This article explores the origin of modern apples, info on why preserving the original wild apple genetics is important and some updates on our efforts to do so in our forest garden.
Off on a tangent, somewhat... I've been reading a lot recently about the strong possibility that there existed a civilisation, or even several, many thousands of years ago which may well have been destroyed by either a comet, or their own machinations, there are several 'theories' out there.
That there was a flood which affected a good part of our planet goes without saying; there is ample evidence in tribal, biblical and other stories from ancient times coming from all over the world which speak of such an event. Whatever the disaster was, that a much older civilisation, with some pretty brilliant talents did exist some time in the past, is incontrovertible when one examines various artiacts which could only have been produced with more than just simple stone or bronze aged tools and yet these are found buried in the same deposits as stone aged and bronze aged artifacts. This, combined with your tale of wild apples and their variety of different flavours, colours and sizes, made me wonder if these trees might be left overs from cultures that practiced either genetic engineering or very sophisticated hybridizing techniques? It is the variety of size, taste and colour in those wild apples which prompted this though after recently reading of visual evidence of very evolved stone shaping techniques, found together with stone age tools that couldn't possibly have been used to make these items. When one tastes, for example wild blackberries that grow all over the UK, yes, there is difference in size and sweetness from one year to the next, but no great variation in flavour, no matter where in the country one finds them. The same can be said of the wild cherry trees that grow all over the south of England, sweeter or less so, very slight differences in size, but much the same taste no matter the tree. All of this plus probable ancient civilisations prompted my thought. I wonder?
I really appreciate the in depth comment and will contemplate and respond when I have more time.
I saw your email but i`m swamped with work (physical and book publishing related) so i`ll respond here for now till I can respond in full later. This season we had a catastrophic wind storm (tornado warning and likely a manmade weather event courtesy of the Geoengineering operations) which decimated our apples before they could ripen. I will keep you on the list for seeds for next year. I can also try sending you some Pawpaw seeds your way if you like as those fruit were more resilient than the apples in the face of the crazy weaponized weather.
Oh Gavin, I’m so sorry about your weather! Here (UK) we’ve also had skies criss-crossed with those trails and endless clouds totally unlike normal clouds??? Yup! Engineering!
Mould, not tornados (so far) is what we’ve had from all the wet, potato blight too.
Take you time. Nice to hear from you. Stay strong.
Thank you for a very thorough and interesting article!
I am interested in expanding my orchard to include several Malus sieversii based on your introduction.
Can these trees be pruned to stay relatively small (say, less than 12 feet tall)? I am thinking about ease of harvest.
Do the trees need to be thinned after setting fruit? If the trees aren't thinned, will that risk limbs breaking or affect the size of the fruits at harvest?
Although the trees grow in all kinds of circumstances in the wild, in a home orchard setting, what spacing would you recommend?
And finally, what would you guess a Malus sieversii would yield, on average, compared to a similar sized domesticated apple?
Wow, how fantastic! My great grandfather was a master beekeeper with 750 bee hives. We still enjoy his old apple orchard with very old trees still gifting us with delicious apples without ever using any chemicals. As they are pretty old and will eventually perish, this made me think I should definitely learn how to preserve and propagate these fantastic old apple varieties. Maybe adding some Malus Sieversii in between too. I hope the world will gradually start appreciating the heirloom varieties for all their splendor!
That is amazing, I hope to expand my understanding and experience with apiology in future years. So much potential for forging symbiotic relationships when working with winged beings that forage on nectar and pollen.
I am so glad you have access to your great grandfather's orchard, it sounds lovely.
Yes taking cuttings from varieties in that orchard you want to continue to enjoy would be a great idea. Also growing some trees from seed for replacing would be great.
If you would like to try some Malus Sieversii seeds for next year and you cover the shipping costs I can try sending you some seeds form our harvest this fall if you remind me.
Great question! I know several people over in Europe that are interested in finding some seeds. It is increasingly difficult due to development decreasing the size of the wild apple forests and geopolitical instability in their native range at times.
I got some seeds from an acquaintance in Almaty (kazakhstan) 6 years ago myself (they had to be shipped stealthily to avoid the tariffs and fines of various involuntary governance structures that attempt to impede seed sharing between human beings living on different sides of invisible lines drawn in the sand by oligarchs) and then I also found a nursery here in Canada selling bare root seedlings a few years ago to add to our garden.
All the seeds I had from 2023 harvest have sprouted now and so they are not shippable but I can put you on the list for seeds from my 2024 harvest if you like?
I am current asking anyone interested in seeds from the 2024 harvest to remind me around September (as I have a lot of plates spinning) and to cover the shipping costs via either purchasing a copy of my ebook or becoming a paid subscriber on substack.
Hope this helps and please let me know if you find a trust worthy source of malus sieversii seeds on your end that I can recommend to others.
Thank you for your kind offer. Yes please put me on the list for seeds. I grow and give away trees (as well as heritage veg and British native flora) though I'd probably grow on any seeds from you and give away my own apples. Wonderful thanks again
I really like your comment, it comes from the heart and it speaks to a perspective I live and breath.
Now a days, I brew mead, cider and wine as a way to preserve seasonal abundances and share fun bubble beverages with friends and loved ones, but years ago I worked in the viticulture industry. I built vineyards (hammering those big wooden posts into boulder filled desert soil by hand and having them explode sometimes from the impact pressure), I planted seedlings, I tended them until they were producing vines, I harvested them, pressed the grapes and then worked as a 'cellar rat' seeing the fermentation process through to the finished bottle of aged fermented grape juice. It was very educational and enriching but I do not miss the snobbery of that industry.
Dogwood wine, now that is an interesting proposition.
If you wanna try growing out some Malus sieversii I am willing to send you seeds.
Hi! Loved reading this article as I have been living in Kazakhstan for almost ten years now and am familiar with some
of these apples, and have eaten quite a few. Every spring one of my favourite things is to walk into the apple groves when the trees are in blossom. As we have a property in Naramata, BC and would like to plant some Alma-Ata apples, this was an excellent connection for us. If you want to contact me, send an email to: DMMaisonneuve@gmail.com
I can tell you how much I love this. We have started growing apples too on my local community farm where I volunteer and get my veg! http://suttoncommunityfarm.org.uk
Beautiful and informative! I found you through Caitlin's Substack. I harvested six bags and two bins of my Mutsu yesterday, feeling like a squirrel hiding nuts as I put most into deep storage in my fridge for the winter. As my friend said, some were as big as a newborn's head! This year my daughter's fiance got the coddling moth trap up in time and I've lost almost none, but I gave him two bags with slight blemishes for his passion, which is cider. Thanks for giving me so much background!
Thanks for reading my article and for the thoughtful comment. Wow that sounds like a great harvest! I have actually never tried a Mutsu Apple before. What do they taste like?
My parents grew Fuji, Jonagold, Spartan, Braeburn, Gala and Sunrise apples on their orchard when I was young. Some of their Jonagold were massive, you had to be really hungry to finish one in a single sitting :) When we had an overflow of apples that we were not able to sell at farmer's markets or to grocery stores we would juice them and make hard cider. I remember my parents adding about 1/10 crabapples to the cider to give it a nice dry finish (the tannins and acids in the crabapples allow for longer aging and a nice finish of the end product). Do you know if your daughter's fiancé has ever tried adding crabapples to his cider apple mix?
What a fascinating synchronicity that you would find your way here through my comment on Caitlin's page and mention storing food away for the winter like a squirrel. I was just writing about that the other day in the context of "seeing through nature's eyes". It was a couple days before I read Caitlin's powerful poem, I was admiring the asters, golden rod and first leaves starting to change color here in Southern Ontario (marking the beginning of autumn) and contemplating what wisdom Mother Earth was offering me as she transitions into her autumn attire. You (and Caitlin) have inspired me to make that the focus of my next blog post :)
Here is a some of what I have so far: ...In the fall we are also offered wisdom by our winged and four legged elder species (such as the woodpeckers and the squirrels) which fastidiously and diligently collect seasonal abundances of food and store them for the winter (so they do not find themselves in a tough spot facing a food shortage when their usual sources of food are not available). This wisdom is always helpful to apply in our annual rhythms but I sense that it is especially imperative in our present situation.
You are most welcome! Thanks again for reading my suuuper long article and for the inspiration for my next post :)
The Mutsu is, imho, the best eating apple in the world ;-) I had a Grow Food Party Crew here a decade ago who cleared out some angel trumpets. To fill the space, one of the organizers gave me his first graft on the ubiquitous semi-dwarf stock. I'd tried a Mutsu before and requested it. They're green at peak crispness and have the sweetness of a Fuji. My tree is laden with well over 100 every year, right after the Ghost apples run out. I eat one every morning with crunchy almond alchemy (coconut oil and vanilla) and they last me until strawberry season. The hip gay grannies across the street cook the not-ready-for-primetime ones with cinnamon and nuts, and say they're excellent that way too.
I'd read that Johnny Appleseed only planted crabapples for cider! I've had James' with pear and with pomegranate, they're really excellent. The wedding will have a kegerator and he's giving bottles as take-home gifts. He's dedicated!
I like that :) sampling the unique terroir of each apple, cool idea.
I enjoy harvesting apples like Fuji after a light frost from orchards here (I ask the owners if they are done picking for the season and they usually say go for it!) as it improves the flavor through concentrating the natural sugars.
Off on a tangent, somewhat... I've been reading a lot recently about the strong possibility that there existed a civilisation, or even several, many thousands of years ago which may well have been destroyed by either a comet, or their own machinations, there are several 'theories' out there.
That there was a flood which affected a good part of our planet goes without saying; there is ample evidence in tribal, biblical and other stories from ancient times coming from all over the world which speak of such an event. Whatever the disaster was, that a much older civilisation, with some pretty brilliant talents did exist some time in the past, is incontrovertible when one examines various artiacts which could only have been produced with more than just simple stone or bronze aged tools and yet these are found buried in the same deposits as stone aged and bronze aged artifacts. This, combined with your tale of wild apples and their variety of different flavours, colours and sizes, made me wonder if these trees might be left overs from cultures that practiced either genetic engineering or very sophisticated hybridizing techniques? It is the variety of size, taste and colour in those wild apples which prompted this though after recently reading of visual evidence of very evolved stone shaping techniques, found together with stone age tools that couldn't possibly have been used to make these items. When one tastes, for example wild blackberries that grow all over the UK, yes, there is difference in size and sweetness from one year to the next, but no great variation in flavour, no matter where in the country one finds them. The same can be said of the wild cherry trees that grow all over the south of England, sweeter or less so, very slight differences in size, but much the same taste no matter the tree. All of this plus probable ancient civilisations prompted my thought. I wonder?
I really appreciate the in depth comment and will contemplate and respond when I have more time.
I saw your email but i`m swamped with work (physical and book publishing related) so i`ll respond here for now till I can respond in full later. This season we had a catastrophic wind storm (tornado warning and likely a manmade weather event courtesy of the Geoengineering operations) which decimated our apples before they could ripen. I will keep you on the list for seeds for next year. I can also try sending you some Pawpaw seeds your way if you like as those fruit were more resilient than the apples in the face of the crazy weaponized weather.
Oh Gavin, I’m so sorry about your weather! Here (UK) we’ve also had skies criss-crossed with those trails and endless clouds totally unlike normal clouds??? Yup! Engineering!
Mould, not tornados (so far) is what we’ve had from all the wet, potato blight too.
Take you time. Nice to hear from you. Stay strong.
Thank you for a very thorough and interesting article!
I am interested in expanding my orchard to include several Malus sieversii based on your introduction.
Can these trees be pruned to stay relatively small (say, less than 12 feet tall)? I am thinking about ease of harvest.
Do the trees need to be thinned after setting fruit? If the trees aren't thinned, will that risk limbs breaking or affect the size of the fruits at harvest?
Although the trees grow in all kinds of circumstances in the wild, in a home orchard setting, what spacing would you recommend?
And finally, what would you guess a Malus sieversii would yield, on average, compared to a similar sized domesticated apple?
Wow, how fantastic! My great grandfather was a master beekeeper with 750 bee hives. We still enjoy his old apple orchard with very old trees still gifting us with delicious apples without ever using any chemicals. As they are pretty old and will eventually perish, this made me think I should definitely learn how to preserve and propagate these fantastic old apple varieties. Maybe adding some Malus Sieversii in between too. I hope the world will gradually start appreciating the heirloom varieties for all their splendor!
That is amazing, I hope to expand my understanding and experience with apiology in future years. So much potential for forging symbiotic relationships when working with winged beings that forage on nectar and pollen.
I am so glad you have access to your great grandfather's orchard, it sounds lovely.
Yes taking cuttings from varieties in that orchard you want to continue to enjoy would be a great idea. Also growing some trees from seed for replacing would be great.
If you would like to try some Malus Sieversii seeds for next year and you cover the shipping costs I can try sending you some seeds form our harvest this fall if you remind me.
Thanks for the comment.
Fantastic, I will be in touch!
Wonderful , thank you so much for this inspirational and informative post. How would I obtain seeds here in the UK?
I am glad you appreciated the content.
Great question! I know several people over in Europe that are interested in finding some seeds. It is increasingly difficult due to development decreasing the size of the wild apple forests and geopolitical instability in their native range at times.
I got some seeds from an acquaintance in Almaty (kazakhstan) 6 years ago myself (they had to be shipped stealthily to avoid the tariffs and fines of various involuntary governance structures that attempt to impede seed sharing between human beings living on different sides of invisible lines drawn in the sand by oligarchs) and then I also found a nursery here in Canada selling bare root seedlings a few years ago to add to our garden.
All the seeds I had from 2023 harvest have sprouted now and so they are not shippable but I can put you on the list for seeds from my 2024 harvest if you like?
I am current asking anyone interested in seeds from the 2024 harvest to remind me around September (as I have a lot of plates spinning) and to cover the shipping costs via either purchasing a copy of my ebook or becoming a paid subscriber on substack.
Hope this helps and please let me know if you find a trust worthy source of malus sieversii seeds on your end that I can recommend to others.
Thank you for your kind offer. Yes please put me on the list for seeds. I grow and give away trees (as well as heritage veg and British native flora) though I'd probably grow on any seeds from you and give away my own apples. Wonderful thanks again
Jules Newman
Gavin
I cannot convey how much this article means to me.
I am a brewer here in Portland OR and it is the apples
which called me back, called me into a world I understood,
only accessible under a tree collecting fruit.
Bless you. Today, it was a plum harvest that will go into
my wine, both the apples and plums have had a decent year here.
Dogwood fruits also a good year, both the sour kind and
the more custard like variety.
Greetings Jacquelyn,
I really like your comment, it comes from the heart and it speaks to a perspective I live and breath.
Now a days, I brew mead, cider and wine as a way to preserve seasonal abundances and share fun bubble beverages with friends and loved ones, but years ago I worked in the viticulture industry. I built vineyards (hammering those big wooden posts into boulder filled desert soil by hand and having them explode sometimes from the impact pressure), I planted seedlings, I tended them until they were producing vines, I harvested them, pressed the grapes and then worked as a 'cellar rat' seeing the fermentation process through to the finished bottle of aged fermented grape juice. It was very educational and enriching but I do not miss the snobbery of that industry.
Dogwood wine, now that is an interesting proposition.
If you wanna try growing out some Malus sieversii I am willing to send you seeds.
Hi! Loved reading this article as I have been living in Kazakhstan for almost ten years now and am familiar with some
of these apples, and have eaten quite a few. Every spring one of my favourite things is to walk into the apple groves when the trees are in blossom. As we have a property in Naramata, BC and would like to plant some Alma-Ata apples, this was an excellent connection for us. If you want to contact me, send an email to: DMMaisonneuve@gmail.com
Hi Dolores! :)
I am so glad you enjoyed the article. Wow that is very interesting, you are the first Canadian I have communicated with that lives in Kazakhstan.
What a blessing that you can explore the wild apple groves to appreciate their blossoms and diverse fruit.
I grew up in BC (Whistler when I was young and later the South Okanagan when my parents bought a farm/orchard there).
Yes I would like to communicate with you about the wild apples further, I will email you shortly.
Thanks for the comment :)
I can tell you how much I love this. We have started growing apples too on my local community farm where I volunteer and get my veg! http://suttoncommunityfarm.org.uk
x
Beautiful and informative! I found you through Caitlin's Substack. I harvested six bags and two bins of my Mutsu yesterday, feeling like a squirrel hiding nuts as I put most into deep storage in my fridge for the winter. As my friend said, some were as big as a newborn's head! This year my daughter's fiance got the coddling moth trap up in time and I've lost almost none, but I gave him two bags with slight blemishes for his passion, which is cider. Thanks for giving me so much background!
Hi Tereza
Thanks for reading my article and for the thoughtful comment. Wow that sounds like a great harvest! I have actually never tried a Mutsu Apple before. What do they taste like?
My parents grew Fuji, Jonagold, Spartan, Braeburn, Gala and Sunrise apples on their orchard when I was young. Some of their Jonagold were massive, you had to be really hungry to finish one in a single sitting :) When we had an overflow of apples that we were not able to sell at farmer's markets or to grocery stores we would juice them and make hard cider. I remember my parents adding about 1/10 crabapples to the cider to give it a nice dry finish (the tannins and acids in the crabapples allow for longer aging and a nice finish of the end product). Do you know if your daughter's fiancé has ever tried adding crabapples to his cider apple mix?
What a fascinating synchronicity that you would find your way here through my comment on Caitlin's page and mention storing food away for the winter like a squirrel. I was just writing about that the other day in the context of "seeing through nature's eyes". It was a couple days before I read Caitlin's powerful poem, I was admiring the asters, golden rod and first leaves starting to change color here in Southern Ontario (marking the beginning of autumn) and contemplating what wisdom Mother Earth was offering me as she transitions into her autumn attire. You (and Caitlin) have inspired me to make that the focus of my next blog post :)
Here is a some of what I have so far: ...In the fall we are also offered wisdom by our winged and four legged elder species (such as the woodpeckers and the squirrels) which fastidiously and diligently collect seasonal abundances of food and store them for the winter (so they do not find themselves in a tough spot facing a food shortage when their usual sources of food are not available). This wisdom is always helpful to apply in our annual rhythms but I sense that it is especially imperative in our present situation.
You are most welcome! Thanks again for reading my suuuper long article and for the inspiration for my next post :)
The Mutsu is, imho, the best eating apple in the world ;-) I had a Grow Food Party Crew here a decade ago who cleared out some angel trumpets. To fill the space, one of the organizers gave me his first graft on the ubiquitous semi-dwarf stock. I'd tried a Mutsu before and requested it. They're green at peak crispness and have the sweetness of a Fuji. My tree is laden with well over 100 every year, right after the Ghost apples run out. I eat one every morning with crunchy almond alchemy (coconut oil and vanilla) and they last me until strawberry season. The hip gay grannies across the street cook the not-ready-for-primetime ones with cinnamon and nuts, and say they're excellent that way too.
I'd read that Johnny Appleseed only planted crabapples for cider! I've had James' with pear and with pomegranate, they're really excellent. The wedding will have a kegerator and he's giving bottles as take-home gifts. He's dedicated!
What a beautiful beginning to your next post! I will subscribe post-haste! I was sending my daughters, two of whom are Libras, their horoscope from Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology, which has a similar message. Check it out: https://newsletter.freewillastrology.com/p/loving-another-person-is-hard-work.
I like that :) sampling the unique terroir of each apple, cool idea.
I enjoy harvesting apples like Fuji after a light frost from orchards here (I ask the owners if they are done picking for the season and they usually say go for it!) as it improves the flavor through concentrating the natural sugars.
Thanks for the comment :)