David Benscoter, a retired FBI agent, is once again on the hunt, but this time for historically significant apples in the Pacific Northwest. North America once had 17,000 apple varieties, but that’s dwindled to 4,500 types today. Benscoter and his friend E.J. Brandt are shifting those numbers. Through the Lost Apple Project they have assisted in finding 23 apples once thought to be extinct.
Once found, experts at The Temperate Orchard Conservancy identify the specimens like the Sary Sinap, an ancient apple from Turkey, and the Streaked Pippin, which may have originated as early as 1744 in New York. Then scions [grafting wood] are obtained from the tree, some of which are sent to the Temperate Orchard Conservancy where they immediately graft two new trees that will stay forever at the conservancy, and, adds Benscoter,“I try to grow at least a branch or two on my apple trees so I can grow and harvest scions each spring and make new trees.” Most varieties are then available for purchase through the project.
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Photo: Lost Apple Project
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