SPRING

We do not know when and how the apple tree arrived in Sweden but today, our pomological heritage includes around 250 apple varieties.
The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in Alnarp has the task of preserving old fruit varieties in a national gene bank.
Two trees of each variety are kept, both in Alnarp and in a local clone archive.
One of the largest clone archives with 220 apple varieties is located at Brunstorps Gård outside Huskvarna.

GREVE PERS BORDSÄPPLE (COUNT PER’S TABLE APPLE)

History:  “Old sort of unknown origin” according to pomologist Alexandra Smirnoff (1896). Grows in a few places around Gränna. Some believe that the variety originates from count Per Brahe the Younger’s apple orchards, hence the name.

Growth habit: The tree is regarded as strong growing.

Flowering period: Early; beautiful blossom, pink buds and white flowers that are pink on the outside.

Fruit characteristics: Middle-sized, flattened conical with rounded ridges. Base colour light green, with red streaks and spots on sun-facing side.

Taste and ripening: Flesh is pale greenish-yellow and fairly soft, tart with mild sweetness and good aroma. Ripening from second half of August.

Experience and recommendations: A highly attractive apple with beautiful blossom.

Relatively even crops, some years abundant. The apple should be picked from the tree and eaten directly. Unfortunately, the fruit with its thin stalk does not hang firmly and falls easily in strong rain and wind. Recommended hardiness zone: 1–4.

from Äldre äpplesorter för dagens trädgårdar (Old Apple Varieties for Today’s Gardens), Björn Kalin, SLU 2019

MORE ABOUT APPLE CULTIVATION

Sites with particularly good conditions for apple growing are often found on the eastern side of big lakes, with late springs and long autumns. Such climate ensures that the blossom is not damaged by frost and that the fruit has enough time to ripen properly. The fertile slopes along the south-eastern shore of Lake Vättern meet these requirements exactly.

One of the first people in the area to grow fruit on a large scale was Elis Nyström. As early as 1914, he planted 700 apple trees at Strandvallen outside Gisebo. Initially, the planting of fruit trees on prime agricultural land was met with scepticism. But in the following years of war and famine, several farmers followed his example. Today, the area is the third largest fruit growing district in Sweden.

Over time, apple varieties have been replaced and cultivation methods have changed. There are now around 3,000 trees growing on an area where they used to plant 200. Today’s fruit growers not only cultivate, but also refine their products under own brand names. The Vättern Region apple kingdom delivers not only fresh fruit, but also juice, cider, jams and preserves to destinations far beyond the county borders.

IN BRIEF

• Pomology is the study of fruit and berry cultivation.
• In Alvastra, near Omberg, archaeologists have found a 4,000-year-old charred apple.
• It takes around four to five years before an apple tree starts bearing fruit.
• An apple tree can live to be well over a hundred years old.
• There are more than 7,500 apple varieties in the world. If you try one sort every day it will take 20 years before you’ve tried them all!

DISPLAY ITEM

Ornamental cushion embroidered with feather stitch, French knots and stem stitch, designed by Mary Karlsson Moeschlin in 1953 for Jönköping County Handicraft Association

FUN WITH APPLES

SOW YOUR OWN APPLE TREE

You need:

Some apple pips
A plant pot, approx. 10 cm high
Potting soil

Do this:

Apples that have been stored all winter have the best pips.
Soak the pips for a couple of hours in lukewarm water.
Fill a 10 cm high pot with good soil and plant the pips at a depth of 2 cm.

Cover the pots with plastic bags to keep the soil moist,
but remove the plastic as soon as the shoots appear.
Shoots are the first sign of green showing in the pot.

It takes around one or two months before you can see the shoots,
slightly less if the pot is in a warm place.
Don’t let the soil dry out, because then the shoot will die.
But too much water and the shoot will rot.

When the plant has become around 10 centimetres tall,
it’s time to repot it into a bigger pot.
Move your apple tree into the garden when the weather permits.