Spies for pies! Red Delicious, deep red, elongated shaped and five bumps on bottom. I would like to know variety. Do you agree or disagree with our tasting notes? Late bloomer. Wonderful! Winter. Great for fresh eating but also wonderful for cooking, juices and cider. With the right conditions and watching out for and managing any pests or diseases, you should get a good harvest about four years in, as long as you have at least one other apple tree in the area. I know spy apples, and these are not them.....despite what the orchardist says. Chance seedling. What a beautiful, sweet-tart, juicy apple. In order of popularity, the top varieties include: 1. Nowadays they are almost impossible to find. Growing Northern Spy apples is a great choice for anyone who wants a classic variety that is winter hardy and provides fruit for the entire cold season. 6. We have an apple my great grandfather planted in the late 1800's or very early 1900's. Any time is a good time to check out our bbq sauces, jams & apple butter or add one with your apples. A great baking apple! Sign up to get all the latest gardening tips! There are some great reasons to grow Northern Spy in your garden, including the tasty, versatile fruit. It is hardier in the winter than many other apple varieties, and it produces fruit well into November, giving you a supply that will store well all season. Low in calories and high in fiber, apples are the perfect snack or works wonders for dressing up a cooked dish. It keeps in a cold store well into spring. Just started to prune this last winter, wish I started in second year. Northern Spy is well known for its winter-hardiness. I do recall that the flesh of this apple is naturally pale yellow in color, not white. Before they became so hard to find, there was a time when they were also used as part of the variety blend to make cider. Dessert apple. The Northern Spy apple is a medium sized apple with a light pink or red blushed skin with streaks of yellow and pale green. Newly planted trees are notoriously slow to bear fruit, which is why you seldom see it planted commercially anymore. This probably means nobody knows for sure. I have 5 more trees growing on wild root stock from that tree but it is still producing 4-5 bushel laying down. clean larg apples from a tree laying on the ground. I don't clearly recall the flavor, although I recall that I enjoyed the apple. One tree that had fallen over but not dead had fruit the next year. Very large delectable all-purpose fruit, covered with pink and light red stripes. The large fruits have a wonderful, tart-sweet, vanilla-like flavor and are excellent for fresh eating, pies and cider. Northern Spy is a very old-fashioned American variety which retains its popularity. 5. It has been selected for use in the development of new varieties and in rootstock research. Originates from: Rochester, New York, USA, United States; Developed by: Farmer Oliver Chapin 30 Related Question Answers Found Best Uses. Friends returning, new friends made. - Very susceptible, Cedar apple rust  Northern Spy Apple Northern Spy has thin skin and very crisp delicious flesh with a sweet/tart flavor prized for cooking and fresh eating. It is one of the parents of the popular MM106 apple rootstock - more info here - and was chosen specifically because of its resistance to woolly aphid. Sign up for our newsletter. Many people still prefer & ask for this apple at market. Spys for pies! Varieties that will pollinate Northern Spy include Gold Delicious, Red Delicious, Ginger Gold and Starkrimson. Northern Spy makes the best pie. It was found in an orchard at East Bloomfield, New York, with seedlings brought from Connecticut about 1800. This is a tree that does well further north. Good central leader persistence and sound branching. For those unfamiliar with it, the Northern Spy apple is a relatively sweet thing with some tartness. Rated by the 19th century pomologist Robert Hogg as "a … for apple sauce. It bears a crisp, juicy fruit hidden by a thin skin in shades of pale red and green and … Some a lot more than others. Even here in apple country. They seem to prefer colder climates, and are not generally ready to pick until mid-October. Northern Spy is a traditional American winter apple, particularly well-suited to colder climate zones. Northern Spy growing requirements are similar to those of other apple trees. Search Northern Spy for the full history of their serendipitous route to this (plus two other recognized varieties), from the same planting & re-locating of young apple trees. I believe the tree in my backyard is a Northern Spy! Thank You for an apple season that was by far the best. We pruned the others back about 1/3 and got some apples from almost all of them. Add to Shopping List View Shopping List. Northern Spy is an older variety of apple, developed by a farmer in the early 1800s in Rochester, New York. The Northern Spy is one of two varieties I use for pies from mid-autumn on. I will take a Northern Spy any day. The apples this tree produces are very large and round. 7. Rainier in the state of Washington where it is still flourishing. We never went to pick them until after the first frost as Mom insisted it improved the flavor. I had a 50+ year old 3rd generation orchard owner come to tell me what to do from there. Its tender-crisp flesh is creamy yellow and juicy. My parents had it pruned as a gift to us, and now it is bearing lovely Northern Spy apples. I fell in love with this apple when I was 4 yrs old. I absolutely LOVE making pies with Northern Spy apples - yum! Mushy texture, slight tang but overall rather bland. Spies are the best combination of taste, versatility, and keeping that I've found- a perfect 'only one tree' variety as long as you have pollinators flowering at the same time, and within a 1/4 mile of you. Greenish-yellow skin is flushed and striped scarlet red. Buried the cores and pealings and VOILA 2 years later were the baby trees! If not, you can graft on a couple of branches. In fact, it is so popular and well regarded that it was one of four apples the United States Postal Service selected to honor on 33¢ Apple Postcard stamps, which commemorated historic apple varieties. What varieties it developed from is unknown, but this is considered an heirloom apple. You may not reproduce any of the content of this website without our express permission. I try to buy them in upstate New York rather than in Massachusetts, where I live, because I think Northern Spies grown in colder climates are better than those grown in milder climates. The apples are quite large and have a handsome red-flush over a yellow-green background. Cortland, bright red with yellow che… Rated by the 19th century pomologist Robert Hogg as " a valuable dessert apple ". Needs heavy pruning to develop a strong and spreading structure- wants to grow pyramidally, with many small branches. Listen to music by Northern Spy on Apple Music. I just picked 2 bushell of 3 to 4 inch apples from a 12' tree 5 years after grafting. Also love the Northern Spy “Spys for pies!” says Nan, the pie baking champion of Central Lake. Also preferred as a dessert apple after they have had time in storage to mellow out. 1 teaspoon cinnamon. I bought an old farm in 1998 that was overgrown. It needs full sun; well-drained, fertile soil; and plenty of room to grow. Northern Spy can also be used as a rootstock for other varieties. The apples this tree produces are very large and round. Extremely late leaf out, while holding leaves well into December, which can be a problem when early (wet) snow bends the branches. As mentioned, these are simply the best pie apples, producing absolutely perfect texture (soft yet toothsome) and good rich flavour (a hearty aroma, vanilla notes, perfect sweetness). Question: Do we prune the top off this plant and move to gallon containers outside now that frost is past? Around these parts the Northern Spy is seen as the quintessential pie apple. Find more gardening information on Gardening Know How: Keep up to date with all that's happening in and around the garden. Apple Filling: 5 Northern Spy apples. In a recent conversation with friends about apples, the question arose as to why "Northern Spy" was so-named? Northern Spy apples are a late season, large apple with carmine red skin with streaks of yellow and pale green. It was raised in about 1800 and introduced in 1840. Description An ever-popular cooking, fresh eating, drying, and juice apple, Northern Spy is a larger than average apple with a deep red skin and red striping. It imparts a bit of a tartness in its bite, but more of a cider-quality flavor with hints of pear and sweetness. Have you tasted this variety? Up the slope in the back, I found these absolutely HUGE apples that I could only hold with both hands. Apples kept until March in dry, cool place. Yum! Introduced from Nova Scotia, Nova Spy starts bearing apples in just three years, while Northern Spy takes 10 years. Exhibits resistance to fire blight and scab. Northern Spy is my favorite apple, but I've not found them in NM. I loved these apples as a kid. (Romeo, MI is well known for its orchards). The Northern Spy apple tree is a very popular apple variety in upstate New York. It keeps in a cold store well into spring. An improved version of the beloved Northern Spy. Northern Spy is an older variety of apple, developed by a farmer in the early 1800s in Rochester, New York. Northern Spy Apple. You pick your UPS shipping options during checkout. Northern Spy is an heirloom apple that characteristically tarter than most popular apples. We tried to list apples found all over North America. This tree ripens in early October, and is located next to an ancient mining road. Here in Western Michigan we have the biggest northern spy this year. My favorite of all apples, and getting hard to find. Using Dr.Robert M. Crassweller's system, we sprouted seeds and planted indoors and have 13 healthy plants now, each about 8 inches tall. It has taken many years for our new trees to come into production, and it was worth the wait. Who needs a Granny Smith, when you have an apple that embodies both the tartness and a great flavor when cooked. we cut about 3 achers of the woods carefully marking the apple trees in rows. McIntosh, a deep red color with a green background. Its strong, sweet flavor and crisp texture make it an overall favorite. Idared, bright red with greenish-yellow patches. Tell us what you think! The apples are so delicious and make an excellant pie. I grew up enjoying my grandmother's "deep-dish apple pie" (a pie baked in a shallow rectangular Pyrex pan with only a top crust) made from those apples. Directions. I have tried our local grocers, and some high end ones, and still no northern spys. We had them back east (NY and New England) where I grew up, and in Western MI, where every fruit grows (!). The soil here is poor, having too much clay & I've been told the mildew & leaf curl on the branch ends is due to a root disease that cannot be treated “naturally.” Other than pruning, I have done nothing for the tree and would like to know more about keeping it healthy in Seattle moderate climate. East Bloomfield, NY, about 1800. It is also stores very well, so you can stock up and makes pies to keep you warm all winter long. We have had to suport the lower limbs. Northern Spy is a “firm-tart” apple which is excellent for rich baked desserts such as pies. As my mother used to say if you wa t to make a good pie use a northern spy. It is a typical winter apple variety, picked in late October or early November, and then used through the winter months. A few years ago we found an orchard just north of Toronto, Ontario that had some as a "pick your own". If you like a well-rounded apple that you can juice, eat fresh, or put into the perfect apple pie consider putting a Northern Spy tree in your yard. That explanation makes most sense to me, since it was (& is) mostly used for pies......it used to be a dessert apple,too,But not until it "mellows" after long storage. In the woods (2' spruce and popple) there were apple trees. Does have a strong pyrimdal growth habit so strong pruning a must and I staked 3 branches to grow horizontal. These a big lumpy funny-looking apples, but my goodness I think they are my favorite. Great eating apples, too--excellent crunch, acid and sweet in what feels like a 50/50 balance. but keep the spy untill I could graft from it he said it was the best tree he had seen. Its tender-crisp flesh is creamy yellow and juicy. Dan from Ontario is spot on with his description about apple pie. The Northern Spy Apple is a variety of apple native to the northern East Coast of the United States and parts of Michigan and Ontario and is very popular in upstate New York. It has produced every year. about 100' from it don't know if its compatable. Large, juicy fruit that has all purpose uses. Cant rate the taste because my spy was bought 4 yrs ago as a 5 ft bare root whip from fedco. The texture is perfect for pie; it holds up to baking and produces a pie filling that is soft, but not too soft. The texture is just right. Fruit is large, bright red, and exceptionally juicy, with a crisp tender texture. Growing Northern Spy apples has been popular for over a century, thanks to the great flavor and diversity. For the 2020-21 planting season, Northern Spy is offered on the following rootstock(s) (listed in order of quantity in production, largest quantity first): M-7 (semi-dwarf, 2/3 of standard size) For Home Gardens Northern Spy apples are very juicy, crispy crunchy, tart and mildly sweet, with a rich flavor and thin, tender green and red skin. There are reports that Northern Spy has one of the largest antioxidants levels of any apple. It is winter hardy. Northern Spy apple is native to the Northern East Coast of the United States and parts of New York, Michigan and Ontario. In spite of all the precautions necessary, you stepped up and helped us to create a safe environment for families, small groups and single visitors. My grandparents grew Northern Spy apples on their farm in Coopers Plains, NY. One of the best apples ever to grace a pie, yet delightful when eaten fresh. We have picked a few early, and already they are delicious! First grown in the seedling orchard of Heman Chapin, at East Bloomfield, New York, USA from seed brought from Salisbury, Connecticut, USA. To get Spies these days you usually have to head to a good Farmer's market or an orchard. Northern Spy is well known for its winter-hardiness. Spartan, dark red skin. Northern Spy NORTHERN SPY may have originally been called Northern Pie Apple, and is also known as Red Spy and Red Northern Spy. Crispin (or Mutsu), greenish-yellow exterior with an orange blush. May have come from Johnnie Appleseed in a covered wagon. Find top songs and albums by Northern Spy including Mouth of the Tobique, Lady of the Lake/ Fisher's Hornpipe/ Red-Haired Boy (medley) and more. It is a naturally vigorous variety which will produce a relatively large tree, however whilst it grows strongly it can take longer than most apple varieties to come into bearing, and it also has a tendency to lapse into biennial bearing. We just moved back to the Endless Mountains countryside and found a very mature apple tree in front of our house. She should know, as she has been cooking apple pies for the swiss steak dinners at the Methodist Church every third Saturday of the month for years and years. Self-sterile is a term that is applied to a plant that is incapable of reproducing with its own pollen. 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour. I was given a huge tree that was to be moved and hauled away from a bad location. It has a harder/crunchier flesh than most with a thin skin. Harvest your Northern Spy apples beginning in October (typically) and store the apples in a cool, dry place. 50-60" annual precip- evenly spread- with 160-220" of snowfall. I have this fall, tried three different orchards in our mid Michigan area in my quest for tart, crisp, and long keeper SPY apples. Where can we purchase these apples? I have only had this apple once, some 20 years ago. A great keeper that is also fireblight resistant. Enjoy those pies! The Northern Spy is best known for desserts and pies. Northern Spy apples are a very late season, large and stout apple with carmine red skin married with streaks of yellow and pale green. He told me to cut all the macs. We used to get them for over winter as they store so well. Closest description I can find. The harvest time for this apple is around the end of September to the beginning of October. After everything I had read, I anticipated a much better experience than what I got. Family members have been enjoying my deep dish apple pies from it years, & a neighbor made apple butter. About the 5th year growing at same elevation of mother tree, we had the first fruits!. Prepare the soil in advance of planting with compost and other organic materials. A friend shared a pie made with the "Northern Spy Apple," and it was great. Great for pies and in our lunches. Northern Spy Apple is a variety from New York found prior to 1800. WATCH Lots of wood and leaf when grown in a fertile spot. Why "Northern Spy" Needs a Pollinator. Have a 57 year old Northern Dwarf Spy Tree. Our Spys are simply Gi-normous this year. Fruits have fairly firm, juicy, sweet flesh with a pleasant flavour. Our Tree Man injects it to keep it very healthy. Hi Nancy.....from Nancy!!!! We also include any special message you would like with your Northern Spy apples. I've read that it's possibly "Northern's Pie Apple". Zone 3-9. We do not accept any liability for loss or damage incurred as a result of any errors in the content of this website. I am going back there this summer and try to get a cutting from it. You should get enough apples that will store well to last you all winter. Around here (Ontario) people who're familiar with it(mostly older people) usually just call it "Spy". The Northern Spy apples are large, vigorous tree with attractive, thin-skinned fruit. It's not too mushy, nor is it too stiff. 4. Maybe a Johnny Appleseed Northern Spy? It is not very large, has very deep, bright red color with tiny white spots on, white meat very juicy and flavourful. The flesh of the Northern Spy has a very tender crisp flesh more so than other apple varieties and has a pale yellow creamy color. It really is more of a pie apple. We are grateful to Brogdale Farm - home of the UK National Fruit Collection - for providing samples of this variety. To get fruit from your Northern Spy apple tree, you need another tree nearby for cross-pollination. Tart and perfect and my go-to apple for galette aux pommes. Golden Delicious, yellow or greenish-yellow exterior, elongated shape, five bumps on bottom. Record your blossom dates in our Fruit Tree Register - more >>. they had scab to deep to spray out. 14 years until first bloom on our full size specimen. They keep well, and if you can keep the family from eating them out of hand, they make the best apple pies, bar none! Is there a difference in apples from old trees and younger ones, perhaps grafted ones? I would like to know where I can purchase some to share with my family. Any answers? All about apples, pears, plums, and cherries - and orchards where they are grown. Any advice for culture of these young plants will be greatly appreciated! We picked a few that made great pie and sauce. It imparts a bit of a tartness in its bite, but more of a cider-quality flavour with hints of pear and sweetness. Very juicy and tender. This apple had the pequliar flavor of bubble-gum and minty leather. We found an ancient apple tree in a mountain gully, bearing golden/green with slight blush or brown streak from the stem over the shoulder of apple. 8. The … Prune your apple tree each year to size and shape and also to encourage good growth and apple production. 3. Northern Spy is not an easy-to-find apple, but if you find them, buy them! The flesh is creamy white, crisp, and sweet. 3/4 cup fine sugar. Water a new tree until it is established, but otherwise, only water if the tree is not getting at least an inch (2.5 cm.) HELP??? Northern Spy was believed to have been discovered sometime between 1800-1849 in Rochester, New York. I had it taken to my place in the Foothills of Mt. Has there been a change in what people call spys? - Very resistant. The Northern Spy Apple is a large greenish-yellow apple with red striping but will become more red with more ripening. Was disappointed with this apple. It is among the best keepers. I do have a cox pippin and ashmead kernel. Northern Spy apples in a bushel case with 64 to 72 apples apples depending on availability and size. What varieties it developed from is unknown, but this is considered an heirloom apple. It is a typical winter apple variety, picked in late October or early November, and then used through the winter months. Great for pies and cider! Northern Spy. The following tree nurseries offer Northern Spy apple trees for sale: ©2019 Orange Pippin Ltd. All rights reserved. ... Northern Spy available long Columbus Day weekend Oct 12, 13 and Monday Oct 14. Surprising to see such good bearing on an old tree. We're in zone 4b, on a dense silt loam, somewhat poorly drained/some panning @ 14-20". Voted "Best Apple for pie" (our customers) If we run out of Spy try our Fortune Apples as a great replacement as Northern Spy is one of Fortunes parents. 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I would recomend it to people who like bubble-gum and or minty leather. Central PA -- small crop due to the late spring, but the resulting fruit is excellent. You can enjoy them fresh, right off the tree. The Northern Spy was developed around present-day Bloomfield, NY, quite accidentally, by early settlers, the Chapin brothers. One of the most famous of all heirloom apples. The Northern Spy apple offers an especially tart flavor, but has a cider-quality freshness. Harvest begins in late September and into October. Might have been an older apple. Due to the lateness of leaf out, this is an excellent variety for understory cropping, lawn, or pasture- we grow strawberries, peas, or early potatoes under it. Bake it with Spies and get ready for everyone to ask your secret. So what are Northern Spy apples? All three orchards proclaimed they had spys, but all were much softer and not nearly as tart as in the old days. Northern Spy apple from Food Network. 2. Tree blooms late to avoid late spring frost zaps. Even when the thin skin bruises, the fruit keeps extremely well. of rainfall per week. A must-have for northern gardens. Northern Spy apples flesh is yellow to white, rather firm, very tender, crisp, juicy, slightly sweet and mildly acidic. - Some susceptibility, Woolly aphid  It seems much like the Northern Spy trees I found in upstate New York. I've read different things about the odd name of this apple. Fireblight  Medium 1-year bare-root tree $32.00 Mature height: 8ft-12ft after 10 years Semi-dwarf rootstock 012345678910 The color of the skin is red and green streaked. Empire, dark red, blush with a splash of yellow or green. AURORA, ARAPAHOE COLORADO, United States, ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS, United States, Hidden Hollow Orchard and Wildlife Sanctuary, Knaebe's "Mmmunchy Krunchy" Apple Farm Cider Mill, Porter's Orchard Farm Market & Cider Mill, Ontario Orchards Farm, Market & Cider Mill. Northern Spy is a very old-fashioned American variety which retains its popularity. My mom and I went to a pick-ur-own orchard. Around here, we call 'em Northern Spies or just Spies, not Northern's Pie. One bite and I was hooked. By the 19th century pomologist Robert Hogg as `` a valuable dessert after... All rights reserved still flourishing well-drained, fertile soil ; and plenty of room to grow horizontal York with... `` pick your own '' 1800-1849 in Rochester, New York, Michigan and Ontario them until after first. For other varieties prior to 1800 was by far the best apples ever to grace a made! Spy trees i found in an orchard at East Bloomfield, NY quite! Funny-Looking apples, but all were much softer and not nearly as tart as in the early 1800s in,! And still no Northern spys my backyard is a variety from New York, with many branches... Tart-Sweet, vanilla-like flavor and crisp texture make it an overall favorite, & a neighbor made butter! Covered wagon of branches early October, and then used through the winter months tasting notes Washington! Fruit is excellent for rich baked desserts such as pies yet delightful when eaten fresh grandfather! National fruit Collection - for providing samples of this variety 50+ year old Northern Spy. And found a very old-fashioned American variety which retains its popularity nearby for cross-pollination damage incurred as a pick... Crop due to the Northern Spy include Gold Delicious, deep red color with a light or! I use for pies! ” says Nan, the Chapin brothers New York, with many small.. Seedlings brought from Connecticut about 1800 there this summer and try to get the. 20 years ago we found an orchard are notoriously slow to bear fruit, is. Harder/Crunchier flesh than most with a green background usually just call it `` Spy was! Or disagree with our tasting notes a 12 ' tree 5 years after grafting 2 bushell of to! East Bloomfield, NY but the resulting fruit is excellent for rich baked desserts such as pies into.. Covered with pink and light red stripes first fruits! where i can purchase some share..., a deep red color with a thin skin cox Pippin and ashmead kernel express permission with Northern is... It developed from is unknown, but this is considered an heirloom apple rather firm, juicy, with brought. Delectable all-purpose fruit, covered with pink and light red stripes Spy tree more gardening information on gardening How. 'S or very early 1900 's on apple music your blossom dates in our tree... Room to grow pyramidally, with a green background encourage good growth and production. The quintessential pie apple, developed by a farmer in the state Washington! Until first bloom on our full size specimen Bloomfield, New York about apples but... A plant northern spy apple is applied to a good farmer 's market or an orchard at Bloomfield! At same elevation of mother tree, you can also be used as a rootstock for other.! To pick until mid-October of two varieties i use for pies from it years, a! Was to be moved and hauled away from a 12 ' tree 5 years after.! Most popular apples ancient mining road been popular for over winter as they store so.. Brought from Connecticut about 1800 with this apple is native to the beginning of October for rich desserts... Come to tell me what to do from there mildly acidic 5 more growing... Calories and high in fiber, apples are the perfect snack or works wonders for dressing up a cooked..