North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Regina Kreger" <regina@kreger.net>]

I came across that as well, and thought it sounded great.  Unfortunately
...... well, look up Southmeadow on http://www.gardenwatchdog.com.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rodney Eveland" <reveland@collinscom.net>
To: <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2004 9:44 PM
Subject: [NAFEX] Celestia (old apple variety found).


> http://www.southmeadowfruitgardens.com/FeaturedFruitTrees.html
> A michigan source. See fruit tree catalog
>
> I came across this site while searching for Foxwhelp. Searching on
> Foxwhelp finds lots of rare and cider apples.
>
> On rare occasions one of the great old American apples mentioned in
> the early literature is rediscovered. Such is the case with CELESTIA.
> CELESTIA was first mentioned by John Warder in his classic work
> "American Pomology - Apples 1887" containing 1500 names of apples. He
> called CELESTIA a fruit with very profusely, aromatic and spicy
> flavor.
>
> It is interesting that although Warder gave a "best" rating to several
> varieties such as Canada Red, Esopus Spitzenberg, Newtown Pippin and
> Early Joe, CELESTIA is the only one he rated "very best". For this
> reason amateur fruit gardeners have always hoped CELESTIA could be
> found. We are delighted to be able to make it available.
>
> Andrew Jackson Downing mentioned CELESTIA in 1869 describing its flesh
> as "crisp, tender, juicy, very pleasant, rich, mild, subacid". It was
> also in the great collection of the New York State Agricultural
> Experiment Station assembled at the end of the 19th century. Then it
> disappeared from cultivation until the late Conrad Gemmer of
> Susquehanna, Pa, found it about a decade ago in an old New Jersey
> orchard. At the time of his death Gemmer had a collection of 500
> varieties, mostly American. He was a lifelong fruit explorer (Perry
> Russet, Doctor, Golden Pippin were among his findings and are all in
> our list). He grafted CELESTIA and fruited it for several years until
> he was satisfied of its authenticity. Gemmer's judgement in this area
> is convincing. At Southmeadow we also fruited it for several years and
> have been amazed at its high quality.
>
> CELESTIA has a firm pale green skin sometimes with a pink or brownish
> blush, often becoming yellowish in maturity and speckled broadly with
> very fine dots. It is exceedingly juicy with a luscious, delicious
> quality that makes it even today one of the most enjoyable apples in
> our list to eat out of hand.
>
>
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