Rescheduled Antique Apple Tree Grafting Seminar To March 17
CAMPTON HILLS, IL: Weather delayed delivery of the root stock for Garfield Farm Museum’s 32nd annual Antique Apple Tree Grafting Seminar so it has been rescheduled for Sunday, March 17, at 1:30 pm. For $30, participants make 3 grafts of heirloom varieties to take home for planting this spring. Garfield Farm Museum is located 5 miles west of Geneva, Ill off ILL Rt. 38 on Garfield Road. Reservations are required by calling (630) 584-8485 or e-mail info@garfieldfarm.org.
Apple tree expert Dan Bussey leads the seminar and will bring several different antique varieties of scions. Not only has he re-discovered many antique varieties he also is one of the top experts in the country on historic varieties. He has written “The Illustrated History of Apples in the United States and Canada”, a 7 volume work listing all known varieties.
Dan's knowledge of apple varieties' qualities makes the unblemished perfectly shaped standard grocery store apple a pale shadow of what an apple is supposed to be. Apples are either used for cooking, cider, or dessert (eating an apple as is). One might be great for apple pies but not as good for cider.
Likewise, from a growing standpoint, some might ripen early in the summer and others might be late requiring several months of storage before they are at their prime. An early apple might satisfy that delayed gratification of waiting from winter until summer for a fresh apple, but ones that required storage before being eaten made apples available long into spring. Eating "out of season" made possible by worldwide shipping and refrigeration has made worrying about what is left in one's cellar after a long winter a remote experience of the past. Yet for lovers of cider, pies, and sauces, knowing the traits of each variety is like a wine expert knowing grapes and vintages.
There is a $30 donation for the class and reservations are required. Participants are asked to bring a sharp knife. Call the museum at (630) 584-8485, or email at info@garfieldfarm.org . Garfield Farm Museum is located 5 miles west of Geneva, IL off ILL Rt. 38 on Garfield Road. The 375-acre site is a historically intact former 1840s farm and teamster inn being restored as an 1840s working farm museum by volunteers and donors from around the country. |