Today in the orchard
Mike, John and Jeff planting apple tree at the Blaine House, April 29, 2025
This was the warmest day so far in 2025. I took three apple trees to the Governor’s residence, the Blaine House, in Augusta and planted them in the small Maine apple orchard we’ve been creating over the past few years. The goal is to have 16 apple trees, one representing each county of the state. Today it was Lincoln, Penobscot and Somerset Counties. Thirteen down and three more counties to go. I was assisted by Jeff and Mike who work at the Blaine House for Governor Mills. The three of us planted Sasanoa (Lincoln County), Royal Sweet (Penobscot County) and Gray Pearmain (Somerset County). In the next year or two we’ll complete the collection. Having an orchard of Maine varieties in Augusta at the Governor’s house is just one more way that apples connect us around the state and around the world.
Gray Pearmain likely originated in Skowhegan. It is an excellent dessert (fresh eating) apple that actually tastes like a pear. It was introduced to me by Steve and Marilyn Meyerhans of The Apple Farm on the Skowhegan-Fairfield line. It was introduced to them by Royal Wentworth who owned the orchard before them. It has become a popular variety in a number of orchards and backyards around the state and beyond.
The Royal Sweet scionwood came from a spectacular, massive, old tree growing at Rollins Orchard in Garland. It is one of the largest apple trees in Maine. The Rollins specimen may be the original tree of the variety. The fruit itself is a true ‘sweet’ (low-acid) apple that ripens in late summer. It was introduced to me by Ernest Rollins. In October 1894 Royal Sweet apples were submitted to the USDA watercolor project by J.M. Stone of Garland. It is likely those apples came from this tree.
Sasanoa is from near “the Basin” in Phippsburg, south of Bath. DNA shows it matches the famous winter cooking variety, Rhode Island Greening, making it apparently a local coastal Maine sport (mutation) of the original ‘RIG’. Unlike RIG, the skin is electric green and russet. The same apple grows only a few miles away as the crow flies in Boothbay. The name was coined by Barry Rodrigue who found the ancient tree and introduced it to me.
