Celebrating and remembering old fruit and vegetable varieties
The Lancashire Pippin was received by the national fruit trials in 1950, from Westmorland in Northern England.
Fruits have soft, slightly course flesh with a subacid flavour. Reportedly, this flavour becomes very bland when cooked.
Uses: Culinary
Parents: Unknown
Flowers: Mid to late May
Picking: Mid September
Natural Storage: October
The Lancashire Pippin apple can be found growing in the orchards of Acorn Bank House, Temple Sowerby, Cumbria.
The Ribston Pippin was raised at Ribston Hall in Yorkshire, England, from seed brought from Rouen in France. It is thought to have been planted around 1707, receiving it’s first RHS Award of Merit in 1962.
Fruits have a red/yellow flush and the flesh a fine, firm, crisp texture which is juicy with a rich, sweet aromatic flavour.
Uses: Desert
Parents: Unknown
Flowers: Early to Mid May
Picking: Late September
Natural Storage: October – January
The Ribston Pippin apple can be found growing in the orchards of Acorn Bank House, Temple Sowerby, Cumbria.
Young trees available from Adams Apples
The Egremont Russet apple is a classic English Victorian variety, originating in England in 1872. Believed to have been raised by the Earl of Egremont in Petworth, Sussex, England.
This medium sized desert apple has a dull golden skin flecked with yellow and is the third most common apple in cultivation in England and Wales.
The flesh of the Egremont Russet is quite dry but juicy with a sharp-sweet, delicately “nutty” flavour. The flesh becomes drier with keeping.
Uses: Desert
Parents: Unknown
Flowers: Mid May
Picking: October
Natural Storage: October to December.
The Egremont Russet can be found growing in the orchards of Acorn Bank House, Temple Sowerby, Cumbria.
Young trees available from Adams Apples
Kidd’s Orange Red is a classic English apple. Named after an amateur New Zealand apple breeder, J.H. Kidd, in the 1920s.
The thin skin is yellow with a pink blush as it ripens, turning to an orange-red flush by the time it is ready for picking. Irregular light patches of russet can give it a marbled appearance.
Flesh is a cream colour, dense and firm with a sweet honey flavour.
A good garden apple but not a heavy cropper.
Uses: Desert
Parents: Cox’s Orange Pippin x Red Delicious
Flowers: Mid May
Picking: October
Natural Storage: Nov-Jan
The Norfolk Beefing or Norfolk Biffin apple was raised in Norfolk, England and first recorded in 1807.
Fruits are very firm, round and slightly flat, about 5cms across and about 4 cms high with a course, juicy texture. The skin is yellow-green, but with brown-purple and dark red streaks.
Inside, the crisp flesh has a green tint, acidic with a hint of cinnamon.
The apples store well, getting sweeter with keeping, and are even sweet enough to use as desert apples by March the following year. A good cooking and drying apple.
With keeping, they turn a deeper brown or maroon colour, with harder, more solid flesh.
These apples were popular with Norwich bakers and were sent to London fruiterers as a delicacy. They were also used for cider making
It is best cooked whole in a very slow (bread) oven for over 4 – 5 hours.
Uses: Culinary
Parents: Unknown
Flowers: Mid May
Picking: Mid October
Natural Storage: December – April
Where to find the Norfolk Beefing apple: Acorn Bank, Temple Sowerby, Cumbria.