Tom Brown | |
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Born | |
Occupation(s) | Apple hunter; orchardist |
Tom Brown is an apple hunter and orchardist. Brown focuses on discovering "lost" heirloom apple varietals in North Carolina and throughout Appalachia. [1]
Brown was born in rural North Carolina. [2] A chemical engineer at one time employed by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Brown retired from his job in the late 1990s. [3] [4] Brown first encountered heritage apples at a stand run by Maurice Marshall at a farmer's market in 1998. [5] Marshall and Brown discussed rediscovering lost apple varieties which had exited commercial production, piquing Brown's interest. [5] The first apple Brown rediscovered was of a variety known as "Yellow Potts". Brown discovered the apple in Iredell County in the year after speaking with Marshall. [6] Since 1999, Brown has found some 1200 "lost" apple varieties. [7]
Searching for lost varieties generally involves interviewing residents in rural parts of Appalachia who may have knowledge of where to find apple trees, and finding defunct orchards, some of which may have become reincorporated into forests. [5] Brown also displays rare apple varieties at events, such as farmer's markets, in Appalachia each year, [5] where he receives information from attendees about locations for him to investigate. [4]
Brown cultivates heirloom varieties at his own orchard, including Royal Lemon, Night Dropper, and Rabun Bald. [5]
Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England ; parts of South Wales; France ; Canada; Australia; and New Zealand. There is growing interest in artisinal perry production in the fruit-growing regions of the northwest United States.
An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive purpose. A fruit garden is generally synonymous with an orchard, although it is set on a smaller, non-commercial scale and may emphasize berry shrubs in preference to fruit trees. Most temperate-zone orchards are laid out in a regular grid, with a grazed or mown grass or bare soil base that makes maintenance and fruit gathering easy.
Appalachia is a geographic region located in the central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States. Its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountains of New York into Pennsylvania, continuing on through the Blue Ridge Mountains and Great Smoky Mountains into northern Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, with West Virginia being the only state in which the entire state is within the boundaries of Appalachia. In 2021, the region was home to an estimated 26.3 million people, of whom roughly 80% were white.
Apple cider is the name used in the United States and Canada for an unfiltered, unsweetened, non-alcoholic beverage made from apples. Though typically referred to simply as "cider" in North America, it is not to be confused with the alcoholic beverage known as cider in other places, which is called "hard cider" in the US. Outside of the United States and Canada, it is commonly referred to as cloudy apple juice to distinguish it from clearer, filtered apple juice and hard cider.
Sykehouse is a village and civil parish in the City of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, on the border with the East Riding of Yorkshire. It was part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. It had a population of 438 in 2001, increasing to 515 at the 2011 Census.
Red Delicious is a type of apple with a red exterior and sweet taste that was first recognized in Madison County, Iowa, in 1872. Today, the name Red Delicious comprises more than 50 cultivars. It was the most produced cultivar in the United States from 1968 to 2018, when it was surpassed by Gala.
Cobbler is a dessert consisting of a fruit filling poured into a large baking dish and covered with a batter, biscuit, or dumpling before being baked. Some cobbler recipes, especially in the American South, resemble a thick-crusted, deep-dish pie with both a top and bottom crust. Cobbler is part of the cuisine of the United Kingdom and United States, and should not be confused with a crumble.
New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill is a 200-acre four season botanic garden located in Boylston, Massachusetts, approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of central Worcester in Worcester County, Massachusetts. The Garden features 18 distinct garden spaces, preserved woodlands, and miles of walking trails. More than 200,000 thousand people visit New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill each year to explore gardens and conservatories that showcase diverse collections of native, ornamental, tropical, rare, and edible plants.
An heirloom plant, heirloom variety, heritage fruit, or heirloom vegetable is an old cultivar of a plant used for food that is grown and maintained by gardeners and farmers, particularly in isolated communities of the Western world. These were commonly grown during earlier periods in human history, but are not used in modern large-scale agriculture.
The 'Roxbury Russet' is an apple cultivar, believed to be the oldest apple cultivar bred in the United States, having first been discovered and named in the mid-17th century in the former Town of Roxbury, part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony southwest of Boston. It is known by several other names including 'Boston Russet', 'Putnam Russet', and 'Sylvan Russet'.
Jonathan is a medium-sized sweet apple, with a touch of acid and a tough but smooth skin, good for eating fresh and for cooking. Parentage = Esopus Spitzenburg x ?
An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree. Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus Malus. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, Malus sieversii, is still found. Apples have been grown for thousands of years in Eurasia and were introduced to North America by European colonists. Apples have religious and mythological significance in many cultures, including Norse, Greek, and European Christian tradition.
The Harrison cider apple is one of the most famous 18th-century American cider apples, primarily used for the production of apple cider. Grown in New Jersey before and after the American Revolution, it fell out of favor by 20th century. The Harrison cider apple was considered lost until it was recovered in Livingston, New Jersey at an old cider mill in September 1976.
The cuisine of Devon in England has influenced, and been influenced, by other British cuisine. Its tradition of dairy farming has resulted in several dishes, some of which have made both it and Cornwall famous, such as cream teas and junket. Because Devon is largely a rural county, it likewise has a strong reputation for excellent pasture-raised beef and lamb. Orchard fruits are also important, particularly apples, used both for cider as well as for apple-based desserts. The long coastline supplies the county with a wide variety of fish and seafood.
Petty's Orchard in Templestowe, Victoria, Australia, is among Melbourne’s oldest and last-remaining commercial orchards. A section of the orchard holds one of the largest collection of heritage apple varieties in Australia, including more than 250 varieties of old or rare apples and other types of fruit.
Albert Etter (1872–1950) was an American plant breeder best known for his work on strawberry and apple varieties.
In the United States, the definition of cider is broader than in Europe. There are two types: one is the traditional fermented product, called hard cider, and the second is sweet or soft cider. However, in some regions, cider is the alcoholic version, whether made from apples or pears, and apple cider is the non-alcoholic version.
The Lost Apple Project is a nonprofit organization that searches abandoned farms and orchards in the Pacific Northwest to locate old apple varieties that have been thought to be lost or extinct. At one time, there were approximately 17,000 named varieties of domesticated apples in the United States, but only about 4,500 are known to exist today.
Thomas Nelson Burford was an American pomologist, orchardist, and apple historian. He is considered one of the most influential figures in the revival of heritage apples and cider in the United States.
John Bunker is an American orchardist, pomologist, and "apple explorer". An expert on American apples and their history, he is the founder of the mail-order nursery Fedco Trees, a division of the cooperative Fedco Seeds. For most of his life, he has worked to preserve rare old apple varieties from across Maine and the New England region. In 2012, he founded the Maine Heritage Orchard in Unity, Maine, a ten-acre (4.0 ha) preservation educational orchard of Maine's historic apple and pear varieties.