Orchard
The orchard has been underway in earnest since 2016. It was discovered through trial and error that seemingly good locations are actually poor and vice versa. The Hawkeye fittingly has been the best performer so far. Of course, this is the original version of the what has become known as "Red Delicious" grown by a local Quaker. Jesse Hiatt . There are approximately two dozen apples trees at WAS including Yellow Bellflower, Pink Lady, White Permain and other varieties still going in 2026.
The American Plum, Aronia Berry, Paw Paw, Persimmon, Hazelnut, Service Berry, and others continue to thrive in 2026 at WAS.
April 2026 "Hawkeye" trees
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May 2026 "Hawkeye" trees
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April 2026 "Hawkeye" apple blossoms May 2026 "Hawkeye" apples
10/24/19 - Golden Yellow #1024 wild apples
American Plum 08/27/19
07/30/19 - Wild apples (as our cultivated apples trees are yet to produce)
Fresh blueberries are awesome!
WAS 04/28/19 Wild apple blossom
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Inspired by the appeal of our wild apples at WAS, storied history of the apple in Madison County and the rich history of apple cultivation we started planting in earnest in 2018. Our small orchard experiment is just getting started. We have planted 21 apples trees and lost a few of them over the this past winter but are moving forward each year.
Thanks to Abundant Design tree grafting workshop we have three newly grafted trees planted. Ashmead Kernel scion on a G935 rootstock.
Ashmead's Kernel is often reported as having been raised by Dr Ashmead in Gloucester, England in the 18th century. However Christine Leighton of the Gloucestershire Orchard Group suggests that the originator may have been William Ashmead, a lawyer who died in 1782
G.935 was developed by Cornell University for low-vigor commercial varieties such as HoneyCrisp and PixieCrunch, where a dwarf tree is required but an M9-class rootstock would be too weak. It is productive and precocious, resistant to fireblight and replant disease, and for low-vigor scions can be planted at near-dwarf densities.
We also planted Liberty scion with M.26 or EMLA 26 rootstock
Liberty is a hybrid apple cultivar developed by the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station.It was a seedling produced in 1955 from pollinating 'Macoun' from 'Purdue 54-12' for the sake of acquiring Malus floribunda disease resistances.
Ashmead's Kernel is often reported as having been raised by Dr Ashmead in Gloucester, England in the 18th century. However Christine Leighton of the Gloucestershire Orchard Group suggests that the originator may have been William Ashmead, a lawyer who died in 1782
G.935 was developed by Cornell University for low-vigor commercial varieties such as HoneyCrisp and PixieCrunch, where a dwarf tree is required but an M9-class rootstock would be too weak. It is productive and precocious, resistant to fireblight and replant disease, and for low-vigor scions can be planted at near-dwarf densities.
We also planted Liberty scion with M.26 or EMLA 26 rootstock
Liberty is a hybrid apple cultivar developed by the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station.It was a seedling produced in 1955 from pollinating 'Macoun' from 'Purdue 54-12' for the sake of acquiring Malus floribunda disease resistances.
Ben Davis, Wolf River #5, Macintosh, Pink Lady, Hawkeye, Liberty, Cox Orange Pippen, Orleans Antique, Yellow Bellflower, White Permain, Ash Mead Kernel, .... more to come