Urban Homestead Apples, Bristol, Virginia
If you're looking for a wide
variety of heirloom apple trees grafted and tended by a master, the Urban Homestead in Bristol, Virginia, is the
place for you. I could spend hours poring over the descriptions of
their old-fashioned apple varieties, of which this excerpt is a prime
example:
Ben
Davis - The most
widely planted apple variety in the South after the Civil
War. Think of it as the
nineteenth century’s Red Delicious. A
large, dull-red apple; hardy, vigorous, 
dependable, productive.
Keeps like a cobblestone. Often
described as having only passing flavor. Ms.
Genevieve Gray, an octogenarian from South Elgin, Illinois sent us a
story
several years ago that well illustrates the point:
“There was a joke going around when I was a girl about a fellow who
claimed to be such an expert in recognizing apples by taste that he
could
identify any kind blindfolded. He
was challenged, of course, and given apple after apple to
taste--identifying
each correctly. Finally, in
desperation to fool him, one of the challengers grabbed a large piece
of cork,
carved it into the shape of an apple, and offered it to him.
He bit out a chunk, hesitated, bit out another, then reluctantly
admitted
that he wasn’t real sure. “I
think it’s a Ben Davis,” he said. And
then he quickly added, “But if it is, it’s the best one I’ve ever
eaten.” We would add only that
any tree that can stand up to 125 years of ribbing 
has
earned its place in the
orchard.
The Urban Homestead
offers just shy of 100 old and new favorites, and yet they feel obliged
to add this apologetic note to the website: "Economics dictates that we keep a tight rein on the
number of varieties
we graft each season. We have
access, however, to a large number of stock trees, and offer a custom
grafting
service for some of the harder-to-find varieties." Basically, if you've
heard of it, they can probably get it for you. I was thrilled to
read that they have not just one, but two versions of the old-fashoned
Winesap (as well as the easier to find Stayman Winesap.) I
ordered a Winesap and Liberty from them to round out our orchard.
Tim Hensley is the man behind
this 2 acre operation, which he fits into his suburban backyard and a
rented lot across the street. I was charmed to see three of his
sons digging and labeling apple trees while I snooped around the
premises, and their father said that all of his kids help out ---
except for the four year old, who isn't terribly handy yet. I'm
going to have to reserve tomorrow's post for notes on his intriguing
permaculture techniques, but suffice it to say that he's not an
old-fashioned apple grower even if his apples have deep roots.
In addition to apples
($18 to $28, depending on size of tree), Tim Hensley also sells a
selection of other edible plants, not all of which are listed on his
website. For example, I was shocked to see rows of Chicago
Hardy figs, just
like the one I mail-ordered --- I wish I'd realized I could pick them
up in person at the Urban Homestead!
Speaking
of picking them up, if you live closeby, I highly recommend that you
make the drive to the Urban Homestead, not only to get your trees in
the ground ASAP so that they will thrive, but also to explore Hensley's
operation. Mom wants you to know that they have the best swing
she's enjoyed in years. On the other hand, don't let distance
stop you --- Tim Hensley mails his trees across the United States.
The Urban Homestead is
located on 818 Cumberland St., behind the library in Bristol.
Give them a call at (276) 466-2931 or an email at urbanhomestead@aol.com. Don't forget that
buying heirloom apples not only preserves a vanishing tradition but
also means your trees are more likely to survive the pests that nature
throws at them with no need for posionous sprays.
Or explore more posts by date or by subject.
About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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When I moved to Mendota in the mid 1970s, my closest neighbor was Charmie Moore, then in her mid 80s. She had a large apple tree in the field across from her house and offered me the apples, which she called "Striped Ben Davis." She said her daddy grew the original Striped Ben Davis from seed and sold the strain to a nursery. I took a truck-load of these apples to the River Farm where I borrowed Michael and Monica Appleby's cider press and made many gallons of cider. They made a great cider. I don't know if these are the Ben Davis apples you mention or a variety off that apple's seed.
Charmie told me about when she was little and they hung "the last wild Indian" in Poor Valley.
From the bit I'm starting to understand of naming conventions, her tree is probably a seedling of the original Ben Davis, just like Stayman is a seedling of Winesap.
I love hearing your stories --- especially when you add them to the blog to preserve them for posterity!
Uh oh. Did you actually encourage my stories?
Two more Charmie Moore stories.
When she was a child they lived half-way up on Clinch Mountain, in a gentle sloping area which was still clear pasture when I last went there in the late 60s (and site, btw, of the Joey Learns to Fly story, which bear encounter actually occurred with Danielle. Charmie said that the road over the Clinch from Mendota was a major thoroughfare, on which cattle were driven in spring and fall. When she was a girl, Mendota was bigger than Bristol, with two banks and two feed stores along with several other merchants. Charmie and another old neighbor told me that it was a day's adventure to take the train from Mendota in to Bristol or Gate City, where their mothers would sell produce or sewn goods.
Charmie says a tornado once came over the mountain from the north side and deposited a mule in the tree in front of her house. Her daddy tried every way he could to ge the mule down, it was making such a racket. Finally he had to shoot it.
Charmie was born around 1890, to give you a date for these stories. She dried Striped Ben Davis apples in her wood cookstove and in the winter made me the most delicious fried apple pies in exchange for my bringing in her coal.
@Anna I love that that is hidden up above the library. Who knew. By the way, Ken has a fig tree that was bearing a few weeks ago, taken from one in JC. I didn't know they grew in this area, and I think I want one.
@Errol, that reminds me of a story I heard on the radio and thought of you. The gist was that, a hundred years ago or so, someone in Ohio was put on trial for murder. The only "evidence" was that someone claimed to have seen the deceased's ghost, who said he did it. The judge threw it out, as they could not produce the witness. The defendant was never entirely trusted in those parts after that, and eventually moved away -- to St Marys.
Hopefully someone will google for "Charmin's Fried Apple Pie" and come and comment here.
I know that fried apple pies are a local specialty in our area, but hadn't eaten one made from crabapples. I do think that crabapples are a bit of a lost art --- I remember eating some ornamental ones as a kid that were astonishingly delicious but don't hear about people eating them nowadays. I'd plant one, but I seem to remember something about them spreading diseases to apples?