Expert to show you how to grow heirloom apples
Learn how to grow own antique apple trees at Garfield Farm Museum's 29th annual Antique Apple Tree Grafting Seminar at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, March 6. For $30, participants make to take home three grafts of heirloom varieties for planting this spring. The class begins at 1:30 p.m. at the museum, five miles west of Geneva, off Route 38 on Garfield Road. Reservations are required by calling (630) 584-8485 or email info@garfieldfarm.org.
Apple tree expert Dan Bussey leads the seminar and will bring several different antique varieties of scions. His efforts have been recognized over the years by the Seed Savers Exchange of Decorah, Iowa, as Bussey serves as orchard manager for their orchard of heritage apple varieties.
Planting one's own apple trees makes sense in two ways. For all the interest in local food sources, nothing could be more local than one's own backyard. The opportunity to rediscover what most of our ancestors knew can be a personal lesson as well as an important one for the household children or visiting grandchildren.
Secondly, the economic fact that many realize they will be staying in their homes longer than may have been anticipated. This provides an opportunity to plant a tree that the owners will be able to enjoy the proverbial fruits of their labor. Although one must be patient for several years before one sees the first apple, the results are worth the wait.
Grafting attaches a root to a "scion," essentially the last few inches of last year's branch growth from a variety of apple one wants to keep producing. This can be used to preserve the old variety's unique genetic traits. An apple seed will not grow into the same exact type of tree from which it came. Like animals, many plants, like apple trees, require genes from two parents. Just planting the seeds of a tree doesn't guarantee the genetic signature of the tree will be saved. Only grafting can preserve the exact type. The grafting process itself has been used for thousands of years.
The process itself is relatively simple. The scion of the desired tree is carefully cut to match a mirrored cut on the rootstock. The root used for the seminar is a smaller, semi-dwarf variety that is good for a backyard or small orchard.
Most store varieties have been bred for appearance, ability to survive early picking, and shipping across country or half the world, so taste is not as important. Many heritage varieties had distinctive traits for specific purposes. Some are better for cider, while others may be better for baking. Others last longer over a winter and others might be more disease resistant for a particular locale. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were over 7,000 different varieties of apples. Now there are less than 2,000 varieties available. Not only is keeping a multitude of apples in existence important for our heritage, but also for their many of uses. The mass markets of today are only looking for good multipurpose apples. With fewer farmers and orchard acreage dwindling it is important to be proactive.
Dan Bussey has been the instructor of the seminar donating his time and materials since the seminar's inception 27 years ago. He brings scions to graft to root stock that is raised especially for grafting. He also will instruct participants on how to care for their grafts until they are planted. If weather or time allows, the group will go out to the museum's orchard and be given instruction on pruning their trees once they are established.
Bussey donates his time and grafts to the farm to make this event possible.
There is a $30 donation for the class and reservations are required. Participants are asked to bring a sharp knife. Call the museum at (630) 584-8485, or email at info@garfieldfarm.org. The 374-acre site is a historically intact former 1840s farm and teamster inn being restored as an 1840s working farm museum by volunteers and donors from around the country.
Visit www.garfieldfarm.org or follow the museum on Facebook.