Hi all,
Found some ancient old apple trees on a new property we bought in midcoast Maine.
The greener one is tarter and flesh is firmer and the red one is sweeter and flesh is softer. Both are delicious and have some great disease resistances.
I sent my inquiry over to John Bunker, but waiting a response- he’s very busy this time of year.
Any thoughts what they could be?
Thanks, -J
When you cook the red ones do all of the apple wind up red? It reminds me of prairie spy and with your season being later it’s a possibility. You might take a cross section cut as well it might help with identification.
Hi,
I haven’t had time to cook it.
These ones are overly ripe, most of the fruit is on the ground with only a few still hanging- could the fact that these are overly ripe make the flesh reddish? I remember a few weeks ago we were eating these and my friend actually commented on the pinkish looking flesh.
From my books, I’m leaning towards a Duchess of Oldenburg for the red one but they certainly don’t have this pinkish flesh…
Thanks, -J
They do not really look like Duchess and Duchess are pretty tart with a more yellowish flesh
Red Astrachan could a match for the red one. Look at various 'Greening ’ apple types for the other, it sounds like a cooker.
Maybe the red guy is Red St. Lawrence? Its an old Maine apple. Check out the following page if you didn’t already find it:
http://www.mofga.org/Home/MaineHeritageOrchard/AppleVarieties/tabid/2657/Default.aspx
I think you might be right Scott 
Cool! The other apple is surely an old Maine variety as well. There is a book called Apples of Maine, it was originally from 1911 but updated more recently and covers all the apples popular in Maine back then. Its very likely one of the ones listed in that book. If you don’t hear from John Bunker or he doesn’t know, that could be a good sourcebook.
I never knew that book existed; gonna order it online- what a treat!
Next thing you know, I will be scouring the countryside trying to identify old apple trees for scion wood… That actually sounds like a lot of fun
Oh I should have warned its out of print and is a bit expensive - I think $100 copies are still available from some places. I didn’t buy the book myself, but at some point I checked it out of a library.
If I had more free time I would love to do apple scouting, its sleuthing with some adventure thrown in. The modern version is you go into Google Maps and scout for a fading grid of planted trees, then target those in your ground tour.
That book is a little expensive- 150 on Amazon but I will have see if I can find a copy cheaper.
I grow a number of Malus sieversii -mainly for fun but I am also gonna use them in some breeding experiments.
It would be a lot of fun to explore the mountains of Kazakstan!
The striped one looks like William’s favorite. Not to be confused with William’s Pride. I have one standard tree, best picked a little under ripe, and rushed to the cooler, or fridge, as they turn mealy very quick.
