/div>\n

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\"Pomological<\/div>\n

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EPISODE 527   THE \u2018MAIDENS BLUSH\u2019 APPLE TREE.<\/p>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Jan. 31, 2022<\/div>\n

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Maiden’s Blush<\/a>[59]<\/a><\/sup>[28]<\/a><\/sup>[266]<\/a><\/sup>[267]<\/a><\/sup><\/td>\n\"Pomological<\/a><\/td>\nBurlington, New Jersey, US<\/td>\n<1817<\/td>\nW 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.<\/td>\nCooking, (Eating)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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The Maiden Blush apple tree is one of the oldest American apples. Coxe wrote in 1817 that Maiden\u2019s 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. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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\"Maidencdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_360x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 360w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_540x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 540w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_720x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 720w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_900x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 900w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_1080x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 1080w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_1296x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 1296w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_1512x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 1512w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_1728x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 1728w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_2048x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 2048w” style=”box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; vertical-align: middle; position: relative; max-width: 320px; max-height: 100%; border-top-left-radius: 6px; border-top-right-radius: 6px; border-bottom-right-radius: 6px; border-bottom-left-radius: 6px; display: block; margin: 0px auto; filter: blur(0px); transition: filter 0.4s, filter 0.4s; min-height: 1px; width: 320px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); font-size: 0px; padding-left: 0px !important;”><\/div>\n

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Is it still alive?   There is (was) a lonely apple tree standing between the <\/div>\n
farm house and the red barn.  I remember that farm auction as it it was yesterday<\/div>\n
even though it was some 40 or even 50 years ago.<\/div>\n

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The farm is located north of Grand Valley, right at the second bridge over the Grand River\u2026east side of <\/div>\n
the road.  It was a very tidy farm on auction day.   A small farm selling mostly obsolete farm<\/div>\n
equipment that reflected on time when most farms in Ontario were 100 acres in size.<\/div>\n
Farm sales always seem to have a tragic aspect\u2026a feeling that something will be gone and<\/div>\n
never seen again.<\/div>\n

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Farm auctions now, in the second decade of the 21st century are rare. So many were put <\/div>\n
up for sale between the years 1960 and 2000 that observers could not fail to notice<\/div>\n
a great change was happening to rural Ontario.   Surviing farms got larger and larger<\/div>\n
using machines that cost $200,000 upwards.   If the old barns were not pulled down then<\/div>\n
they slowly fell apart with their carcases dotting the landscape like a war zone. Now, in 2022<\/div>\n
even the carcasses are mostly gone.<\/div>\n

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So many lost farmsteads that most are lost in the confusion of my memory cells.<\/div>\n
But this one remains.   Why?  Because of one lone apple tree loaded with fruit<\/div>\n
ripe and ready for picking.   The owner was present as were his neighbours.<\/div>\n

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\"Maidencdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_360x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 360w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_540x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 540w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_720x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 720w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_900x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 900w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_1080x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 1080w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_1296x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 1296w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_1512x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 1512w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_1728x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 1728w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_2048x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 2048w” style=”box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; vertical-align: middle; position: relative; max-width: 320px; max-height: 100%; border-top-left-radius: 6px; border-top-right-radius: 6px; border-bottom-right-radius: 6px; border-bottom-left-radius: 6px; display: block; margin: 0px auto; filter: blur(0px); transition: filter 0.4s, filter 0.4s; min-height: 1px; width: 320px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); font-size: 0px; padding-left: 0px !important;”><\/div>\n

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\"Maidencdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_360x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 360w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_540x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 540w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_720x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 720w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_900x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 900w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_1080x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 1080w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_1296x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 1296w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_1512x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 1512w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_1728x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 1728w, cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0250\/1384\/6115\/products\/maiden-blush-apple-tree_2048x.jpg?v=1565657765<\/a> 2048w” style=”box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; vertical-align: middle; position: relative; max-width: 320px; max-height: 100%; border-top-left-radius: 6px; border-top-right-radius: 6px; border-bottom-right-radius: 6px; border-bottom-left-radius: 6px; display: block; margin: 0px auto; filter: blur(0px); transition: filter 0.4s, filter 0.4s; min-height: 1px; width: 320px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); font-size: 0px; padding-left: 0px !important;”><\/div>\n

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\u201cApple tree is loaded,\u201d  I said, testing to see if he was open to conversation. Many owners<\/div>\n
of auction farms are not.   I can tell by the fire pits in the field where all their family documents<\/div>\n
have been burned wiping out memories\u2026or trying to do so.<\/div>\n

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\u201cPick what you want, just going to waste.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cTaste nice\u2026sweet .\u201d  As I Remember the apples were green with a bit of yellow, small<\/div>\n
by super market standards\u2026some, however, the size of tennis balls.  And remarkable due<\/div>\n
to the absence of worm holes or apple scab.  This was one nice apple tree.  All with the<\/div>\n
distinctive red \u2018blush\u2019\u2026made the apple rather intimate.<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhat kind of apples?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201c Maidens Blush”<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat kind?\u201d  I asked again\u2026not sure of his response.<\/div>\n
\u201cMaidens Blush, old tree.\u201d<\/div>\n

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At that Grand Valle auction I bid and won a small box of copper stencils.  Never used.  Must have been a winter plan for<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
an orhard that never happened.  Gardeners and farmers do that kind of dreaming in February.  I bought some copper nails <\/div>\n
and mounted many of these stencils on an old baseboard as a gift for Marjorie.  Selfish kind of gift, I know that.<\/div>\n

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Most prominent on the board is the Maidens Blush apple variety which I believed was a lost kind of apple.  Here is the<\/div>\n
list from the stencil board;<\/div>\n

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Ontario<\/div>\n
Alexander <\/div>\n
G. Russet (golden?)<\/div>\n
Baldwin<\/div>\n
Maidens Blush (*several other names, same apple)<\/div>\n
Snow<\/div>\n
Wealthy<\/div>\n
R. Russet (red?)<\/div>\n
Duchess<\/div>\n
Belflower<\/div>\n
Str. Streaks<\/div>\n
Ribston<\/div>\n
B.Orange (b?)<\/div>\n
Wagener<\/div>\n
Spitz<\/div>\n
Mann<\/div>\n
King<\/div>\n
N.Spy (northern)<\/div>\n
Can.Red (canadian?}<\/div>\n
Culvert<\/div>\n
Greenings<\/div>\n
Talman Sweet<\/div>\n
Seek<\/div>\n

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APPLE VARIETIES BOGGLE THE MIND<\/div>\n

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IN 1905, American pomologist W.H.Ragan published a 400 page book<\/div>\n
titled \u2019Nomenclature of the Apple\u2019. a compendium of Known apple<\/div>\n
varieties between 1804 and 1904.  The list is enormous\u2026.17,000 apple<\/div>\n
varieties?  SEVENTEEN THOUSAND!  All with distinctive names.<\/div>\n
Later the list was pared down to 14,000 when the overlapping names<\/div>\n
were catalogued.  FOURTEEN THOUSAND !   <\/div>\n

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The 19th century was a period of \u2018unparalleled interest in apples.’<\/div>\n
What kind of apples?  Many were cider apples.  But lots were also<\/div>\n
eating apples\u2026and cooking apples.  Cooking apples \u2026 apple pie<\/div>\n
apples in other words.  What variety comes to mind immediately?<\/div>\n
The best cooking apple stencil is on my board\u2026NORTHERN SPY.  Discovered<\/div>\n
almost by accident and rejected initially because colour was not prominent.<\/div>\n
(see source Tom Hensley, June 2,2005)<\/div>\n

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MAIDENS BLUSH\u2026RECONSIDERED<\/div>\n

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My snap judgment that I had found a lost apple variety of apple on<\/div>\n
that single tree north of Grand Valley was dashed when I punched the<\/div>\n
name into my computer.  Turns out that Maidens Blush was (and remains)<\/div>\n
one of the top ancient apple varieties still grown by heritage apple tree planters.<\/div>\n

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A year or so later I found another Maiden\u2019s Blush tree on a doomed orchard<\/div>\n
near Ravenna, Ontario.  Once sold all the field apple trees were uprooted\u2026killed<\/div>\n
so diseases from an uncared for orchard would not contaminate other orchards.<\/div>\n
But the killers missed one tree that grew near the house\u2026a Maiden\u2019s Blush<\/div>\n
survivor I was told.  Truth?  I rely on the former owner for that.<\/div>\n

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Damned if there isn\u2019t even a winery in the Napa Valley of California that<\/div>\n
markets an apple wine under the name \u2018Maiden\u2019s Blush\u2019.  See Nashoba<\/div>\n
Valley Winery.   49% percent Maidens Blush., 49% pears, 2% elder berries.<\/div>\n
Wouldn\u2019t it be nice to buy a bottle\u2026cost about $20 Canadian.  Doubt <\/div>\n
carried in Canadian Liquor Stores.<\/div>\n

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It is even possible to buy a Maiden\u2019s Blush Cultivar for $44.90\u2026were <\/div>\n
they not sold out.  Sold out means apple fanciers are still planting Maiden Blush<\/div>\n
apple trees in 2022\u2026in the 21st century.<\/div>\n

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Maiden Blush Apple<\/h1>\n