North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[dwoodard@becon.org]

This brings up what for me is a very interesting point.

When I lived in Ottawa and later near Kingston, Ontario (1972-82)
I was able to buy excellent Northern Spies grown in
Prince Edward County (the peninsula which projects from the north 
shore of Lake Ontario) which had the classical yellowish (in some
cases positively yellow) flesh and a spicy flavour.

Since I moved to St. Catharines in the Niagara Peninsula 23 years
ago, I have only been able to buy Spies with white flesh and inferior 
flavour (they definitely fit the classic description of Northern Spy
on the outside, with striping, and they were not Red Spy). I wonder
whether it's because of soil or fertilizer or whether there are
multiple clones of Northern Spy around.

Can anyone shed light on this mystery?

Doug Woodard
St. Catharines, Ontario


On Wed, 8 Nov 2006, derry and bill wrote:

> I've had a request for some really good Northern Spys for an
> eighty-eight year old mother in Saginaw, Michigan. The daughter wants
> quality NSPYs not quantity.

[snip]