Research

You don’t have to go back that far in time to find that the apple was a seasonal fruit. When the last of the apples that stored well had been eaten and the preserves of bottled fruit and jams were getting short, the ’summer apples’ were the first of the apples to ripen, were ready to pick and eat from the tree. Today with supermarkets providing us with a seemingly endless supply of green and red apples from all over the world, all year long, it is hard to imagine a time when in spring ‘the hungry gap’ made people appreciate the first fresh fruits.

None of the early varieties keep very well so it’s hard to purchase early apples except for the English variety Discovery. If you want to try them you need to plant a tree or know someone who has a tree and is good enough to let you at their goodies.

The Irish Peach or Early Crofton is the first of the Irish varieties to ripen in late July early August. Probably one of the oldest recorded varieties in Ireland it is one of four Crofton varieties dating back to the time of Elizabeth 1 (late 1500s/early 1600s) from Longford House in Co Sligo. Mentioned in a survey of Co Antrim in 1812 it was sent to the R.H.S. in England by John Robertson of Kilkenny in 1820 and was planted extensively in the U.K. becoming a popular Victorian and Edwardian variety. Dr Lamb in 1950 described it as “the most delicious fruit of it’s season, but like all early varieties it should be fully ripened on the tree and eaten soon after gathering”. The fruit is small to medium, round and slightly flattened. It has smooth skin that is pale yellow with a brownish red flush, slight stripes of darker carmine and slight greyish russet specks. The flesh is greenish white, quite firm, crisp and juicy with a good aromatic flavour. The flowers are large with the cupped petals being pink tinged and red on their reverse side. The trees growth is moderately vigorous and being a tip bearer needs very little pruning (just removing in winter branches that cross or close up the centre of the tree), older trees have a very drooping habit owing to the weight of the fruit. Unfortunately it’s greatest weakness is its susceptibility to scab.

The Kerry Pippin was first recorded in a statistical survey of Co Kilkenny in 1802. Picked in Late August and keeping until October it is a second early apple, much grown in Ireland in the 1800s it was still well known and grown in the 1940s-50s. The fruit is small to medium in size and is crisp and crunchy, the flesh being white/yellow turning to golden yellow and having an aromatic or spicy tang. The tree is of moderate vigour, fairly upright and produces spurs freely being a regular bearer. Usually a healthy variety but slight scab has been observed. It has been described as being coloured like a tortoise-shell butterfly.

The Widows Friend is a small round orange/yellow apple from Co Armagh. This fruit is the apple that once tried by children will have them stripping the fruit from the tree every year! Although it has been described as having no particular flavour, I thought that it was very fruity with a definite strawberry flavour. The flesh is white, crisp, sweet and very juicy. It ripens towards the end of August beginning of September and is a heavy bearer. Dr Lamb in the late 1940s reported seeing a tree laden with fruit and was told that it was a heavy and regular bearer. The tree is moderately vigorous and makes a round-headed tree with drooping branches. The flowers are medium sized, white tinged with pink.

Dr Lamb found Summer John growing in a few old orchards in Co Fermanagh in the late 1940s.It was already on its way to extinction then and one old tree that he saw was five feet in circumference at twenty eight inches from the ground. The trees at Seed Savers came from scions sent from Brogdale and their trees came from scions sent by Dr Lamb in 1948. The fruit is large, flattened and angular and the skin is dull green with a little russet veining. The flesh being fine, sweet, firm and juicy is ready for picking in mid September, possibly keeping until November. It has also been recorded as being used for cider.

Cavan Honeycomb is ready for picking in September/October. This variety was found in Beturbet, Co Cavan and in Carrick on Shannon, Co Leitrim. The nurse-rooted tree in the collection fruited for the first time at Seed Savers IN 2002 and produced a small to medium golden yellow fruit with a strong aroma. The flesh was soft and juicy with a rich sweet/acid cider flavour.

Several early cooking varieties in the collection are Custard Scarlet (Co Clare) and Leitrim Early Red with the dual purpose self rooter Mrs Perry (Donegal) being big enough to cook in early September and ripening for eating in early October.