Comments on: Pippin season: hunting wild apples.

By: glennwobblie

glennwobblie — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:28:26 +0000

North East Washington State, in the mountains between the Cascades and the Rockies, is a paradise for wild apples. Along the shores of Lake Roosevelt ( the Columbia River) up to the Canadian border and beyond, there are thousands and thousands of nomadic, homeless, and left behind apple trees. Old varieties and new grow hidden in birch and pine stands, along the edge of pastures and meadows, and sprinkled throughout the evergreens.

By: Heidi

Heidi — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 02:32:33 +0000

Oh lovely! And I’m with Mrs. B. I had no idea that pippin’s were new varieties. Cool!

By: SMB Weber

SMB Weber — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:31:21 +0000

I have some old apple trees that my grandparents planted in the 1920s and would like to identify them? How can I find someone who might be able to? I have a few contacts from the extension service, but wondering about other sources?

Also, will be putting in more apple and other fruit trees and would like to plant antique varieties. In contact with someone else way ahead on this, a big help, but would welcome any other suggestions.

By: crabappleherbs

crabappleherbs — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:11:00 +0000

LB: Yes, fruit wines can be quite good, as long as you think of them on their own terms, rather than as a substitute for traditional vinifera wines. I really like honey wine, too. (I just posted about it.) Oh, and the boy says if he ever gets around to making proper wine, you’re welcome to come fill up your jug at our place.

Mrs B: Isn’t it fascinating? (And thank you!)

Hank: Oh, wow, thanks! We’ll do that. (Makes sense to me to avoid the hyped places.)

By: hank

hank — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 01:53:04 +0000

if you come to San Francisco, email me and I will give you some names and places to go that will not cost a zillion dollars…general rule is to avoid Napa/Sonoma and head to Lodi, the Delta or the Sierra Foothills (Gold Country).

By: Mrs. B.

Mrs. B. — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:21:47 +0000

I had no idea that sprouted seeds made new varieties! That’s so interesting!

Just stumbled onto your blog. It’s really great!

By: LB

LB — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:06:25 +0000

Yeah, we are a lot smaller than CA and we live in VA, so here we are lucky to able to taste it all. That means we have easy access to some real stinkers! Everything good is over $15 a bottle, by a lot in many cases. That is probably cheap to a lot of people but not to me. I keep wishing one of our producers would start letting you come fill a jug and get a discount but I don’t think it is very likely to happen. I tasted a bunch of non grape wine a few weekends ago. I was curious esp. since we don’t see much at the store, wine people totally turn there nose up. It isn’t anything like what you can do with vinis vinifera but that doesn’t mean it is bad. They were pretty good, actually.

By: crabappleherbs

crabappleherbs — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 21:54:46 +0000

Hank: Yes, we’re at the mercy of the weather here. I’m curious about the locally available CA wine — we might spend some time in SF this winter with family, so maybe we’ll do some “research.” (And damson wine? We’ll have to try that…)

Boyfriend: Everything?

By: The Herbwife's Boyfriend

The Herbwife's Boyfriend — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 21:29:34 +0000

The most memorably bad bottle of wine I’ve ever had was from Virginia. It was an aglianico that tasted like pineapple and ham. I think it’s more the winemakers than the climate, though.

Next year, I will ferment everything.

By: hank

hank — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:12:05 +0000

I used to live in Fredericksburg, so I am well aware of Virginia wine. It can be better than California wine, but it can also be truly wretched. That’s the price you pay for an Eastern climate. Just like France, you have epic years and nasty years. I would also note that you probably have not had the kind of CA wine I can get locally — much of what is exported is so-so, until you get to the really spendy stuff.

Incidentally, I made the most amazing red wine from damson plums I picked in Culpeper, VA, and the most amazing white from dendelion blossoms outside my house in FredVegas…