DRAFT, Heidi Busse March 24, 2009
Forgotten Fruits: Conserving Apples in the Landscape
An Overview of the March 2009 Renewing America’s Food Traditions Apple Summit Held at the University of Wisconsin Arboretum in Madison, Wisconsin
Participants include (front row, L-R): Kanin Routson, Tom Brown, Gary Nabhan, Nikki Rothwell, Dan
Young, Tom Burford. Row 2: Gordon Tooley, Michael Phillips, Dan Bussey, Suzanne Nelson, Peter
Klein. Row 3: Cindy Cummins, Jim Cummins, David Karp, John Bunker. Row 4: Bill Moretz, Lee
Peemoeller, DeJa Walker, Jenny Trotter, Lee Calhoun, Kent Whealy, Judy Kern, Heidi Busse, Chuck
Shelton and Ben Watson.
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Hold a single apple in your hand, and the steady roundness fills your palm. If you place
it on a cutting board and slice it in half, cross-wise through its equator, two even halves
will fall. When the apple pauses from rocking to regain its balance, pull your face a little
closer. There is so much sensory delight and diversity in apples – their colors and
scents, flavors and shapes. But no matter what apple you slice, all hide their seeds inside
a five-pointed star. Apple trees of the past and the future are contained within each
apple.
I am a romantic, and easily tempted to find meaning in the mundane. So as I sit here
staring at a knobby little apple, I wonder what lessons can be drawn from it and the
seeds it holds inside. What has gone wrong to make so many apple varieties threatened
and endangered? What can be done? I believe the apple itself might hold some of the
answers – with its seeds that are hidden, but not forgotten.
I hadn‟t thought this
closely about apples
until last week when
apple experts and
advocates from
across the United
States met in
Madison,
Wisconsin. Under
the leadership of Dr.
Gary Nabhan,
founder and
facilitator of the
Renewing
America‟s Food
Traditions (RAFT)
alliance, and Jenny
Trotter of Slow
Food-USA, nearly
20 apple experts
assembled for a
“Forgotten Fruits Summit” to discuss the alarming decline of apple varieties and
identify strategies for maintaining apples in the landscape.
This was the inaugural summit for RAFT‟s Heirloom Apple community, but you
wouldn‟t guess this was their first time meeting by the enthusiastic discussions and non-
stop conversations that tickled the room. This collection of apple enthusiasts have spent
Orchard Restoration Workshop with Dan Bussey and Kanin Routson.
Photo by Mark Dohm
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their entire lives grafting, pruning, harvesting, pressing, enjoying and fighting for
apples.
As the experts went around the room and introduced themselves and their background,
it soon became clear that they were not just talking about apples. But, equally, their life
stories were being told by apples that they have grown, written about and even brought
on the plane to share. So much of
who these people are is rooted in the
landscape they come from.
Take Tom Burford from Virginia,
who is a self-confessed apple
historian, corrupter and educator. His
story begins with how he “was born
under an apple tree on a very hot
August day in 1935. My mother and
grandmother went to harvest some
smokehouse apples to fry for supper.
When my mother arrived at the tree,
she said „I think I‟d better go back to
the house,‟ and ten minutes later I
came into the world. And because
my life has since been devoted to
apples, I later would kid her,
„Mother, why couldn‟t you just let
me be born under the apple tree?‟
That would have added a more
flavorful tale to my life story. But she replied, „Son, it would have been comfortable for
you, but not comfortable for me.‟”
Burford continues to describe how apples and agriculture shaped his ways of perceiving
and being in the world: “My parents were very involved in agriculture in Virginia. They
both were aware of the importance of diversity on a farm… when I walked out our back
door, we had more than 50 varieties of apples in our orchard and perhaps a dozen pears.
I assumed everybody in the world had this. Little did I know at the time that some of
these fruits were quite rare.”
Burford‟s parents encouraged a sense of appreciation and studious observation in him as
a young boy. He gained an early recognition that apples were not just a passive part of
the landscape, but required care and nurture to survive. “[My parents] asked [me] to
keep a journal when I was about 10, and now I have 27 boxes [of old journals] that I
wouldn‟t dare release because of the potential litigation against me that is held in
Tom Burford. Photo by Mark Dohm.
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them… but I did keep a lot of horticultural
notes, and I was particularly interested in
fruit trees. In my later years, I could come
back to these and extract information about
trees… [with lessons] like it was important
to plant diverse varieties. During the
Depression, if you didn‟t have a crop of
fruit, you went hungry. I also recorded the
different harvest times for different
varieties, like Kenneth Troys and
Winesaps.”
Burford‟s early exposure to apples grew
into a lifelong vocation that took a unique
turn later in his life. “I had a production
nursery for about 40 years… I was
collecting hundreds of varieties, and
realized that I didn‟t have a goal for what I
was doing. And then one day I looked at my list and saw that the varieties could be
categorized into regions… apples from the south, apples from New England, apples
from the Great Lakes. I shortly closed my nursery and have devoted my time since to
education about the regionality of apples.
“My work today is about education. I am a corrupter and propagandist… I want to help
people discover that they can have a passion for apples.”
Apples have a system for storing and transmitting their genetic information, passing on
their traits from generation to generation through seeds. Similarly, cultures create
systems for passing on knowledge and tools to a new generation to ensure the vitality
and health of their communities. Burford is one of these cultural pollinators, sharing his
knowledge with young growers to ensure the stories and traditions have a future.
What kinds of knowledge do apple experts have to share with beginning growers? Well,
for starters, apple growers know exactly which apples are best for fresh eating, storage,
baking and cider-making. All of this knowledge can be learned, and much is best gained
through experience and the “school of hard knocks.” Many of the apple experts conduct
seminars and lead workshops at their orchards. Gordon Tooley of Tooley‟s Trees in
Truchas, New Mexico, has developed a 6-month hands-on workshop for growers, to
instruct them in apple production from soil preparation, site planning and apple
selection to harvesting, value-added production options and marketing.
Lee Calhoun discussing his book on Southern
apples. Photo by Mark Dohm.
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But both apples and apple growers are in trouble. Their knowledge-sharing systems
have been disrupted. And as the sheer number of apple growers declines, so too does
their storehouse of knowledge. Because of the apple‟s importance to our cultural
heritage, Slow Food USA has placed 129 varieties on its “Ark of Taste” to raise
awareness and encourage interest in these regional and heritage varieties. For more
information on these 129 varieties and the American apple, visit:
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/ark_product_detail/american_apple/.
The core task put before the fruit experts at their summit was this: to discuss the
country’s declining apple diversity in order to identify strategies for restoration and
raising a new generation to the trade.
“A decade ago, I would never have dreamed that we would be together in this room.
That we would be a driving force to help nurture the future of the apple in America,”
Burford notes. And their work couldn‟t come at a more critical time.
A brief history of the apple in America - Apples originated in Kazakhstan, and came to
North America via Spanish conquistadors, French missionaries and English pilgrims.
These immigrants and explorers couldn‟t imagine moving to a place without bringing
their apple varieties and culture with them. So they tucked seeds or brought graftings on
the ships. Apples adapted very well to the varied climates and landscapes of the New
World. At one time, North America had over 14,000 apple varieties populating habitats
Apple experts learning about the natural history of the University of Wisconsin-
Arboretum. Photo by Mark Dohm.
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/ark_product_detail/american_apple/
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from coast to coast. But in the 2001 Fruit, Berry and Nut Inventory published by Seed
Savers Exchange (Whealy, 2001), the number of apple varieties available to Americans
through nursery stocks had dwindled to 1,500. The continued tragedy is that in 2009,
only 11 apples comprise 90% of what Americans can access and enjoy.
So if the goal is to identify and preserve apple
varieties, why are these growers meeting in
spring when the apple harvest season in late
summer and fall? Wouldn‟t a case for them be
better made in October? Well, apples aren‟t just
for fresh eating. Nabhan reminds us that “in
spring, farmers would „drink‟ their apples. If we
go back into early Americana, the average
American male was drinking 50 barrels of hard
cider a year. It was a food that we consumed as
much by drinking as by eating. Apples were on
American tables every day, as a sauce, beverage
or even a fritter.”
Nabhan‟s point is that apples are not just for
fresh eating – if we are going to remember the
abundance of apple varieties, we also need to
document the abundant ways to enjoy them.
Apple cider, apple jack, apple leather, apple
„shrub,‟ applesauce, apple jelly, caramel apples and dried apple rings, to start.
Think about this: if you go out into the woods and find an apple tree in the fall, it
probably won‟t be very good – it might be wormy, warped or bitter. A delicious apple
often requires human intervention. And yet that human intervention can also take a
bitter, tart or sharp apple (most often a blend of all three types), push it through a cider
press and make something exquisite. And fruit growers and food enthusiasts are
realizing the pleasures of apples in this form, as cideries in the Midwest and New
England experience a resurgence, similar to what craft brewers experienced a few years
ago.
Fall remnant, Dan Bussey Orchard.
Photo by Mark Dohm
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Which is why it is so important for apple growers from across the country to come
together to share their work, growing their knowledge and understanding of the larger
movement and activities in diverse regions. As Nabhan noted, the gathering was not just
about saving specific apple varieties but about “saving apple culture. You can think of
this as the Buena Vista Social Club of apple growers. [These apple growers] have all
worked so hard in their parts of the country to grow apples and record their names and
stories. Each is so intent on rescuing apple history in their neck of the woods, that they
never had time to meet each other.”
Okay – he‟s got a point. What would we be without Ruben Gonzalez or Ibrahim Ferrer.
(Or Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez or Greg Brown)? And what if
no one had attended their concerts or made a recording? Food is just as important to our
cultural heritage as music, theater, dance, poetry and other forms of art.
These apple experts spent Thursday, March 19, 2009 at the University of Wisconsin-
Madison Arboretum, using their collective wisdom to discuss solutions for how to
maintain our apple culture. The day included presentations, small group discussion,
brainstorming, debate and a tour of the UW-Arboretum‟s native habitats. A full
description of the guiding questions and outcomes from this meeting can be found in the
“Forgotten Fruits Manual and Manifesto,” available from Slow Food-USA at
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/raft_detail/publications/.
Bill Moretz, Tom Brown, Lee Calhoun, Tom Burford and Chuck Shelton discussing
regionalities of southern apples. Photo by Mark Dohm.
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/raft_detail/publications/
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Some of the guiding questions that directed the workshop included:
1. BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS: Where are the areas of richest diversity for heirloom, old-
time and heritage apple varieties? Where are there gaps in the knowledge?
2. CAUSES OF GENETIC LOSS: What factors are contributing to the decline of apples and
apple varieties? What are you currently doing to address and mitigate these factors? What
should be done?
3. RESTORATION WORK: What is the single most effective thing that you have done to
bring back apples? What collective actions are needed? And what kinds of funding and support
organizations should be involved?
4. NEW FARMER TRAINING: If you were to ask the younger people of America to take on
one part of your work and legacy, what would it be?
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But if the purpose was just as much to preserve culinary traditions as it was to identify
how to preserve their habitat for apples, then the day could not end without a celebration
around the table.
Tami Lax, owner of Harvest
Restaurant and a founding member of
Slow Food-Madison, hosted the apple
growers for such an evening dinner.
Tami is (in)famous for her passion for
apples and contribution to restoring
Wisconsin‟s food culture, having co-
founded the first Slow Food chapter in
the state and launching successful
restaurants like Harvest Restaurant
and The Old Fashioned. Her
connection to apples began in the late
1990s when she apprenticed with Ken
Weston of Weston‟s Antique Orchard
(New Berlin, WI) to learn the
challenges and benefits of growing
apples. In fact, the first Slow Food-
Madison tasting was an apple tasting
she organized at Weston‟s Orchard
back in the late „90s.
For the fruit experts‟ visit, her
Executive Chef Derek Rowe prepared
a three flight tasting menu, featuring three distinct cider styles with regional artisan food
accompaniments. In addition to savoring beautiful drinks and foods, Nabhan and Ben
Watson (author, editor and orchard grower, from New Hampshire, who has a book on
ciders) facilitated an evening of story-telling.
Glasses prepared for serving, Harvest Restaurant.
Photo by Mark Dohm.
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One of the story-tellers was John Bunker. Bunker hails from Maine, and found his
calling to become an orchardist while working in the produce section of the Belfast
Food Co-op in Maine. One day a grower named Ira Proctor walked in to see if the co-op
would sell some of his apples. Bunker had
never seen apples like these before – colors
so beautiful, skin so smooth, flavors so wild.
His interest in apples took root. Today he
has his own orchard in addition to running
FEDCO Seeds orchard nursery called
FEDCO Trees. On the side, Bunker is a
historian and apple writer, with books telling
the stories of apples from Palermo, Maine.
Amidst the variety of people at the Harvest
Cider Tasting, there was a common purpose,
a common passion that consumed these
growers who have devoted their lives to this
work. They all have a personal motivation
for doing what they do, as unique and
distinct as the mesas of northern New
Mexico are from the wooded pastures of
southern Wisconsin. But it is exactly this
regionalism that each of the apple
growers fights for that has brought them
together. I wonder if their true love lies not
in the flavorful apples, but in the landscape where they come from. They all seem to
carry a sense of home that never leaves them and that they know as true.
Nabhan speaks eloquently to this regionalism, “An apple is as many things as the places
where apples are grown… a Gravenstein from Nova Scotia is not the same as a
California Gravenstein. They have their own distinct flavors based on unique ripening
times, climate, soils, etc.”
It was this hunt to understand the diversity of apples and their landscapes that took
Nabhan on a historical journey of the apple, all the way back to the apple‟s fatherland of
Kazahkstan. “In Kazahkstan, I met an old-timer who ate 16 types of apples a day for his
health. When this man was a young boy, he met the researcher and scientist Vavilov in
1929 who inspired in him a passion for apples… he has since dedicated his life to
studying and conserving the wild apples of his country. He is now 96 years old, and still
lives for apples, protecting their diversity in rural and urban areas alike and making sure
the different habitats are safe.” Nabhan describes the work of Vavilov and apples from
John Bunker describing the Palermo apple.
Photo by Mark Dohm.
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this region in his newly released book entitled Where Our Food Comes From: Retracing
Nikolay Vavilov’s Quest to End Famine (2008).
And here lies the
foundation for
restoring any culture –
it must be rooted in a
place, and reflect the
people and landscape.
Nabhan continues that
his visit to the
Fatherland of Apples
“was one of the most
moving experiences of
my life… to see
someone who had
devoted themselves to
a single topic. I don‟t
think many of us
relate our interest in
land conservation with
that of eating good
food. This was one of the things that inspired me to lead RAFT and restore apple
diversity on our tables.”
“Apples flourished on farmsteads in early America… they were nurtured by farmers and
landowners. But we are losing this land and knowledge for how to care for it. People
like Curt Meine [Nabhan‟s colleague] of the Leopold Foundation have been thinking
about farmland preservation issues for years, and now is the time to link these people
with those interested in preserving the diversity of foods and put them back on our
tables.”
This work is not just for the experts, but restoring apples into our culture is the
responsibility of everyone. Nabhan states that “we all have to re-imagine this apple
culture we are talking about – apples were once used in so many more ways, and each
variety had a purpose.”
“The trouble is a lot of the antique apples are now grown by antique people, and we
need to be sure a new generation is brought into the fold.”
How will this happen? What will it take to pass on the knowledge and wisdom that lies
within each of the apple growers to a new generation to ensure a successive generation?
Dan Bussey, Connie Bussey, Gary Nabhan and Tom Bronw.
Photo by Mark Dohm.
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Nabhan offers that “well, we had a good start in Wisconsin this week. We had 45
beginning apple growers from around Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota and
Michigan who attended a workshop to learn from the fruit experts. It was just as
important for the elders who feel like their excitement and passion for apples is being
heard and wanted by the next generation.”
Burford shares an additional perspective as an elder, and why passing on cultural
traditions is important to the agricultural and political society. He personally is
committing his final years of life to sharing his knowledge with the next generation.
Burford speaks that, “propagation itself is the element that defines society. Today, the
people who hold power in our society are in technology. In my time, the agriculturalists
held the power. We need to understand this, and we need to see a shift… so that
agriculturalists and those who care for our land have [greater] representation again. This
is why we need to teach people not just where food comes from, but also to empower
them to grow it for themselves. Propagation is power. That is why, for me, doing
grafting workshops is so important.”
It is our shared traditions and the sense of coming from a place that gives each of us
character, identity and flavor. But it also gives our communities character, identity and
meaning. And, like the seeds hiding within the apple‟s guiding star, we need to identify
what our foods and food traditions are so that we can share them and ensure they are not
forgotten. This guiding star is found within each of us, if we take the time to look.
*~**~*~**~*~**~*
Renewing America’s Food Traditions (RAFT) is a national alliance, managed by Slow Food USA, committed to restoring America’s agricultural biodiversity and developing a public
understanding of place-based foods. For the past five years, the RAFT alliance has been bringing food producers, chefs and consumers together to develop and promote conservation strategies, sustainable food production, and awareness of our country’s
unique and endangered foods and food traditions. RAFT uses an eater-based approach to conservation --reintroducing the stories and flavors of America’s traditional foods to
larger audiences, so people are once again growing and consuming them sustainably. Founding RAFT partners include: American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, Chefs
Collaborative, Cultural Conservancy, Native Seeds/SEARCH, Seed Savers Exchange, Slow Food USA, and Dr. Gary Nabhan.
For more information about the work of RAFT and future workshops, visit:
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/details/raft/.
To learn more about Dr. Gary Nabhan‟s work, visit www.garynabhan.com.
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/details/raft/http://www.garynabhan.com/
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[end of narrative]
3/24/2009
SIDE BAR 1 - HARVEST RESTAURANT Artisan Cider Tasting, March 19, 2009 MENU
FLIGHT ONE
Tandem Cidery, Farmhouse Cider (Sutton, MI) White Winter Cidery, Hard Apple Cider (Iron River, WI) Zydeco Cidery, Cider (Viola, WI)
Paired with - Been, Fennel and Grapefruit Salad Potato-Sarvecchio Croquettas La Quercia Prosciutto with pickled apple Saxon Homestead Creamery Cheese with Apple Graham
FLIGHT TWO
Aeppel Treow Winery, Aeppely Doux (Burlington, WI) Uncle John's Fruithouse Cidery, Apple Cider (St. John's, MI) Seedling Orchard, Sweet Cider (South Haven, MI) Dan Bussey Orchard, Sweet Cider (Edgerton, WI)
Paired with - Duck confit and sunchoke almond puree Pulled pork sandwich with pickled onion La Quercia coppa with shaved fennel Rushing Waters smoked trout with horseradish cream
FLIGHT THREE
Aeppel Treow Cidery, Pommeaux (Burlington, WI) Uncle John's Fruithouse Cidery, Apple Dessert Wine (St. John's, MI)
Paired with - Cinnamon Sugar Zeppole Hook's Blue Cheese Balls with toasted black walnuts and Door County sour cherries Honey Madeleine with sliced heritage apples
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SIDE BAR 2 – LIST OF REGIONAL CIDERIES AEppelTreow Winery Charles and Milissa McGonegal 1072 288
th Ave.
Burlington, WI 53105 Phone: 262-496-7508 Website: www.aeppeltreow.com AEppelTreow Winery specializes in artisan ciders. Launched in 2001 by cidermaker Charles and Milissa
McGonegal in partnership with orchardist Bill Stone of Brightonwoods orchards, they produce award-winning ciders from Great lakes grown apples. Their products include hard ciders, Champagne-method Cider and Perry, table wine style apple, pear and crab-apple beverages and Mistelles.
Albion Prairie Cider Mill Dan Bussey 691 County Hwy A Edgerton, WI 53534 Phone: 608-884-9361 Albion Prairie Cider Mill produces high quality, artisan apple cider for fresh and vintage use from their
250-tree orchard Ela Orchard PO Box 36 Rochester, WI 53167 Phone: 262-534-2545 Ela Orchard has been growing apples since the 1920s. Their orchard consists of about 25 acres of
apples with over 30 apple varieties and several varieties of pears. In addition, they support woodland, marshland, cropland, a flock of sheep, and several goats. Their apples and cider are available at the Dane County Farmers Market, in season.
Future Fruit Farm Bob and Ellen Lane 5363 Knobs Rd Ridgeway, WI 53582 Phone: 608-924-1012 Email: [email protected] Future Fruit Farm specializes in growing old-time fruit varieties. For over 26 years, Future Fruit Farm
has been perfecting certified organic fruit growing techniques. Their products are available at the Dane County Farmers Market and in the region’s finest restaurants. Their cider products include apple and pear ciders.
Maiden Rock Winery and Cidery Herdie Baisden and Carol Wiersma W12266 King Lane Stockholm, WI 54769 Phone: 715-448-3502 Website: www.maidenrockwinerycidery.com Maiden Rock Winery and Cidery is an award-winning cider orchard presenting a unique collection of
premium hard ciders and wines, produced from fresh local fruit, flavored by Wisconsin. They have over 25 varieties growing on their 80-acre farm. Their cider products include classic hard apple ciders crafted in the farmhouse tradition of southwestern England, like Scrumpy, Somerset Cider and Bitter Love. New and old combine when they blend the juices of Honeycrisp and Northern Spy to produce a semi-dry cider.
White Winter Winery Jon Hamilton 68323A Lea Street Iron River, WI 54847 Phone: 800-697-2006 Website: www.whitewinter.com
http://www.aeppeltreow.com/mailto:[email protected]://www.maidenrockwinerycidery.com/http://www.whitewinter.com/
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White Winter Winery was founded in 1996 by two couples, Jon and Kim Hamilton and Mark and Nancy Rooney. The Winery was founded on the principals of sustainability, and to use products from northern Wisconsin to make high quality products and to build coalitions and partnerships with growers, producers and other businesses. Their products include Cyser (an apple mead) and hard apple cider.