Forgotten Fruit, Forgotten Farmers: Downeast Apple

A Talk with Local Apple Historian Todd-Little Siebold 

Apples were once a mainstay of local farms and local foodways and an integral part of the local landscape.  Farmers once grew hundreds of varieties of apples as part of their diversified farms.  The rapid decline of farming in the region led to the loss of that diversity of apples that once were part of people’s everyday lives.  This talk will explore those lost apples and the lives of the farmers who grew them, exploring their fascinating history.  We will begin with a discussion of the region's French habitants, or settlers, before English settlers arrived and then examine the history of this favored fruit. Blending storytelling and new insights from DNA sampling of local trees, this talk will provide a point of departure into the fascinating world of local heirloom apples and the efforts to save them.