Grow heritage fruit

You can’t beat the taste of heritage apple and pear varieties, but you won’t find them in the supermarket. Louise Curley argues the case for growing your own heritage fruit

- Louise Curley

APPLES, pears and plums with evocative names such as ‘Dog’s Snout’, ‘Striped Beefing’, ‘Warwickshire Drooper’ and ‘Ribston Pippin’ conjure up images of gnarly orchard trees, walled gardens and the rich bounty of autumn harvests. They come in a mouth-watering array of flavours, with apples that taste like pineapple or strawberry, gages that are as sweet as honey and deliciously fragrant pears. The apple ‘Nonpareil’ is believed to date back to the 17th century, but it was during the Victorian period that the number of fruit varieties boomed, with gardeners cultivating hundreds of new apples in particular.

Not available in the supermarket

You won’t find these traditional varieties on supermarket shelves, though. Intensive, large-scale fruit growing over the last half century or so has meant that commercial growers have opted for varieties that are heavy croppers, with fruit that doesn’t bruise easily when transported and lasts well when stored. Unfortunately, taste tends to come low down on the list of requirements and what we end up with as consumers is a very limited choice.

Heritage varieties were selected for their ability to grow in particular climates, with some that were suited to the cooler, wetter conditions of Scotland and the north of England, and those that thrived in drier, warmer southern counties.

Grow these plants yourself