Itzstedter Apfel, Kandil Sinap, and Bloody Ploughman. Cinnamon Spice, Holstein, and King Solomon. Ok – what do all of these names have in common? Other than appearing in this blog post, what these names have in common is they are all apple varieties, and they are some of the 141 new varieties added to our orchard this year.

Names are always so intriguing. Some other varieties we’ve planted this year have yummy-sounding names such as Nutmeg, Early Strawberry, and Red Butterscotch. We can imagine perhaps, what may be in store when we bite into them. But Husk Spice? What flavor might that be?

Some of the newbies will keep us wondering. What in the world might Incarnation, Black Gilliflower, Stump, Suntan, Black Twig, or Fiesta taste like? And what was in the breeder’s head when they named those varieties so? I’m not sure I want to think about the flavor of Herferdshire or the aforementioned Holstein. Cow names? Really??

Some of these new-to-us varieties were obviously named in honor of people. There’s Reverend Morgan, Father Abraham, Ingrid Marie, Crown Prince Rudolph, and, simply, Oliver.

But then there’s some whose names will cause no end to pronunciation difficulties (not to mention spelling difficulties). Red Berlepsch, Zabergau Reinette, and Junaluska, among others which I refuse to spell out more than I absolutely need to. Ooh, copy and paste; problem solved. Gotta love the initial one mentioned today – Itzstedter Apfel, Itzstedter Apfel, Itzstedter Apfel. Say that one fast three times. Oi.

We grafted these and 116 more varieties this year. Bummer is, it’ll be some time before we get a taste of them. (GRAFT FILM)

Ike selected and ordered budwood from a variety of apple collectors, and then we grafted them onto the rootstocks we like to use in this orchard. Rootstocks control the size and other characteristics of the adult apple tree. We’ve got only two itty-bitty baby trees of each variety, and we’re hoping that at least one of each will grow to maturity, although it’s likely we’ll lose a few along the way.

So why add so many more to our current stash of 76 apple varieties?

The answer was revealed very clearly last week when Ike was being interviewed for an educational documentary which was being filmed at our farm. The interviewer asked Farmer Ike what he liked best about farming. Having been married to the guy for 24 years, I figured I’d know the answer. Something along the lines of, “because I like growing things” or “I enjoy having different work to do season by season” or even “I enjoy dealing with the challenges Mother Nature gives us”. But no, his answer was “I just love the experience of trying new apple varieties; nurturing a baby tree for several years and then taking that first bite.” Not the answer I really expected, but not a surprising one either.

Ike continually studies lists of apple varieties put out by other breeders and collectors. His ‘wish list’ for this year’s planting was well over 300 varieties. Thankfully, that was cut in half, or else we’d have to buy a new farm to plant all those trees on!

The other thing coming down the pike in addition to those 141 is a breeding project Ike started last year. He crossed Gold Rush with Florina apples. We’ve got a whole bunch of interesting-looking seedlings from that cross, but it’ll be several years before we get a taste of those. And each one will be different. Hmmm….Gold Rush and Florina as parents? I can’t wait!

In the meantime, these little grafted trees will give us a taste first. There’s one out there called “Westfield Seek-No-Further”. I wonder if it’s true? Seek no further…..nah…..there will ALWAYS be new varieties out there just waiting for Ike to get his hands (and teeth) on.

Anyone have some extra land available? Somehow I think we’re going to need it…..

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