Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Wolf River

nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: mIEKAL aND <dtv@mwt.net>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Wolf River
  • Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 09:13:45 -0600

I know you all will scoff at this but we happen to have way too many Wolf Rivers planted in our orchard & last year we sent them off to be pressed into cider & it made a surprisingly good base for our cider. A bit too sweet but when it's free on the trees, hard to complain.

mIEKAL


On Mar 10, 2005, at 8:47 AM, Big Horse Creek Farm wrote:

Hi folks,
I wanted to comment about the Wolf River as it relates to the history of
apple growing here in the Southern Appalachians.

This is one of our most requested apple varieties and for good reason. It
makes an outstanding applesauce and is the number one choice in this region
for apple butter. When people talk about making apple butter around here,
this is THE apple they mention. It is a variety that has a very significant
heritage in the Appalachians. Historically, local mountain communities would
gather together when the Wolf River's ripened and spend all day cooking up
gallons of apple butter which was then shared with all the neighbors.
Although these gatherings are much less frequent these days, these community
events were an extremely important part of local culture. These
get-togethers allowed families and friends, many of whom lived in isolated
pockets ("hollers") in the deep mountains, the opportunity to gather
together and renew friendships, share stories and reconnect with their
neighbors.

It's quite rewarding for us to meet old-timers who relate these stories and
to see the enthusiasm when they talk about all the "old apples". I have
literally seen their faces light up with joy when they visit us at our
Farmers Market and see the Limbertwigs, Wolf Rivers, Sheepnose, Red June and
all the other old varieties they recall from their youth. It's part of what
makes this work so enjoyable for us.

Here's wishing everyone a terrific growing season.
Ron
Joyner





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page