JENNIFER WASTIE Another apple bred by F.W. Wastie, in 1934, and first recorded when sent to the National Fruit Trials in 1945, by his son J.F. Wastie. As with Jennifer, above, J.F. Wastie provided the names for his father’s apples, and also named this one after his daughter Jennifer. A middle to late season dessert apple ripe in September to October. It is a cross between Ribston Pippin and Barnack Beauty. The flattish apples are slightly ribbed, with skin of green/yellow, flushed red, with coarse brown russet. Sweet and well flavoured but not particularly juicy. Pollination Group 4

  
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

JOANETING A very early dessert apple first mentioned by Bacon around 1600. According to Evelyn in his Kalendarium of 1669, calling it Juniting, it is ripe in June and ‘the first ripe’. In the current climate it is ripe at the end of July. Forsyth in 1810 said ‘The Juneting, or Jenneting, is a small yellowish Apple, red on the side next the sun. It is a pretty fruit for early variety and ripens about the latter end of June or beginning of July’. Rogers, in 1837, said they used to be sold in the London markets as ‘Fine Gennetings’. The spellings of the name have been numerous and there were once several different sorts. Today we are left with just this one and White Joaneting, though we believe some others still exist. (See East Ayton Early) The sweet but small apples do not keep long and so must almost be eaten straight from the tree. When caught right they are sweet, crisp and juicy with a good flavour. It has good crops. Pollination Group 2

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

  

JIM BACON APPLE This rather different little apple was heralded to us by Sarah Dray, daughter of Brendan Sellick, a fifth generation ‘Mud-Horse Fisherman’ and the one who remembered the curious name of ‘Jim Bacon Apple’. No-one knows who Jim Bacon was! Sarah lives at Mudhorse Cottage while her father, Brendan, now in his mid- eighties, lives next door –at Stolford, Somerset, where the River Severn estuary opens into the Bristol Channel. Since 1820, Brendan’s family have pushed their mudhorses (an ancient design of sledge that glides over mud) for a mile over the estuary at low tide to collect fish and crustaceans from their nets. Sadly, this family is the last to keep this ancient tradition alive, even worldwide, and Brendan’s son Adrian is the sole practitioner left. Once, many local people practised the craft. When Brendan visited the doctor at nearby Shurton village, he thought he saw a tree of Jim Bacon Apples. He remembered the name from his great grandfather, who had a tree, now gone. That would put the age of this variety around the middle of the 19th century or earlier. It reminded him that he thought there was also a tree of it next door in his son’s garden. Sarah sent us apples in 2017 and scions in 2018, and though we have yet to discover its full nature it is certainly a very ‘individual’ tree. The apples are green to yellow, with a shape variable between conical, round and oblong, with just a hint of ribbing. The apples seen were small to medium sized, but might be larger in other years. In a warm year, apples were ripe in mid-September but would normally ripen a little later. The flesh is very fine, to the point of seeming soft, but they are juicy enough and sweet, with a good flavour. The acidity is mild. The habit of growth (at least, when young) is rather compact, with a strong tendency to form spurs in profusion on quite a short length of growth, though it is not a weak grower. It looks as if it is very willing to fruit at just two years old. We are very grateful to all the Sellick family and hope the Mud-Horse Fishermen persist and thrive.

    
 

JOHN STANDISH Raised around 1873, probably by John Standish of Ascot, Berkshire. It was introduced many years later in 1922 by Isaac House & Sons, at the Imperial Fruit Show. A dessert apple, sometimes conical, sometimes round and with very pale skin, largely covered in bright red streaks and flecked with russet. In some soils or years, it can be red all over. It has crisp, white and juicy flesh, which stays white, when cut, overnight. It has a sharp, but sweet flavour, is ripe in October and stores to February. The trees are upright growers. Pollination Group 4

    
 
JOLLY BEGGAR A Scottish early season cooking apple raised by Dr. Lyell, of Newburgh, Fife. It was introduced around 1858. A medium sized rounded apple turning pale yellow when ripe, with a few pink/red streaks or an orange flush. It was very well regarded by Hogg, Scott and Bunyard as a valuable early apple, ripe in late August or early September. In some years it can be eaten raw and is sweet, crisp and juicy, but it is primarily a cooking apple, which cooks slowly, keeps its shape and is richly flavoured and not too sharp. The initial sweetness fades a little on cooking and some might want to add a little sugar. By the end of October it is still in reasonable condition but has lost most of its flavour. A good bearer which starts fruiting when quite young. Pollination Group 4
    
 
JOYBELLS A pretty apple raised early in the twentieth century by Robert Lloyd, who was gardener at Brookwood Hospital, Woking, Surrey, and thought to be introduced by William Taylor of Godalming, Surrey, who presented it to the RHS who gave it an Award of Merit in 1922. It was previously known as Lloyd’s Joybells. The skin is striped in shades of carmine and red, with some grey russeting; the flesh is sweet, crisp and juicy, with a subtle spicy flavour, though not strong. It ripens in early October and will store for a month or two. A striking apple, of middle quality. Pollination Group 4
   
 
KANDIL SINAP There are several apples with ‘Sinap’ as part of the name and their origin has been attributed to Crimea, though it seems highly likely they arose in Sinop (formerly called Sinap) which is on a peninsula on the most northerly edge of Turkey, facing northwards to Crimea, just across the Black Sea. Kandil Sinap is an old and distinctively shaped apple, probably arising before 1800. It was one of the most popular market varieties in south eastern Europe. Bunyard (1920) said that it was occasionally met with in this country. A late, dual purpose apple, long barrel shaped, with yellow skin heavily flushed with deep red, but paler in some years. With white, crisp, juicy, sweet and pleasantly flavoured flesh, which lingers in the mouth, it is ripe in mid to late October and stores until February. Crops can be heavy. Pollination Group 4
    
 
KANE’S SEEDLING A medium sized dessert apple existing before 1889 when it was exhibited from Southwell, probably the one in Nottinghamshire. This was the only record. It received an award of merit from the RHS. In 2005, Philip Rainford found a tree in an Arnside orchard, on the south side of the Kent Estuary, Lancashire. The name had been given to the present owner by the previous owner, who was 100 years old. It is a middle season apple, conical, and with yellow skin flushed red in the sun. The flesh is crisp, juicy and sweet with a subtle flavour. The sweetness comes partly from the flavour as well as sugar. It has a gentle acidity and is good all round. A recent dna test has made this the same as Sharlston Pippin, but we feel they are different. Pollination Group 6
    
         
 
KATH’S HANOVER HERITAGE An excellent old apple, brought to us in 2009 by Lucinda Reeves of Grendon Underwood, Buckinghamshire. When living in the Hanover area of Brighton, Lucinda’s neighbour, Kath Gibson, had a tall apple tree in her garden. With fruit to spare, Lucinda was invited to help herself. Kath is no longer living and the house and tree are now owned by her son John. Lucinda, in memory of acts of kindness by Kath, wanted the tree to be her memorial and since the apple is most unlikely to be a known variety, Lucinda has named it Kath’s Hanover Heritage. The houses at Hanover were built around 1826 and according to old records, researched by Lucinda Reeves, the area was previously orchard land, with a nearby farm. Given the size and location of the tree, it is likely that it predates the building and it looks as if two other tall apple trees are in gardens further down the road. It grows on a western slope with thin topsoil over chalk, typical to the area, and is now around 30ft tall with a substantial girth. The apples are medium to large, conical to long oval and obscurely ribbed. They are also quite heavy and the skin is a little tough – both signs of a very good storing apple. They are usually ripe in mid October, though the South Coast microclimate might mean a later ripening time elsewhere. Still green, when ripe, they gradually turn a warm pale yellow and in the full sun they develop a rosy cheek. Dark lenticels can become prominent. Unusually, the apples can hang on the tree until the start of March. The warmer climate and shelter of this particular tree might account for this. In the autumn and winter it is really a culinary apple, but when stored it becomes much sweeter, making it an excellent and fragrant eating apple. As a cooker it has a rich, sharp and sweet flavour, in perfect balance, and the flesh goes a warm amber colour, especially in preserves. It keeps its shape but is very tender, especially when used at the end of winter. The flesh becomes a little more crumbly but, unlike some other dual purpose apples, it does not lose its crispness and juiciness. An important and deserving survivor, thanks to Kath, John and Lucinda. Pollination Group 4
    
 
KEELING APPLE An interesting old apple that has escaped any historical references until recently. The tree is owned by Sally Kingsley and Colin Bayles of Cottered, near Buntingford, Hertfordshire. The old garden and the old house had been in Sally’s family since 1844 and the tree had always been known as ‘The Keeling Apple’. It was 6 feet in circumference at the base and 30 feet tall when, in 2007, the old tree blew over, revealing a decaying root system and they sought our help in saving it. They brought some fruit and the name with them. A pretty, oval apple with yellow skin, striped and spotted with crimson. The greenish flesh is crunchy, crisp, juicy and sweet with a refreshing flavour. Ripe at the end of September and lasting a month. A very pretty apple. Pollination Group 4
    
   
KENT ORANGE An apple we discovered in the Grove Heritage Collection in Tasmania, who sent us scions in 2013. Though the name does not appear in any reference we can find, we have been inclined to believe that this is an English apple that found its way to Australia with settlers there, as did many other apples in that notable collection. Our new trees have fruited when very young and the first fruit here was very late to ripen – in November. The apples are very striking, of dark red in the sun and deep orange in the shade. The flesh is very crisp, very juicy, sweet and rich. A very good apple, indeed. It seems to keep well, though the first few were so good they were not given much chance. Pollination Group 3
    
 
KENTISH FILLBASKET An English cooking apple, the name going back to the 1760s, though all the descriptions from then to the 1820s were of a large yellow codlin type apple and that is not the Kentish Fillbasket we now know. Hogg believed the original was the same as Kentish Codlin. A large, irregular and flat apple, with pale green skin becoming yellowish and largely streaked and blushed in dark red. The juicy flesh cooks to a richly flavoured purée, both sweet and sharp. The fruit is ready to pick in October and stores until January. The trees are strong and vigorous, and bear good crops. T* Pollination Group 3