Do you have a favorite apple variety that originated near you?

I think it's really awesome when I hear about an apple that originated in a certain area, that is well adapted to that area and thrives with little outside effort. It's also nice when it's delicious too!

My favorite one that originated pretty near me in NC is probably Magnum Bonum. It is a medium to smaller sized red apple with great flavor. It's name literally means "great good" in Latin. The tree is supposedly a vigorous grower and resistant to most major apple diseases too!

Anyone else have any local apple favorites?

They're not exactly heirlooms, but since the University of MN is an apple-breeding dynasty, plenty of varieties originated near me! 😋 Their latest release, First Kiss, is a stunner. Grab some if you find them, you won't regret it.

Funny thing, we didn't even have apples here due to the cold climate until the late 19th century. It took one very dedicated person with a crazy dream to get fruit tree breeding established.

Local adaptations are huge in apples. There is a world of difference between a Honeycrisp grown in MN and a Honeycrisp grown in WA. I'm pretty sure most of the people who say Honeycrisp is overrated are eating WA Honeycrisps. The UMN is using licensing requirements on First Kiss to approximate a protected place designation—only apples grown within the state may be sold as First Kiss. The same variety grown elsewhere is sold under the alternative trademark Rave.

Goldrush apples are my absolute favorite. Sweet, slightly tart, crisp and well keeping. Not to mention beautiful. They were developed at Purdue, so not as cool as an old locally adapted variety or whatnot. But still amazing! And fairly disease resistant to boot.