The Nova Scotia Old-Fashioned Gravenstein apple is officially on the Ark.
No, not Noah’s Ark, but Slow Food’s international Ark of Taste, a worldwide compendium of foods that have historic and cultural value as well as great taste.
The selection of the Gravenstein acknowledges our apple culture that extends back to the Acadians who brought their apple traditions to North America. Apples were eaten fresh, put in cellars for cold storage and also served as a great liquor supply when made into cider.
The application was put together with the support of Dela Erith, the Executive Director of the Nova Scotia Fruit Growers Association (NSFGA) and a Slow Food member. The following historical outline was prepared by Helen Arenburg of the NSFGA:
Charles Prescott retired to the country (Starr’s Point, Kings County) from Halifax around 1800. He was about 40 years old at the time. At his new estate, Acacia Grove, he developed extensive gardens and took a keen interest in horticulture. He brought in many fruit trees or scions from other countries to see if they would grow well in Nova Scotia’s climate. He is known to have brought more than 100 varieties of apples to Nova Scotia. Several of these varieties are still popular in Nova Scotia today. The Northern Spy is a favourite of the pie processing companies and the Gravenstein is an early season favourite of just about everyone who tastes it.
Prescott obtained the scions of Gravenstein through his affiliation with the London Horticultural Society, although the origin of the apple is placed in Gravenstein, Holstein, Germany before 1669. It is said that by the time Prescott died in 1859 every Nova Scotia farm had at least one Gravenstein tree. The Gravenstein was likely so popular because it is the quintessential multi-purpose apple. It has a delightful flavour and is very juicy when eaten fresh, it is a wonderful cooking apple and also good for making cider. Gravenstein apples stored successfully for several months in a cold storage area. Gravensteins do not ripen all at the same time which may be another reason for their popularity on small mixed farms in days gone by.
The fruit on these early trees was green, ripening to yellow. In 1876 a Gravenstein tree was found on the farm of Stanley Banks in Waterville, Kings Co. that bore fruit with red streaks. This was named ‘Banks Gravenstein’. It grew in popularity with growers and consumers because of it’s colour. It has sometimes been referred to locally as ‘the Banks apple’.
In 1912 another red Gravenstein was found, this one was named “Crimson Gravenstein”. Orchard Census data collected in 1939 and 1940 led the provincial horticulturist of the day to predict a decrease in the tonnage of Gravenstein and an increase in the tonnage of Crimson Gravenstein. At that time there were nearly 68,000 Gravenstein trees and just under 43,000 Crimson Gravenstein trees in Annapolis, Kings and Hants Counties.
1939 to the mid-1940’s were years of big change in the apple industry of Nova Scotia. In 1939 the leading apple varieties were Ben Davis, Stark, Wagener, Baldwin and Golden Russet. By 1949 the five leading varieties were McIntosh, Red Delicious, Gravenstein, Cortland and Northern Spy. Gravenstein has remained in the top 5 through tree censuses, 1964, 1973, 1982 and 1996, although no breakdown is shown between Gravenstein and Crimson Gravenstein in the later censuses.
In Nova Scotia the green/yellow Gravensteins, which have been here for nearly two centuries, are called Old-Fashioned Gravensteins to differentiate them from the two ‘newer’ red strains, the youngest of which is nearing the century mark.
Gravenstein apples are grown well in several places in the world. Nova Scotia is one of those places where climate is ideal for Gravenstein
