Leicestershire Heritage Apples lost & found

[Mell]

I though people might be interested in the work we do in the Leicestershire Heritage Apple Project & I rather hope any passing Leicestershire growers will be inspired to grow local trees !

The LHAP was initiated to find, propagate and promote Leicestershire apples, theseareapples that originated in Leicestershire as seedlings. We are lucky as a county to have many of these with a huge variety of uses, fruiting times and tastes.

Initial work concentrated on identifying Leicestershire cultivars, some were easy and still well known, like Annie Elizabeth. These were easy to find (although still raise some questions) . We the started looking in the older literature for other cultivars. Then started looking for the trees !

Three cultivars are particularly notable as re-found ones. Langton's Nonsuch or Hanbury, originated in South Leicestershire in the 18th C, and we could find no records of a tree in the UK, since the 1920s, however we found trees in Germany & it has now returned to England. Two otherlost cultivars were Leicestershire Sweetings, found on a farm and the Leicester Burton Pippin found on waste ground in Derby. Bothpropogated and doing well.

We are still looking for some cultivars, St Cecilia's (not the common one) is from the 1940s and started life at Mount St Bernards Abbey, we have been told the tree was grubbed out in 2005. Cross's Pippin from Hugglescote. Both have reasonable description and may be identified eventually. Harder are ones such as Nineteen ,19 apple whenit first fruited but no other detail as yet ! Foxton Pride/Delight or Favourite for which there are several claiments all very different ! Two that may have Leicestershire connections are Lady Leicester & Ashby Seedling, few details of these are known, so far.

LHAP also looks for new chance seedlings in the county that might be worth propogating on. Two of these are Shepherds delight a beautiful red & yellow stripped apple whose flesh is streaked red where the red stripes are and Calla Colossus a huge dessert apple that fills your hand !

We hope to increase the number of Leicestershire cultivars in local community orchard, with farmers for local produce and individuald over the next few years.

Members of the project also have interests in own root trees, Very early apples and very late apples, good keepers, freench cider apples, red fleshed apples and many other offshoots !.

If you are intested to read more & see some pictures our web site is Leicestershire Heritage Apple Project, English apples, redfleshed, late,DIVERSITY website

Hopefully this will reach people interested in Leicestershire Apples or indeed those who might like to start a similar project for their own county.

[FB.]

I think that many people are deterred from growing apples for several reasons:

They buy shop-bought apples that are a poor example of what what apples should really be like (shop-bought are puffed up with water - they're sold by weight! and shop-bought are sharp and flavourless - they're picked before they're ripe!).

People imagine big trees that require ladders.

They imagine the need for full spray routines.

They are put off by having seen their friends scabby maggoty tree (inevitably their friend bought a popular variety "because that's what they buy from the shops" that was prone to disease).

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I think that people badly need more information on apple varieties to help them make some more informed decisions: they will take up the hobby if only they can grow manageable trees that don't suffer too much from disease and which produce a reasonable crop of clean and healthy fruit.
In my early days, I could easily have fallen into the trap of growing Cox's, noly to be put off by its problems.

For a few years, I have been looking for a sensibly-priced, manageable plot of land in my area, on which to start growing the kind of apple trees that organic/spray-free gardeners need, and start up my own breeding programme try to develop varieties and rootstocks that aren't exclusively geared towards commercial orchard techniques.

As a scientist without the commercial pressure (unlike modern plant breeders), I think that I'd have a fair chance of getting some good results.
Profit? Who cares about profit when it's a hobby.

[Mell]

I think that many people are deterred from growing apples for several reasons:

<snip>

For a few years, I have been looking for a sensibly-priced, manageable plot of land in my area, on which to start growing the kind of apple trees that organic/spray-free gardeners need, and start up my own breeding programme try to develop varieties and rootstocks that aren't exclusively geared towards commercial orchard techniques.

As a scientist without the commercial pressure (unlike modern plant breeders), I think that I'd have a fair chance of getting some good results.
Profit? Who cares about profit when it's a hobby.

I think you are right, people are put off, more than anything by the size they percieve an apple tree will reach (at least that is what most people tell me) Also the amount of apples they simply can't eat. Hence why I like family trees I also tell people about pot grown trees, the dwarfing types or even MM106 will happily fruit in a pot.

Re land have you looked at landshare ? Sensibily priced land tends to be hard to find these day.

To be honest I'm not sure new cultivars are needed, many heritage cultivars survived for years without modern sprays and I'd be inclined to look to them. But I do think the perfect food conception needs changing as well. Kids need to learn where food come from & what nature is ! IMHO

[FB.]

Kids need to learn where food come from & what nature is ! IMHO

A lot of people can't bear to think about the way that food arrives on their table. It's a good job that some people still know how to grow and prepare food!
I control vermin for some farmers and smallholders (some of which ends up on the dinner table), so I am acutely aware of how the *real world* works.

[FB.]

To be honest I'm not sure new cultivars are needed, many heritage cultivars survived for years without modern sprays and I'd be inclined to look to them.

You may be right about not needing new cultivars.
However, I'd really like to see long-keeping (natural storage), disease-resistant apples pushed to the limits.

I have a number of "heritage" varieties that I plan to use for breeding stock.
My main interest would be in hardy and disease-resistant rootstocks. Most of the modern offerings are far too prone to disease or temperamental - as I have found to my cost.
I hope to find two parents that can be crossed to consistently give hardy, disease resistant seedlings of good but not huge vigour. I do feel that a lot of the modern "cloned" rootstocks suffer as a result of not having that big seedling taproot that the old trees used to have. On my seedlings, I actually refer to the taproot as an "apple parsnip" (it looks like a parsnip!) because it's such a huge food reserve on such tiny seedlings. I think that tap root and natural vigour really helps them survive the worst that nature throws at them.
With the "cloned" M or MM rootstocks, I suspect that they're so sickly nowadays because diseases adapt to attack them, as happened with the once-scab-resistant "Bramley" or "Conference" and many other apple or pear varieties. Seedlings have that genetic variability that helps keep diseases on their toes and unable to adapt fully to attack any given tree.

Given time, I hope also to produce "own root" trees.

[Mell]

A lot of people can't bear to think about the way that food arrives on their table. It's a good job that some people still know how to grow and prepare food!
I control vermin for some farmers and smallholders (some of which ends up on the dinner table), so I am acutely aware of how the *real world* works.

Rat stew yum

We raise most of our own, poultry etc are home killed

I insist my kids respect that meat means taking a life & respect for that life is important

[Mell]

You may be right about not needing new cultivars.
However, I'd really like to see long-keeping (natural storage), disease-resistant apples pushed to the limits.

<snip> resistant "Bramley" or "Conference" and many other apple or pear varieties. Seedlings have that genetic variability that helps keep diseases on their toes and unable to adapt fully to attack any given tree.

Given time, I hope also to produce "own root" trees.

We share many similar aims. We keep looking for early & late apples for a long season and long storage keepers too, I've yet to get a root cellar though. Did I mention the tree that still had apples on in March (maybe later I didn't go back) You are right about seedlings & the diversity they give it is vital to keep that going. We spend too much time also looking for unusual seedling, great fun, shame there arn't many in your area