Apples

The Amazing Apple Tree – A Timeless Home-Orchard Classic!

(Malus domestica)

Apples aren’t just for commercial orchards. In fact, you’ll never find some of the most delicious varieties in a grocery store. You have to grow them yourself, or at least know someone who does… These versatile trees are perfect for homesteaders and permaculturists looking to create a sustainable food source right in their own backyard. Here’s why you’ll love having apple trees in your edible landscape:

1. Long-lived productivity: With proper care, apple trees can produce fruit for 50+ years. Talk about a long-term investment!
2. Variety galore: We offer a range of unique apple cultivars with different ripening times, flavors, and growth habits.
3. Four-season interest: Spring blossoms, summer shade, fall fruit, and winter structure – apple trees offer year-round beauty and function.
4. Pollinator paradise: Those fragrant spring flowers aren’t just pretty – they’re a crucial early food source for bees and other beneficial insects.
5. Versatile harvest: Fresh eating, baking, cider-making, preserving – the possibilities are endless!

Our nursery offers a diverse range of apple tree varieties, focusing mainly on disease resistant and heirloom varieties. We grow apples that do well for us using low and no-spray methods. We also tend to focus on apples that keep well, so that you can enjoy the harvest during the winter months.

Most varieties are hardy in USDA zones 4-8, with some cultivars adapted for warmer or cooler climates. Planting two or more varieties ensures better pollination and fruit set.

Our apple trees come as robust bare-root stock, ready for planting in late fall or early spring. All our apple trees are grown on semi-dwarf rootstock (M111 and B118), unless otherwise noted. Whereas trees on dwarfing rootstock are short-lived and require much more intensive irrigation and care, semi-dwarf trees are able to fend for themselves, but can still be kept at a manageable height with pruning.

Need advice on selecting the right apple varieties for your climate and goals? We’re here to help! Just reach out with any questions. Let’s get those apple trees growing and your permaculture system thriving!

Ready to add some apple goodness to your homestead? Add your trees to the cart and get ready for decades of delicious, homegrown fruit. Happy planting, friends!

Variety Info:

All grafted apples are grafted on one year old semi-dwarf (emla111 or bud118) rootstock unless otherwise noted.

• Ashmead’s Kernel—a classic English apple celebrated for its russeted skin and distinctive flavor. With hints of honey, nuts, and citrus, this heirloom variety, dating back to the 18th century, delivers a crisp bite and aromatic experience. Ideal for fresh snacking or enhancing culinary creations, it remains a timeless favorite.
• Baldwin—One of the most important commercial varieties in the 19th century, keeps really well, great all-around apple. The first Baldwin grew as a chance seedling in Wilmington, Massachusetts in the mid 1700’s
• Gravenstein—A high-quality dessert and cooking apple originally from Europe in the 17th century or earlier.
• Golden Russet—An old American cultivar that originated in upstate New York in the early 1800’s. It has excellent flavor and good disease resistance. Great for fresh eating, storage, cooking, and it is often used for  hard cider as well. Early to mid-season ripening.
• Jonafree—A disease-resistant apple, nearly immune to apple scab, resistant to fireblight and cedar-apple rust.
• Keepsake—One of the best winter storage varieties. Juicy crisp red apples.
• Liberty—Another disease-resistant cultivar with heavy and regular crops of high-quality fruit. Developed by the Geneva Research Station at Cornell in the 1960’s.
• Milden—Excellent late-ripening storage apple, similar to Baldwin but hardier.
• Northern Spy—A late season apple, great all-around (fresh eating, cooking, cider, etc.) with large fruits. Can take a little extra time to come into bearing.
• Rhode Island Greening—The quintessential apple pie apple. This is a well-loved American cultivar that dates back to the 1600’s.
• Spigold—Very large golden fruit, stores well, some resistance to fireblight. Really good flavor. Another one developed at the Geneva Research Station in the 1960’s.
• Wealthy—A super cold hardy American heirloom apple with wonderful flavor.
• Westfield Seek-No-Further—A beloved desert apple that originated in the 1700’s in Westfield, Massachusetts. Mid-season, stores well.
• Williams’ Pride—A super early ripening variety bred for disease resistance. A wonderful summer apple.