Does anyone have any knowledge of /experience with this apple variety?
I was browsing the 2018 Seed Saver Exchange’s Apple Grafting Workshop Variety List, and it stood out.
They report:
Switzer: Fruit medium, oblate, regular. Surface: light yellow, almost or wholly covered withbright crimson and with purplish stripes and splashes. Flesh snow-white, firm, fine-grained.Rich, spicy, mild subacid, with sweet after-taste. Very good for dessert, market, and kitchen use.Ripens late August to October. Origin, Russia; brought to the U.S. in 1870.
New to me, but I’m interested. Switzer is one of my family names. We always were told it was a Swiss-German name, which makes sense. Presumably the same as Schweitzer. I think it’d be fun to grow out just to see what it’s like. Probably hardy given its origin.
I saw that description as well and made a note to order it but never did… here is the little list of interesting apples I made from the SSE descriptions:
For several years someone was writing original descriptions of the apples in their orchard (Dan Bussey perhaps) that were not just copying the ones in the literature.
Scott - that’s an interesting list of apple varieties - Richard’s Graft caught my eye as well.
The opportunity for Switzer scion wood seems well worth the price of a SSE membership - ripens late August to October - that’s one hell of a ripening window!
I just started a google search for Suislepper apple and found some german sources:
Says the following ( google translated because I’m lazy):
Summer apple . ´Suislepper´ Very old and popular early apple, probably from Lithuania, common in Northern Europe. Fruit: Excellent table and business apple. The fruits of this variety are mostly medium-sized and unevenly built, with distinctive fruit ribs. The fruit bowl is whitish-yellow, flamed with red flames on the sunny side, pretty and interesting coloring. The fine-celled, medium-firm and white flesh is sufficiently juicy when it ripens. The noble, aromatic taste makes the Suislepper a good early apple variety for the home garden, but also on orchards, the robustness of this cultivar contributes to this. Mass bearer and good pollen donor! Ripening time: August, shelf life: September. .
A german nursery has it: Baumgartner Baumschulen - Homepage
and says the following about it:
Suislepper
History: A Mr. Goegginger obtained this variety around 1907 from the Suislepp manor near Dorpat, Estonia, where it is said to have come from France.
Harvest: August
Ripening period: August to September
Fruit: small, red-colored early apple with a surprisingly good aroma
Tree: slow-growing, small-crowned
Here an old description with picture: http://www.der-apfelmann.de/literatur/schaal/apfel/suislepper.htm
Suislepper is still popular in Russia among home growers. It’s believed to be of Baltic origin, so not among the most cold hardy varieties. It’s also not very productive, but the flavor is good. More info for those who can read Russian: Яблоня, Сорт Суйслепское (Суйслепер, Малиновка) - ФГБНУ ВНИИСПК
