Today in the orchard
Today I visited the apple tree in Belfast that might be a second Drap d’or de Bretagne in Maine. This is the apple that was brought to the Hayloft tent just before the end of the Fair this past Sunday. Although the tree is only a couple hundred feet from Rte 1 and I’ve probably driven by it five hundred times, I’d never seen the fruit. The tree is exceedingly old, and the fruit phenotypically resembles the Drap d’or de Bretagne we found on Verona Island only fifteen miles from Belfast up the coast and over the water. I took leaves to DNA profile and will phenotype the fruit, comparing it to the Verona Island discovery.
PS: For all you jazz fans, today is the 99th birthday of John Coltrane. A year from now we'll have a big celebration of jazz and apples and cider. What a "combo!"