Yep, its true, I’m really interested in long hanging apples. Not just the ability to hang though. Just hanging on for dear life through thick and thin is good for deer I guess. I’m looking for apples that can survive winter conditions without cracking and rotting, actually ripen late, and are of good quality. I’m looking for each of the traits one apple, which makes it worth eating long past Fall. There are apples that ripen early, but hang steadfastly. I got seeds and pollen of a variety from Europe this year that had crisp apples hanging on the tree when the pollen was gathered. He said the climate is somewhat similar to mine. It was from Germany, or maybe holland… my brain is swiss cheese stuffed with cotton balls, being slowly infused with coffee. I would be interested to know at what point apples like this in the N.E. are permanently damaged by cold, if they are otherwise edible up to that point.
But the phenomenon is real and definitely practical here where I live. I have a pretty good list I’m working with already, possibly somewhat in order from latest to earliest ripening The European apple which I called april Max on labels this year, March Hedge (temporary name again, found in a hedge nearby here), Lady williams, Pink Parfait, Pink Lady, Pomo Sanel, Whitwick Pippin, Something labelled Katherine which may not be, Hauer Pippin, Allen’s Everlasting, SamYoung will probably be added to that list and maybe one or two of my own seedlings derived from Lady willams crosses. Also, probably crabby lady from freddy Menge, a wickson x Lady william’s cross. I might be forgetting something (swiss cheese…) That’s a pretty great list to be starting with. There are some very high quality apples in there, with unique traits. Just within that gene pool, I think it is likely there is potential for a spring hanging apple of excellent quality. I’ve also made other crosses already that are now growing in the U.S. and beyond. More of them will be drifting in as the word gets out and it becomes a thing in people’s minds. I encourage people to look for late hangers and try to assess other traits to see if they might be candidates for breeding, or just good to eat the way they are. One of the major next steps that needs to happen is getting more of these grafted in different places to start assessing performance. Some are definitely more durable here, and my guess is that some will be more cold tolerant than others. A guy from Sweden told me about one that is traditionally harvested around Christmas.
