Today in the orchard
Although I could spend a few life times growing, eating and studying the apples here on the farm, there are many others of note that aren’t that far away. So today Skylar and I visited a few old summer-ripening apple trees in the area. One is in north Palermo and might be an old cultivar called American Summer Pearmain. The second, which is near the center of town, we know to be Chenango Strawberry.
From a pomological perspective it was the perfect day to visit both trees, and none too soon. Nearly all the apples were on the ground. We collected enough decent specimens of the possible American Summer Pearmain to do a new phenotypic analysis. That tree was supposedly DNA profiled a few years ago. The results confirmed my phenotype. But a closer look at the results caused me to suspect that the specimens might have been mixed up. The leaves sent in might have been from the USDA accession of ASM instead. I’ll sort that out.
The second site featured a quintessential Chenango Strawberry, that conic, rosy-blushed and striped apple that is so distinctive it’s hard to mis-ID. However, there’s a second apple on half the tree. The DNA profile on that yellow, tart, summer apple came back as unknown. It occurred to me as we looked at the fruit today that it might be the rootstock of the Chenango. I’ll phenotype that one too in the next few days. The yard also had several younger trees including a Duchess and a Wolf River as well as an exceedingly old russet which should be DNA profiled and phenotyped. Don’t know how I’s missed that tree in past visits.
Both old farms have been purchased in recent years by young families, and I felt a bit like the Pied Piper as I checked out the trees. In each spot I was followed by a small entourage of curious kids who seem to hang on my every word. Spending time with them made me feel that—despite the endless challenges of the twenty-first century—the best of life will continue. They all seemed to understand the wonders of the outdoors, the universe and—most importantly—the apple trees.
