{"id":25740,"date":"2023-11-08T19:32:57","date_gmt":"2023-11-09T00:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=25740"},"modified":"2023-11-08T19:36:41","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T00:36:41","slug":"episode-908-discovery-of-a-feral-apple-tree-apples-the-size-of-grapefruit-bushels-of-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=25740","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 908 DISCOVERY OF A FERAL APPLE TREE \u2014 APPLES THE SIZE OF GRAPEFRUIT\u2014 BUSHELS OF THEM"},"content":{"rendered":"
EPISODE 908    DISCOVERY OF A FERAL APPLE TREE  \u2014 APPLES THE SIZE OF GRAPEFRUIT\u2014 BUSHELS OF THEM<\/p>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Nov. 8, 2023<\/div>\n

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FERAL APPLE TREE BONANZA<\/div>\n

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It is a wretched looking tree.  branches twisted and contorted as if being punished.  It grows in the roadside ditch between <\/div>\n
the two Skeoch farms on the Fifth Line of Erin Township.   In short the tree would never win a beauty contest.   But it<\/div>\n
could  become famous for its fruit.   Bushels and bushels of apples some of which are as big as grapefruit..  <\/div>\n

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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<\/div>\n
In all that time I never noticed this tree until this cold November day as I Was driving from one farm to the other.<\/div>\n

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\u201cHoly Samoley, that tree is loaded..big apples.  No! big is a poor term.  Huge apples.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHow many?\u201d quizzed Marjorie<\/div>\n
\u201cEnough for you to make apple pies all winter.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cLike spy apples?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAlmost identical but they taste better.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMany on the tree?  Are you exaggerating?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHere are four pails of the apples \u2026all picked in 15 minutes \u2026 I can stand on<\/div>\n
the gravel road and pick them with ease.\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cIn my 85 years I  never noticed this tree.  I am older than the tree . Eric and I played<\/div>\n
hide and seek among the huge boulders that the McLeans dumped along the fencerow in<\/div>\n
years past.  Jack in the pulpits attracted our attention but we never noticed this<\/div>\n
apple tree growing \u2026.never noticed apples until this year.  And the biggest apples are <\/div>\n
at the top \u2026all I need is a ladder courage to get them meanwhile you can peel a bunch<\/div>\n
and make an apple pie.\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cWill they keep?  So many apples turn to mush when they touch each other..\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThese apples grow in clusters\u2026.five,six, seven apples in a clump. \u201c<\/div>\n
\u201cMost Wild apples are small\u2026these are huge.  Are you kidding me?<\/div>\n
Did you buy these apples?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cCome along\u2026you can boost me.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cIt wil take too long.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cIf we walk slowly it will take five minutes\u2026ir we run two minutes.  I tell you<\/div>\n
without word of a lie you are about to make a discovery that you will never forget.\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cI bet that guy Husband from the University of Guelph would like to take a cutting from \u2018our <\/div>\n
feral apple tree.\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhat do you mean by the term \u2018our\u2019\u2026..this tree grows in the roadside ditch\u2026public\u2026owned by the township.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYou just explained why I never noticed this tree before now.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cRemember the big storm last spring?<\/div>\n
Devastated the trees\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cThink this feral apple tree has been hiding behind other trees\u2026.the storm ripped out  the cover and<\/div>\n
the township forestry people cleaned up\u2026.cut all the crap around the feral tree\u2026.gave<\/div>\n
it the breathing space it was waiting a lifetime to have happen.  That\u2019s just a guess.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhy did they not cut up the feral tree?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cCome along\u2026you will see why.  The tree is protected by a jungle of twigs and branches\u2026hard to <\/div>\n
penetrate with a chain saw.  Why bother”<\/div>\n
\u201cWhy not call Brian Husband\u2026.the professor\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHe might not give a damn.  No-one cares.”<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan<\/div>\n

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Postscript:  Wonder of wonders\u2026Brian Husband is alive and well and interested<\/div>\n

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NOTE FROM BRIAN HUSBAND  (NOV. 8, 2023<\/div>\n

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\n
Hello Alan,<\/o:p><\/div>\n
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.<\/o:p><\/div>\n
 <\/o:p><\/div>\n
Thanks for your observations and thoughts.<\/o:p><\/div>\n
 <\/o:p><\/div>\n
Best,<\/o:p><\/div>\n
 <\/o:p><\/div>\n
Brian<\/o:p><\/div>\n
 <\/o:p><\/div>\n
\n
Dr. Brian C Husband <\/span><\/b>(he\/him)<\/span> |<\/span>Professor of Integrative Biology <\/span>| <\/span>University of Guelph, Summerlee Science Complex Rm 1477 <\/span>|<\/span> 50 Stone Rd E <\/span>|<\/span> Guelph, ON | N1G 2W1<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
519-824-4120 Ext. 54790 <\/span>|<\/span>  bhusband@uoguelph.ca<\/a><\/a> | www.uoguelph.ca\/ib\/<\/a>
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\n

“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 \u2014 all varieties grown before 1900 \u2014 that accounted for 72 per cent of the identified parental lineages in the analysis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe origin of feral trees wasn\u2019t so much the commercial apples fertilizing native crabapple, but rather these escaped apples that were now out there and growing wild,\u201d said Husband. \u201cThe legacy of these old cultivars, some of which are no longer in production, reside in the mixed genomes of these wild apples.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cMarjorie, I took two of these apples to our high school reunion today\u2026seven old timers from Humberside C.I.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cwere the excited?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNot much\u2026only Zig Novak who said \u201cthis looks like a Northern Spy Apple\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cCynical?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNo, I think he was perceptive\u2026asked him to take a bite as I did.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHis comment?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAlan, I am taking this apple for my wife to taste.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cSeemed to support your great discovery  How did the others feel?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cI think  some of them  thought I was a bit wacky.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cTrue.”<\/div>\n

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EPISODE 908    DISCOVERY OF A FERAL APPLE TREE  \u2014 APPLES THE SIZE OF GRAPEFRUIT\u2014 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25740\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}