Midsummer Spadina fruit
And so our apple season begins! Heritage fruit trees might just make a comeback. But while we're waiting for that to happen, the orchard at Spadina is quietly doing its thing. Here's our first basket of Red Astrachan heritage apples with rhubarb, blackcurrants, raspberries, mulberries, and gooseberries.
An early ripening summer variety, these apples are best used quickly in pies and sauces. (Elizabeth Baird's recipe for a classic apple pie calls for Red Astrachans.) While they're now a rare historical variety, they'd have been commonly grown on local pioneer farms.