Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/76198
The Blanc Mollet (top photo) is a bittersweet apple used for hard cider. A French variety, it is called complete as it has the sugar, tannin, and aroma needed to make a single variety hard cider. The Holstein, above left, is the favorite apple for both Tim and Cindy Ward. And the Knobbed Russet (above) has earned its title, the ugliest apple in the world. It is, however, decent tasting according to the Wards. LEARN MORE about rare varieties Web site, www.eastmansantiqueapples.com. A goal is to have a picture of every variety, and they're T well on their way to getting there. "We have about 1,000 pictures on the Web site and about 200 more to add," Cindy said. Click on apple vari- eties and you find an alphabetized list of all their vari- eties, from Aargauer Jubilaums, Adanac, and Agnes to Zabergau Reinette, Zestar! and Zusoff. Also on their Web site is a link to a huge encyclope- dia of apple varieties at www.orangepippin.com. It con- tains descriptive information, and photographs, of several thousand varieties, as well as the names of 2,205 orchards in the United States and 100 in Canada that sell apples. Cindy has a stack of books on her kitchen counter- Tim and Cindy and their son Rafe gave Good Fruit Grower the orchard tour. Son Casey was at work. Both Rafe and Casey have off-farm jobs. end up in cider. They have red-fleshed varieties that can add color to a bottle of cider. Each bottle cork has a code number on it which corresponds to an entry in a note- book that tells what apples went into the blend. Tim bought a cider press that works well for small batches of apples, and they work with fermentation in five-gallon carboys. www.goodfruit.com Hard cider, once a drink as common as water, is com- ing back, and the Wards are going that route, too. Last year, they sold 1,000 bushels of cider apples to Mike Beck at Uncle John's Farm Market. Beck has been winning awards with his hard ciders. They do not have a license or enough product to sell now, but they have a name— Eastman's Forgotten Ciders—waiting in the wings. • top that are good sources of information on rare and old apple varieties: Lee Calhoun's Old Southern Apples U.P. Hedrick's Cyclopedia of Hardy Fruits Spencer Beach's Apples of New York The Book of Apples by Joan Morgan and Alison Richards The Fruit, Berry, and Nut Inventory by Kent Whealy The Somerset Pomona—the Cider Apples of Somerset by Liz Copas They also have high regard for the work of Tom Burford, the Virginia nurseryman who consults with orchardists on antique varieties. And, of course, they have lots of nursery catalogs. The Orange Pippin Web site names nurseries that sell rare varieties. —R. Lehnert GOOD FRUIT GROWER AUGUST 2012 51 im and Cindy Ward, owners of Eastman's Antique Apples and growers of 1,400 different apple vari- eties, are continually adding information on their PHOTO by ricHard leHnerT PHOTOS cOurTeSy Of eaSTman anTique aPPleS PHOTO by ricHard leHnerT