Today in the orchard
Today I attended the annual seedling exhibition in Williamsburg, MA. It’s a day-long event held in one big room in a beautiful, old Grange Hall with high ceilings, squeaky wooden floors and a stage that should be used for singing apple songs. Spread out across the entire room are long tables covered with paper plates of seedling apples submitted from all across the country. Each submission has a name tag with the apple’s name (some are hilarious) and where it came from. The person who submitted the apple is not listed. (To protect the guilty?) Some of the names are familiar because they’ve been shown other years, but none of them are apples you’d find in nursery catalogs or U-pick orchards or grocery stores. These are wild apples found growing by the side of the road or along a hedge-row or out in an abandoned field. Think Thoreau. They come in every size, shape, color and—most of all—taste. Each plate has 3 or 4 apples on it and at least one is sliced up to taste. (Toothpicks are provided.) There is room on the ID sheets for taste comments.
When I arrived, the room was packed with apple enthusiasts tasting, chatting, writing, taking photos and voting for their favorites in several categories: best quality eating, best quality cider, best crabapple, best in show. These newly discovered fruits are the apples of the future. Yes, some will fade into oblivion ,but others may even become household names, like “Lil’ Limey,” “Jarman’s Held Leaf,” “Thankful Sage,” “My Heart,” and “Guatay Pippin.” I may even graft some of them into Finley Lane. It was a great way to celebrate Halloween.