Antietam Blush New Apple From University Of Maryland That You Could Be Eating Soon
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A field in western Maryland once held thousands of apple trees, pollinating and cross-pollinating, until one turned out just right.
"We threw a lot of trees away because they didn't flower. We threw a lot of trees away because they got blight. We threw a lot of trees away because we didn't like the quality of the fruit," said University of Maryland professor Christopher Walsh.
For nearly three decades, Walsh has been trying to perfect the "perfect apple" for Maryland growers.
"We need apple varieties that will tolerate the heat, the humidity and the disease pressure that growers have here in the mid-Atlantic," He said.
That's left growers with many Golden and Red Delicious Apples.
"Whenever I tested varieties from further north," Walsh said. "They didn't do well here,"
But finally from the blossoms that turned to apples, to apple seeds, Walsh has created a new variety to take on the honey crisps and pink ladies of the north.
The Antietam Blush. Walsh sampled one of the tree's smaller apples picked last fall.
"Not too sweet, not too tart. And they still have some crunch," Walsh said.
Unlike other varieties, you don't have to climb a ladder to pick the Antietam Blush. After 20 years, the tree is not more than 12 feet high.
"But the quality of the fruit that's produced because the sunlight gets to all the fruit on the tree, is actually better," Walsh said.
Nurseries are now growing new generations of Antietam Blush, for planting in orchards next year.
A few years later, customers will begin biting in.