Apples of North America: A Celebration of Exceptional Varieties

By Tom Burford, Timber Press 2021

I finished the newly released in paperback Apples of North America a short time ago and wished I’d read it when first published almost ten years ago. I would have learned much and saved quite a bit of time understanding some of the apple issues I’ve experienced over the years.

Issues like my two old backyard apple trees producing an abundant crop one year followed by a year with not one apple. (One theory is that an overly abundant crop uses all the tree’s carbohydrate reserves for the year preventing growth the following year.) The trick is to cull a good number of blossoms – in effect, preventing the tree from producing so much fruit in order to teach it to spread it’s goodness out a bit.

I learned this while searching for the variety of my trees while casually browsing the book. In years past my small orchard at a previous location was planted by yours truly and I understood how the two varieties I had planted – Mac and Gala – worked. I had successful annual harvests. When I moved to my present location the property had, in addition to a few 80-foot tall maple trees, two very gnarly-looking apple trees. An arborist friend estimated them to be over ninety years old. After some judicious pruning they began producing apples again but what kind?

That’s when I turned to Apples of North America which I had hoped would help me identify my apples. Nope. According to my arborist, the apples are Cortland, a variety common in this area developed down the road a ways in Geneva, New York. Although a number of sources label Cortland as an heirloom apple it isn’t listed in Apples of North America.

Instead, author Burford takes us through an encyclopedic look at a number of lesser-known varieties, each with its own descriptive page, and explains how to raise them as well as dry, preserve, cook and store them.

In his introduction, the author explains his book is intended to be “practical instructions, history lessons, folklore, inspiration and motivation” not just to grow your own apples, but as a consumer to understand what varieties are still available and what it would mean to lose them. From a history of the apple to tips on how to manage all aspects of apple production this comprehensive volume is written in an approachable manner that encourages thumbing through as a reference or reading from cover to cover.

 Reviewed by Greg Smela, a beekeeper, gardener and photographer in Brandon,Vermont.