Lee Calhoun

Heirloom apple preservationist Lee Calhoun guided us at a tasting of Old Southern Apples and Farmstead cheeses. We tasted about 9 examples of the 1300 varieties which originated in the South, followed by a few amazing local cheeses from Celebrity Dairy and Chapel Hill Creamery.

April is planning a field trip to David Vernon’s Century Farm Orchards on a yet to be determined Saturday in November when he is open to the public. If you are interested please email Andrea with your preferred day.

Here are Lee’s notes:

DR. MATTHEWS
First grown by Dr. W. F. Matthews of Brazil, Tennessee before 1895. Sold by only one southern nursery. Very rare.

INGRAM
Originated before 1855 by Martin Ingram near Springfield, Missouri. Probably a seedling of the old Virginia apple Ralls Janet. Sold by southern nurseries from 1902-1926. Very rare.

DULA BEAUTY
Grown from a seed of the Limbertwig apple before 1900 by J. A. Dula of Caldwell County, North Carolina. No catalog listings. Very rare.

GRAGG
Originated about 1860 by James Gragg of Caldwell County, North Carolina. Very rare.

SULSER RED
A mystery apple grown by the Sulser family of West Virginia for many years. They know nothing of its origin. Very rare.

RED ROYAL LIMBERTWIG
One of many Limbertwig apple varieties found by the late Henry Morton of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Mr. Morton searched the Smoky Mountains for years to save old mountain apples and sold trees through his small nursery. Very rare.

HAWKEYE
In 1881 a seedling tree first fruited in a fence row near an orchard belonging to Jesse Hiatt of Peru, Iowa. He named it Hawkeye. In 1884, Stark Bros. nursery of Missouri purchased Mr. Hiatt’s tree and began propagating and selling it. Stark Bros. renamed it “Delicious”. By 1922, Stark Bros. had sold eight million Delicious trees. Over three hundred mutations of the original Delicious apple have been found and sold by nurseries because they were bigger and redder than the original Delicious. These “Red Delicious” apples lost much of the flavor and texture of Jesse Hiatt’s Hawkeye.

My fave, the tart but sweetly named Golden Harvey
GOLDEN HARVEY
Probably of English origin. Grown in the South mostly for making apple brandy and called “Brandy Apple” by many Southerners. Last listed by southern nurseries in 1861. Very rare.

MRS. BRYAN
Grown from a seed by Robert Boatman in Walker County, Georgia, about 1870. Named in 1880 for Mrs. J. W. Bryan “an esteemed member of the Georgia Horticultural Society”. Last sold by southern nurseries in 1909. Very rare.

Fresh goat cheese from Celebrity Dairy.

Ashed, aged goat pyramids from Celebrity Dairy

Hickory Grove from Chapel Hill Creamery

Carolina Moon from Chapel Hill Creamery.

Badi meets Dr. Matthews.