Apple Varieties Discovered By Growing Trees From Seed

Apple Varieties Discovered By Growing Trees From Seed CROPS New Crops Doug Shefelbine has beaten the odds twice when developing desirable new apple varieties from seed It only took him 27 years and tens of thousands of seedlings “From the 10 000 trees I planted from seed one was exceptional ” says Shefelbine “I have about 25 000 to 30 000 trees that range from new seedlings a foot high to full-size trees that are 20 years old ” Apple seeds are genetic storehouses Planting a seed from one variety does not produce a tree of that variety To get an orchard of Honeycrisp apples you graft scion wood from a Honeycrisp to rootstock Cross-pollinating 2 varieties increases the chance that you will get a seed with desirable characteristics of the two but doesn’t guarantee it Shefelbine is a second-generation apple grower in southwestern Wisconsin Initially he tried hand-crossing varieties which was a time consuming effort “I did about 1 200 hand crosses and none turned out so I decided to just plant seeds ” says Shefelbine “It was easy to do and didn’t cost a lot ” He plants them close together creating hedgerows of young seedlings To increase his odds of success Shefelbine started planting only seeds from the extremely popular Honeycrisp He hoped to get the texture and juice that variety is known for but something even better So far he has patented 2 varieties that he has licensed to a variety developer Pazazz is about 20 years old It has been in commercial development for about 10 years and is now reaching the market Shefelbine describes it as having a sweet tart flavor that is better than Honeycrisp but retains its juice and texture The other variety is called RiverBelle Both are exceptional but each also has shortcomings “Pazazz has to be picked at just the right time and then kept in controlled storage ” says Shefelbine That hasn’t slowed its adoption It is now being planted commercially from Nova Scotia to Peru Shefelbine doesn’t expect that kind of interest from RiverBelle “People love the flavor of RiverBelle but it has cosmetic problems and will never be a commercial orchard variety ” he says “It should do well as a roadside apple stand though ” The problem he explains is that RiverBelle isn’t uniform from year to year It can be odd shaped and can crack around the stem if it gets too ripe An early season apple it also doesn’t keep as well as Pazazz At 79 Shefelbine continues to plant seeds and to comb the young trees grown from seed for exceptional fruit He spends 3 to 4 hrs a day in late summer and fall walking the seedling orchard tasting and evaluating apples He also invites his pick-your-own customers to try some of the experimentals Ones with promise go into the cooler for longer-term evaluation “I have apples from 25 trees in the cooler ” says Shefelbine “I will sample them once a month To be selected they need to taste good months down the road ” Shefelbine has other varieties at different stages of development One numbered variety is being evaluated by a group of 50 growers Another he describes as a very good apple ripens the 20th of August “I save a lot of seeds from this one to replant ” says Shefelbine “I have another that is a super good keeper and would be a 12-month apple It is juicy but with a denser texture than Pazazz ” Some of his selections look good but ripen too slowly for Shefelbine’s zone 4 area Another can be sliced and left on a windowsill for months without turning brown Still another one produces small crab-type apples and may have a value as a new type of rootstock “Every seed in every apple is different ” says Shefelbine “I’m surprised that I’ve found as many as I have I have 5 or 6 that I feel are better than what is on the commercial market today ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Shefelbine Orchard and Pumpkin Patch Shefelbine Rd Holmen Wis 54636 ph 608 526-3495; Sheforch@riverland org; www facebook com/ShefelbineOrchard/

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