Ontario Fruit Explorers

["Thomas Olenio" <tolenio@sentex.net>]

On Fri, 08 Sep 2006 15:02:49 -0400, Biz Storms <biz.storms@sympatico.ca>  
wrote:


> Tom, should I refridgerate the seeds as of now? Keep them in a small  
> envelope in the fridge? Let them store in a cool dark place? Sorry to  
> ask again but my saved copy of your instructions is at home.

Hi,

        1) clean off fruit pulp

        2) sterilze in bleach solution (10%, quick dip)

        3) air dry (dead dry - 1 week)

        4) put into glass bottle and store in fridge

        5) in late January move into jar with moist peat moss
           (when you want to start germination)

        6) in about 60-90 dasys, as soon as you see first root breaking
           through, pot that seed up.  Pot each seed as their root
           emerges.

        7) Plant them out

Seeds (apple) stored this way have sprouted after TEN years in the fridge.

I have a friend sending me some Annurca (Melannura) apple seeds.  Since it  
is an ANCIENT variety, I am hoping it is somewhat true to parent.  My plan  
is to grow a seedling, and then graft the seedling to a dwarfing rootstock.

Later,
Tom

Melannurca (Campania Annurca Apple)

This apple is medium-small, flattish or rounded with a streaked red skin  
and a peculiar rusty area where the stalk is. The flesh is juicy, firm,  
crispy, sweet, pleasantly acidulous and fragrant with an excellent  
flavour. It can come as no surprise that the Annurca is defined as the  
"queen of apples" for its many qualities. It is only found in Campania, in  
fact, it is an authentic and everlasting symbol of regional apple farming  
and continues to be, now as in the past, its jewel in the crown. It is an  
ancient variety of apple and can even be recognised in some Pompeiian  
frescoes at the Casa dei Cervi in Herculaneum.

The original area of this tasty fruit is the Piiteolane countryside, which  
used to be famous for its fertility. It is precisely the fact that it  
comes from Pozzuoli, once said to be where Hell was situated, that Pliny  
the Elder, the great Roman naturalist from the first century AD, called  
this apple "Mala Orcula", because it was produced around the "Orco" (the  
hereafter). From here the names "anorcola" and "annorcola" were  
subsequently used for local apples until 1876, when the name "annurca"  
appeared officially for the first time. The Annurca is cultivated in all  
the provinces of Campania, although there are particularly suitable  
traditional areas where most of the production is concentrated: the  
Giuglianese-Flegrea (in the province of Navies), the Maddalonese, the  
Aversana and the Teanese (in the province of Caserta), the Caudma-Telesina  
Valleys and the Tabiirno (in the province of Benevento). The Annurca forms  
about 60% of regional and 5% of national apple production, with an average  
of 60,000 tonnes of produce per year, and is harvested in October. What  
makes this apple special, apart from its ancient tradition, are the  
specific techniques used to produce it. One of the aspects that more than  
anything enhances the typicalness of this "queen of apples" is the way the  
apples are left on the ground in the apple field to redden. The Annurca is  
mostly green when harvested and its characteristic red colour is the  
result of the sun s rays and the able hands that periodically turn the  
apples laid out on specially prepared terrain, exposing the green part of  
the fruit to the sun little by little. This treatment can last from 20-50  
days. In ancient times the Annurca apples were arranged on "cannutoli",  
layers of hemp, that now have been replaced with other materials such as  
pine needles or, more often, wood shavings. The apple fields are also  
protected with anti-hailstone nets which also provide shade, to protect  
the fruit from direct sunliglit that would damage it irreversibly. The  
organofeptic quality of this apple, that can legitimately be considered  
organic in every respect, has so far been particularly appreciated by  
consumers in Campania and Lazio, and is gradually conquering other  
markets, thanks to its entrance into large-scale retail trade. The two  
ecotypes, the classic Annurca and its direct descendant the Southern Red  
Annurca, its natural mutant given the pomological characteristics they  
have in common, have been unified under the title of Melannurca Campana  
IGP (Campania Annurca Apple), for which we are awaiting final registration  
with the EU, albeit with two distinct varietal indications. The Annurca is  
good as well as healthy, being rich in interesting dietetic and  
nutritional qualities: a veritable concentration of vitamins, organic  
acids and mineral elements, especially potassium and magnesium to help the  
organism function properly. There are many ways to eat this delicious  
fruit, as the main ingredient for ice creams, cakes and liqueurs.




--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.405 / Virus Database: 268.12.1/440 - Release Date: 09/06/2006