Heirloom Apple Varieties

Lady

(Also known as: Pome d' Api, Christmas Apple)
Origin: France, 1628. Traditionally this apple was used in Christmas decorations and stockings, hence the name Christmas Apple.

Arkansas Black

Origin: Probably a seedling of Winesap.; Benton County, Arkansas around 1870. Strikingly beautiful, dark purplish-red fruits turn nearly black at maturity.

Winesap

Origin: US, 1817. Gets its name from its spicy, wine-like flavor and aroma. Top quality, multi-purpose apple. Deep red fruit of medium size, noted for the crisp, very juicy yellow flesh and its blend of sugar with high tartness.

Newtown Pippin

Origin: Newtown, Long Island, 1759 Favorite apple of George Washington. Not good-looking fruit, bright green fruit with trace of brownish-purple flush and white dots. sprightly aromatic flavor with refreshing piney tartness.

Spitzenburg

(Also known as: Esopus Spitzenburg) Origin: Esopsus, N.Y. around 1790. Thomas Jefferson's favorite apple; unexcelled in flavor or quality. Good off the tree, but flavor radically improves in storage. Dessert apple for connoisseurs.

York

(York Imperial) Origin: 1830, York County Pennsylvania. Apple fans know and love York for its intense tart/sweet flavor, firm flesh and distinctive shape. York apples sell well during prime apple months-mid-October through February. A lopsided apple, Andrew Jackson Downing called it, "the Imperial of Keepers". Mother Nature created this marvel all on her own: an apple that holds its crisp texture over time, while becoming mellower and sweeter tasting.

Wickson Crab

Origin: Newtown Pippin x Spitzenburg; USA, 1944. variety named after E.J. Wickson, a distinguished California pomologist. Excellent cider apple, spicy, with lots of sugar and a pronounced acid tang. Size is that of a large crab apple. Reputed to make wonderful champagne cider. Delicious for eating fresh a popular crab apple for hard cider.