For those unfamiliar with it, the Northern Spy apple is a relatively sweet thing with some tartness. Has there been a change in what people call spys? Rated by the 19th century pomologist Robert Hogg as " a valuable dessert apple ". –The Northern Spy. Is there a difference in apples from old trees and younger ones, perhaps grafted ones? It is a typical winter apple variety, picked in late October or early November, and then used through the winter months. Northern Spy is my favorite apple, but I've not found them in NM. Northern Spy apple is native to the Northern East Coast of the United States and parts of New … 6. Northern Spy apples flesh is yellow to white, rather firm, very tender, crisp, juicy, slightly sweet and mildly acidic. Upic your UPS Shipping options at checkout. To get fruit from your Northern Spy apple tree, you need another tree nearby for cross-pollination. Add to cart. If you like a well-rounded apple that you can juice, eat fresh, or put into the perfect apple pie consider putting a Northern Spy tree in your yard. History. Our Tree Man injects it to keep it very healthy. They seem to prefer colder climates, and are not generally ready to pick until mid-October. We do not accept any liability for loss or damage incurred as a result of any errors in the content of this website. I loved these apples as a kid. We just moved back to the Endless Mountains countryside and found a very mature apple tree in front of our house. Who needs a Granny Smith, when you have an apple that embodies both the tartness and a great flavor when cooked. Even here in apple country. It is also stores very well, so you can stock up and makes pies to keep you warm all winter long. Submitted by Beth Parkhurst on September 5, 2020 - 11:23am. They represent a new generation of healthy apples that are perfect for the home gardener. Any answers? Rick Sutcliffe, (a.k.a. Needs heavy pruning to develop a strong and spreading structure- wants to grow pyramidally, with many small branches. Around here (Ontario) people who're familiar with it(mostly older people) usually just call it "Spy". My parents had it pruned as a gift to us, and now it is bearing lovely Northern Spy apples. It needs full sun; well-drained, fertile soil; and plenty of room to grow. The following tree nurseries offer Northern Spy apple trees for sale: ©2019 Orange Pippin Ltd. All rights reserved. We have an apple my great grandfather planted in the late 1800's or very early 1900's. I was given a huge tree that was to be moved and hauled away from a bad location. Family members have been enjoying my deep dish apple pies from it years, & a neighbor made apple butter. SKU N/A Categories Apples, Fruits, Gluten Free, Healthy Snacks, Local Foods Tags apples, canadian. Notes: A hardy … Northern Spy apples are very juicy, crispy crunchy, tart and mildly sweet, with a rich flavor and thin, tender green and red skin. Our Spys are simply Gi-normous this year. As my mother used to say if you wa t to make a good pie use a northern spy. Northern Spy Apple Tree Overview. Great for pies and in our lunches. What are synonyms for Northern Spy (apple)? Fireblight  I would like to know variety. Excellent all purpose apple except for drying and cider. These apples are resistant to a wide range of diseases including apple scab and mildew. All three orchards proclaimed they had spys, but all were much softer and not nearly as tart as in the old days. I grew up enjoying my grandmother's "deep-dish apple pie" (a pie baked in a shallow rectangular Pyrex pan with only a top crust) made from those apples. Upper-level memberships are donation levels that help … (Romeo, MI is well known for its orchards). We are grateful to Brogdale Farm - home of the UK National Fruit Collection - for providing samples of this variety. Any advice for culture of these young plants will be greatly appreciated! The stem is short and … Small, distinct whitish lenticels are scattered sparsely over the surface. Bake it with Spies and get ready for everyone to ask your secret. The color of the skin is red and green streaked. 3. Buried the cores and pealings and VOILA 2 years later were the baby trees! I live in Massachusetts and love to use the heirloom Massachusetts native Baldwin apple for pies. Does have a strong pyrimdal growth habit so strong pruning a must and I staked 3 branches to grow horizontal. Perfect for use in classic apple preparations such as … I have tried our local grocers, and some high end ones, and still no northern spys. We found an ancient apple tree in a mountain gully, bearing golden/green with slight blush or brown streak from the stem over the shoulder of apple. In fact, it is so popular and well regarded that it was one of four apples the United States Postal Service selected to honor on 33¢ Apple Postcard stamps, which commemorated historic apple varieties.A description of the apple on the USPS website quotes “Spies are for pies” rhyme, … Spys for pies! I try to buy them in upstate New York rather than in Massachusetts, where I live, because I think Northern Spies grown in colder climates are better than those grown in milder climates. The apples this tree produces are very large and round. User Group. What varieties it developed from is unknown, but this is considered an heirloom apple. Medium-to-large moderately vigorous long-lived tree. Synonyms for Northern Spy (apple) in Free Thesaurus. An ever-popular cooking, fresh eating, drying, and juice apple, Northern Spy is a larger than average apple with a deep red skin and red striping. Here's how to make it. You should get enough apples that will store well to last you all winter. There are some great reasons to grow Northern Spy in your garden, including the tasty, versatile fruit. We have picked a few early, and already they are delicious! There are reports that Northern Spy has one of the largest antioxidants levels of any apple. May have come from Johnnie Appleseed in a covered wagon. of rainfall per week. Question: Do we prune the top off this plant and move to gallon containers outside now that frost is past? I do have a cox pippin and ashmead kernel. We also include any special message you would like with your Northern Spy apples. Before they became so hard to find, there was a time when they were also used as part of the variety blend to make cider. 14 years until first bloom on our full size specimen. Search Northern Spy for the full history of their serendipitous route to this (plus two other recognized varieties), from the same planting & re-locating of young apple trees. I would like to know where I can purchase some to share with my family. I am going back there this summer and try to get a cutting from it. Prepare the soil in advance of planting with compost and other organic materials. Northern Spy is well known for its winter-hardiness. It is hardier in the winter than many other apple varieties, and it produces fruit well into November, giving you a supply that will store well all season. Find more gardening information on Gardening Know How: Keep up to date with all that's happening in and around the garden. Recommended as a source of sharp juice in cider. Its strong, sweet flavor and crisp texture make it an overall favorite. Antonyms for Northern Spy (apple). Low in calories and high in fiber, apples are the perfect snack or works wonders for dressing up a cooked dish. Around these parts the Northern Spy is seen as the quintessential pie apple. One bite and I was hooked. My grandparents grew Northern Spy apples on their farm in Coopers Plains, NY. The color of the skin is red and green streaked. Northern Spy Apple Northern Spy has thin skin and very crisp delicious flesh with a sweet/tart flavor prized for cooking and fresh eating. Wonderful! Yes. The Northern Spy is as versatile as apples come. Sign up for our newsletter. Hi Nancy.....from Nancy!!!! A brother-in-law, Roswell Humphrey, on an adjoining farm, took up root sprouts and fruited it. It is not very large, has very deep, bright red color with tiny white spots on, white meat very juicy and flavourful. As mentioned, these are simply the best pie apples, producing absolutely perfect texture (soft yet toothsome) and good rich flavour (a hearty aroma, vanilla notes, perfect sweetness). We're in zone 4b, on a dense silt loam, somewhat poorly drained/some panning @ 14-20". (Shipping cases … Identification: A large apple and round, somewhat conic with distinct ribbing. These a big lumpy funny-looking apples, but my goodness I think they are my favorite. The calyx is small and closed, set in a deep and narrow basin. Another reader mentioned … Email us with any special shipping requests. The texture is just right. Harvest your Northern Spy apples beginning in October (typically) and store the apples in a cool, dry place. Best Uses. We picked a few that made great pie and sauce. The soil here is poor, having too much clay & I've been told the mildew & leaf curl on the branch ends is due to a root disease that cannot be treated “naturally.” Other than pruning, I have done nothing for the tree and would like to know more about keeping it healthy in Seattle moderate climate. The Northern Spy was developed around present-day Bloomfield, NY, quite accidentally, by early settlers, the Chapin brothers. Newly planted trees are notoriously slow to bear fruit, which is why you seldom see it planted commercially anymore. You pick your UPS shipping options during checkout with any special shipping request. The Northern Spy Apple Tree produces large, round, often flattened greenish yellow fruit with pinkish red stripes, a light bloom, and occasional russet patches. Up the slope in the back, I found these absolutely HUGE apples that I could only hold with both hands. The Northern Spy apple originated on the farm of Herman Chapin, East Bloomfield, NY, near Rochester, from a seed planted about 1800. Discovered: 1800 Salisbury, Connecticut . Many people still prefer & ask for this apple at market. Here in Western Michigan we have the biggest northern spy this year. Water a new tree until it is established, but otherwise, only water if the tree is not getting at least an inch (2.5 cm.) I've read that it's possibly "Northern's Pie Apple". The Northern Spy apple tree is a very popular apple variety in upstate New York. These have superior flavor and are reliably heavy producers. One tree that had fallen over but not dead had fruit the next year. You may not reproduce any of the content of this website without our express permission. Parentage: Chance seedling : Size compared to seedling: 75% : Tolerances: Moderately resistant to phytophthora, heavy soils : Resistances: Woolly apple aphid resistant, resistant to peniophera : Susceptibilities: Fireblight : Precocity: Medium . To get Spies these days you usually have to head to a good Farmer's market or an orchard. Using Dr.Robert M. Crassweller's system, we sprouted seeds and planted indoors and have 13 healthy plants now, each about 8 inches tall. I have only had this apple once, some 20 years ago. Its tender-crisp flesh is creamy yellow and juicy. If not, you can graft on a couple of branches. 50-60" annual precip- evenly spread- with 160-220" of snowfall. Prune your apple tree each year to size and shape and also to encourage good growth and apple production. More tart and firm than most popular varieties, so most people don’t like to eat them out of hand. 1:52 PREVIEW Essex House. Maybe a Johnny Appleseed Northern Spy? - Some susceptibility, Woolly aphid  We never went to pick them until after the first frost as Mom insisted it improved the flavor. The fruit is fine grained, rather firm, very tender, crisp, juicy yellowish flesh and has a tart, aromatic, subacid flavor. Its reputation as a pie apple is well deserved: makes a very good single-variety pie! Tree blooms late to avoid late spring frost zaps. Rainier in the state of Washington where it is still flourishing. The Northern Spy Apple is a large greenish-yellow apple with red striping but will become more red with more ripening. Northern Spy can also be used as a rootstock for other varieties. The apples are quite large and have a handsome red-flush over a yellow-green background. ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS, United States, Hidden Hollow Orchard and Wildlife Sanctuary, Knaebe's "Mmmunchy Krunchy" Apple Farm Cider Mill, Porter's Orchard Farm Market & Cider Mill, Ontario Orchards Farm, Market & Cider Mill. I just picked 2 bushell of 3 to 4 inch apples from a 12' tree 5 years after grafting. Apple Northern Spy quantity. Northern Spy apples are a late season, large apple with carmine red skin with streaks of yellow and pale green. Mushy texture, slight tang but overall rather bland. Varieties that will pollinate Northern Spy include Gold Delicious, Red Delicious, Ginger Gold and Starkrimson. Good central leader persistence and sound branching. Baldwin apples. clean larg apples from a tree laying on the ground. Northern Spy is well known for its winter-hardiness. Harvest: Midseason . about 100' from it don't know if its compatable. In the woods (2' spruce and popple) there were apple trees. 4:42 PREVIEW An Otis Theme on Curtis Changes. We used to get them for over winter as they store so well. I do recall that the flesh of this apple is naturally pale yellow in color, not white. This Northern Spy apple pie recipe is made with a single variety in an easy filling made from scratch. Sign up to get all the latest gardening tips! I also love to use Northern Spies (Spies for Pies) and, best of all, Rhode Island Greenings for pies.