09/30/2026
Old-fashioned apples are so good! Come pick your own Cortlands and Firesides this weekend noon to 4! The Greenings need a couple weeks yet but they are one of our absolute favorite old apples. They store for ages and are a very aromatic apple, it smells like we have pineapples in storage!
Did you know that beyond our heirloom seed collection of over 20,000 varieties, we steward a diverse living collection of apples?
Unlike most seeds, there is a high degree of chance with apple seeds. How high? A one in 80,000 chance the seed you plant will bear a fresh-eating sweet apple. In order to preserve a variety, apples need clonal propagation or grafting (the joining of apple rootstock with scionwood, the genetic source of a variety) in order to produce true-to-type fruit.
As hybrid apple varieties began to take over grocery stores, thousands of varieties across the United States were extinguished. In the late 1980s, Seed Savers Exchange created the Historic Orchard in order to preserve historically significant varieties and safeguard the ability to distribute them across the country via scionwood. The work has continued since then, expanding into our second Goldman Orchard.
Both orchards are open to the public and visitors are encouraged to try the hundreds of different varieties. Join us for a tour and apple-tasting in the Historic Orchard this coming Saturday, October 3 from 12pm - 3pm!
Want more information? Here’s a great article about the rare apples here at Seed Savers Exchange:
https://seedsavers.org/rare-apples-at-sse/
