Grimes Golden
Chance seedling
Grimes Golden is a variety of apple which was particularly prevalent in the 19th and early 20th century in the USA. It is the probable father places of Golden Delicious, with whom he has strong similarities in taste, appearance and cultivation characteristics.
Description
Grimes Golden has a similar sweet taste such as Golden Delicious, but will be described by most critics as something spicier. It is suitable as an eating apple, for cooking and cider production, but is less suitable for baking. The apple is slightly elongated with a shoulder to the rib formation. How Golden Delicious he has a characteristically long and tight handle, visually Grimes Golden and Golden Delicious are virtually indistinguishable. The tree flowers in April with white flowers, the fruits are ready to harvest in September and October.
Grimes Golden is one of the few apple varieties that can fertilize themselves. He needs a lot of sun and a well drained soil. The tree, however, is susceptible to collar rot that destroyed large stocks of the late 19th century and was first known as " Grimes collar rot ". Grimes Golden is precocious in warm climates and therefore has only a limited shelf life.
History
Grimes Golden was built in 1802 as a chance seedling by Thomas Grimes found on the property of a farm, which he had recently acquired. Was planted the apple probably from the settlers Edward Crawford, who experimented since 1790 with the apple breeding and had sold his farm in Grimes. Starting from this first apple he planted an orchard of good tasting apples. Nevertheless, Grimes Golden remained only a local celebrity, until 1866 the magazine The American horticulturalist apple devoted an enthusiastic article that also made fruit growers outside West Virginia's attention to the fruit for decades.
The original tree existed over a hundred years, until 1905, a storm destroyed it. Its wood was used to make ceremonial wooden hammers for the West Virginia Agricultural Society, which were then issued to the notables of the area. Parts of the strain are kept by the West Virginia University. Golden Delicious displaced in the 1920s and 1930s Grimes Golden from the commercial cultivation. Although the Grimes superior taste was often awarded, but Golden Delicious yielded more reliable and higher yields. Only in the late 20th century saw Grimes Golden, a small renaissance. Along with other old American varieties such as Northern Spy, Arkansas Black, Russet or Newtown Pippin returned Rosbury Grimes Golden back to the farms of individual providers back and since then can be found regularly on regional markets and in some supermarkets.
According to legend, the tree was planted by Johnny Appleseed in West Virginia, where he discovered Grimes later. At the site of Grimes Golden Discovery since 1922 is a plaque commemorating the discovery today which there is a small memorial park with a few apple trees, and once a year to find his honor a local apple festival instead. Published in 1994, the indie rock band Further their album Grimes Golden, they used an old botanical illustration of an apple for the cover.