Where to find apple samples in Seattle?

13 years ago

So...I've been growing veggies in our community P-Patch and in my back yard for 10 years or so. Our old house had fruit trees, but we just moved to a new house with no fruit trees. It has room for several trees. Now I'm going through the process of deciding which varieties and trees will be best.

I remember my parents' experience getting an apple tree from a big box store...it was sold as a dwarf or semi-dwarf, but grew to 30 or 40 feet and they recently cut it down in frustration/disgust. They (and I) just didn't know about the importance of varieties and root stocks.

It looks like Raintree and Hartmann nurseries do a great job finding varieties that work well in the Pacific Northwest and root stocks that work well in urban yards.

My issue now: I'd like to get these trees in the ground in the next couple of months, but I would like to taste some of the varieties. Any idea where I'd find sample apples in numerous varieties? I see that there is a society for Seattle fruit tree growers, but their annual tasting event was held 6 weeks ago. The U-District Farmer's Market, maybe? I remember (15 years ago?) when the now long-gone produce store in the U-District had something like 40 varieties of apples. Is there anything similar now? I'm thinking that the best shot at finding a wide assortment of "heirloom" (aka non-commercial) varieties may be at one of the farmer's markets. U-District? Fremont? Which is biggest?

On another note...the 3-in-1 or 4-in-1 trees seem like a good way to maximize variety in minimal space. In addition, I like Jonagold, but I see that other varieties are needed to pollinate Jonagold. A 3-in-1 or 4-in-1 with Jonagold can be self-pollinating, so seems like a good choice. Downsides?

Thanks in advance!

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Comments (2)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
13 years ago
Tasting various apple varieties now could pose a bit of a challenge - many of the heirloom types and other, non-commercial varieties that do well in this climate have a short shelf life and just are not available at this time of year. The farmers markets and fruit tasting festivals are an excellent resource for this type of activity, but as you've already realized, these tend to be held earlier in the season, more aligned with the fall harvest time.

The multi-graft trees can be a good way of introducing a variety of different apple types but they do have a couple of drawbacks: grafts often fail with these trees and that 5-way graft you started out with may wind up to be only a 2 - or 3-way graft eventually. And most growers select from a limited stock for grafting purposes, generally those that are the most popular or are reported to do best in this area, not necessarily including many heirloom or less common varieties.

Many local nurseries and garden centers - NOT box stores - will have a very good selection of locally suitable apple varieties (including some less common/heirloom selections) available for sale early in the new year as bare root stock - February is the typical month to look for these as well as an ideal time to plant. And most of these will be offered on solid dwarfing or semi-dwarfing root stock. It is important to realize that the term "dwarf" is relative :-) Semi-dwarf trees can be expected to grow around 2/3's the mature size of a 'standard' tree, fully dwarf about 1/2 the mature size and minis around 1/3 the mature size. But all trees, even those grafted to dwarfing rootstock, will continue to grow so careful pruning and training is generally needed to keep size in check. And apples in particular respond very well to regular pruning and will generally respond by producing better and heavier crops.

If you search the archives of this forum you should turn up some earlier posts that discuss the merits of various apple varieties for this area. This topic comes up fairly regularly and everyone weighs in with their favorites.
Embothrium
13 years ago
Visit more than one market to find a variety to choose from. I'd start with the PCC chain, maybe others with similar "green" themes. Other Kroger stores like Fred Meyer and QFC may also have multiple kinds, including interesting ones at any particular time. It ain't like it used to be.
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