I’m reading that it’s not cultivated by Andy Brennan, a New York cider maker. His approach to making cider is fascinating. Instead of using cultivated apples, he makes most of the cider from the fruits of wild apple trees growing in old farms and forests.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlmut4hlwak
Modern apple growth is a large company, transformed into highly sprayed, highly fertilized and highly refined production.
As Brennan writes in his book, some people don’t think you can even grow apples without much maintenance and spray. However, the giant seedlings ramping in the forests of New York tell a different story.
We lost a part of our culture and many heritage when we turned our backs on apples that were perfect for wax, glass, sprays and paintings, mass-produced from backyard orchards and homemade fruits. His thoughts on apples are linked to my own thoughts on the value of growing fruit trees from seeds.
When you plant apple seeds and get a harvest, the fruit can be sour or small. They aren’t like their parents. But for cider, that’s completely fine. Apples are more than just dessert fruit.
In my garden there is a pear tree with inedible pears. I thought it was a rootstock so I overconnected it with a sweet pear scion tree two years ago. These grafts failed and the trees have bloomed this year.
Now I wonder if those pears aren’t anything special like the pears grown for Perry. Apparently, many “perry pears” are string-based agents that are not eaten before fermentation, but when fermented they produce rich tannins and flavor.
Now I need to give it a try. It could be a pear or a rootstock from a seedling, or a Perry pear for a long time. Andy’s book made me wonder.
This year I planted multiple old varieties of cider apple and three seedlings. Perhaps we can make Alabama low cider in a few years.
