Fall and apples at the Market

Alex Nemeth introduced another variety of apples to the market this fall, the Wolf River Apple. This is not a new hybrid, it would be more accurate to consider it a heritage apple. It originated as a seedling on the banks of the Wolf River near Fremont Wisconsin about 1880.

It was long considered a very good cooking apple. It appears to have fallen from commercial favor because the apple does not store well. Fortunately the trees have remained available.



One of the characteristics of the Wolf river apple is that it is very large. OK, that isn't a full sized bushel basket, but the apple is large. This means you don't have to peal very many to make a pie.

Alex told us the story of a friend of his that used to take the Inter-Urban to Toledo with her mother. Her mother often bought her a baked Wolf River Apple on the Inter-Urban. My mother also used the Inter-Urban to travel to Toledo where she met my father. I don't know if she ever bought a Wolf River baked apple or not, but when I heard the story and saw the apple I had to try them.




The recipe we used was just to core the apple, fill the core space with brown or maple sugar; bake and periodically baste with the sugar syrup. When my mother baked apples she cut them in half, cored them leaving a depression in the center. Then she filled this with brown sugar and often raisins and walnuts. I am going to try that method next time.

Here is a link to a blog by Alex and Agnes's daughter nemethorchards.blogspot.com