There were three old but productive apple trees in the garden when we moved to Tithe Farm in 1987 and we planted a dozen more in the garden that winter. I don't know what varieties the original three trees are, cookers but edible uncooked when very ripe, they store well and we eat them through the winter. We store them in an old fridge. I think the build up of carbon dioxide in the closed fridge inhibits moulds and the apples stay good to eat into February and March.
The dozen new trees were a random selection of what the local garden centre happened to have and all turned out to be on dwarf rootstocks, so after seventeen years are all still fairly small and some are now rather overshadowed by other trees that they were planted too close to and have grown up more quickly.
Some of the varieties are unknown but there is one of each of these:
Grenadier
Spartan
Worcester Pearmain
Ellison's Orange
Bramley
Howgate Wonder
A couple of Egremont Russets were added in 1999. One of them produced an apple the year before last.
2005 sees the establishment of a more serious orchard in part of the field no longer being cropped for hay. Seventeen apples, all maidens on either half standard MM106 or standard M25 rootstocks were supplied by Adams Apples of Talaton in Devon.
Adam’s Pearmain
Ashmead’s Kernel
Beauty of Bath
Bess Pool
Blenheim Orange
Brown’s
Chisel Jersey
Cox’s Orange Pippin
Ellison’s Orange
Greensleeves
Jonagold
Kingston Black
Laxton Superb
Newton Wonder
Nonpariel
Ribston Pippin
Striped Beefing
©Biff Vernon 2005