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FRUITFROMWASHINGTON.COM WEB-LETTER
March 2003
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Place a Fruit Subscription Order (or renew your existing subscription) for a one year period of 20-count apples or pears, shipped monthly, and receive FREE Seattle Chocolate Mint Truffles (1.85 oz box) with your first month's shipment! - Special 12-month order promotion through March 2003 (Subscription fruit orders also available in 6-month and 3-month fruit of the month subscriptions).

Fruit From Washington March Fruit Subscription Variety is a 20-count gift box of Pink Lady® Apples. Those who have signed up for the monthly Apple Subscription of our 15-count gift box of "strictly apples" will also receive Pink Lady® Apple Variety in March! For your subscription order, look for delivery mid-month.
Apple of the Month, in a 15-count gift box, 6-month subscription order, keeps your kitchen supplied with tasty and delicious, always the best of the lot, varieties of apples.

A special offer limited to our subscription holders in March is the Pink Lady® apple variety, result of a cross between Golden Delicious and Lady Williams, which originated in Western Australia and made its commercial debut in 1985. Eighteen years later the Pink Lady® has come into its own, receiving high marks in consumer taste tests. Harvested in late October in Washington State, it is a good keeper and you will find the previous season's crop still available through spring and summer months. In appearance, Pink Lady® has an attractive bright pink coloration, the flesh is firm and crisp, and the flavor is "unique, tangy-tart, sweet". (Source: Washington Apple Commission)

From the FruitFromWashington Mail Bag - “Just wanted to let you know that my parents, the gift recipients, have thoroughly enjoyed their shipments thus far. Keep up the excellent work!” S.M. - 2/11/03

See other Customers' Comments about the products and service from FruitFromWashington.com!

Order rustic outdoor furniture made in Ellensburg, Washington, from our online Classic Garden Catalog* such as this Redwood Potting Table, made by FFW Manufacturing of Ellensburg, Washington, perfect for the serious gardener. Priced at $399.99 (including shipping*)

We offer other solidly constructed and beautiful retro-styled pieces including Picnic Tables and Planter Benches that are functional and attractive in any home setting. *Free shipping on furniture, UPS Ground to addresses in 48 contiguous states.

It's always easy to buy garden furniture, or gift boxes of Washington grown apples and pears from FruitFromWashington.com! For all phone orders, call toll-free 1-877-AT-FRUIT.

Read our Customer Satisfaction and Order Fulfillment policies as well as more information for business gift giving on our Corporate Gift Giving page!

How do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day? A casual survey produced predictable results:

“Jameson & Bushmills...seriously though...Harp & Guinness.” - from Bruce

Watch “The Quiet Man” (starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara) and then “The Waking of Ned Divine,” starring Fionnula Flanagan, Ian Bannen and David Kelly.” - from Cory

Happy St. Patrick's Day from FruitFromWashington.com!

Odds & Ends -
Sounds like the name of a whiskey drink, but actually Double Irish is a patchwork quilt pattern.

Then & Now -
Margaret Beecham Skean of Lincoln, Nebraska has published a series of old postcards on the web which were originally collected by her grandparents on a trip they took to Ireland in 1908. She contrasts the old views with scenes of the same locales photographed in 2002. The before and after shots are well worth a look! Great example of preserved family history brought alive for present generations. See at Postcards from Ireland, 1910 (use the index page as a starting point).

“When we desire to raise new varieties of fruit, the common practice is to collect the seeds of the finest table fruits—those sorts whose merits are every where acknowledged to be the highest. In proceeding thus we are all pretty well aware, that the chances are generally a hundred to one against our obtaining any new variety of great excellence.” - A. J. Downing, "The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America" (1852)

What makes Australia's Granny Smith so special? Grandmother Marie Ana Smith, who cultivated the seedlings that sprouted from a tub of French crabapples composting in her garden, discovered amongst them a unique tart green apple variety which has come to be loved by sour apple fans the world over.

Chance discovery is really a very old story. But chance’s odds may be improved beyond those of “a hundred to one” with persistence and a plan. As some have proven so in the past.

The Van Mons Theory is a case in point. Jean Baptiste Van Mons (1765-1842), physician and professor at Louvain, Belgium, spent much of his life in attempting to improve the odds of discovering wonderful new varieties of fruit, pears in particular. His program was based upon seed selection and successive plantings of large nurseries consisting of generation after generation of seedling trees. He explains his method as follows:

“I have found this art to consist in regenerating in a direct line of descent, and as rapidly as possible an improving variety, taking care that there be no interval between the generations. To sow, to re-sow, to sow again, to sow perpetually, in short to do nothing but sow, is the practice to be pursued, and which cannot be departed from; and in short this is the whole secret of the art I have employed.” - Dr. Van Mons' Arbres Fruitiers

A. J. Downing describes Dr. Van Mons’ amelioration process in the text of “The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America” (John Wiley, New York 1852).

“Nearly all that is necessary for him to do in attempting to raise a new variety of excellence by this simple mode, is to gather his seeds (before they are fully ripe,) from a seedling sort of promising quality, though not yet arrived at perfection. The seedling must be quite young—must be on its own root (not grafted;) and it must be a healthy tree, in order to secure a healthy generation of seedlings....In order to be most successful in raising new varieties by successive reproduction, let us bear in mind that we must avoid—1st, the seeds of old fruit trees; 2d, those of grafted fruit trees; and 3d, that we have the best grounds for good results when we gather our seeds from a young seedling tree, which is itself rather a perfecting than a perfect fruit.”

“A lovely spring night suddenly vanished while we viewed cherry blossoms” - Basho

Eastern Washington acreage for sale

Rural lot with stunning view of Kittitas Valley and Cascade Mountains for sale by owner. Located on southern rim of the Kittitas Valley. Short (under 15 minute) drive to Ellensburg with shopping, schools, Central Washington University. Two hour drive from Seattle (international airport, city arts, eating, culture). Perfect country estate size - approximately 3 acres - for rural living. Protective covenants. Trees along property boundaries for privacy. Deep soil and irrigation water - ideal for the gardener or horse owner. (Click for more).

Jackie O'Shea: And don't take it personally, Finn, but I bought you some expensive, fruity soaps. Take them home, try them out. - Waking Ned Divine (1998)

The result of nearly fifty years of one man's efforts can be seen in the list of pear varieties that originated in Dr. Jean Baptiste Van Mons Belgium nurseries. Source: Pears origination 1800-1850 listed by the National Clonal Germplasm Repository (NCGR), Corvallis, Oregon.

Doyenne de Juillet - Originated in Belgium by Van Mons about 1800. Good quality, small-sized fruit, ripens early, does not keep.

Flemish Beauty - Originated by Van Mons about 1800. Image by artist L.C.C. Krieger (10/30/1935) from the historic pear watercolor collection at the USDA National Agricultural Library in Beltsville, Maryland.

Doyenne Boussock - Originated about 1800, brought to USA in 1841. Interestingly grouped under the category of Gray Doyenne in A. J. Downing's Fruits & Fruit Trees of America. Image by artist Royal G. Steadman (9/5/22).

Beurre Diel - about 1805. Described by Downing as "A noble Belgian fruit, raised from seed, in 1805, by Dr. Van Mons, and named in honour of his friend Dr. Augustus Frederick Adrien Diel, a distinguished German pomologist."

Beurre Bosc - Downing lists this variety as "a pear to which we give our unqualified praise. It is large, handsome, a regular bearer, always perfect, and of the highest flavour...It was raised in 1807 by Van Mons, and named Calebasse Bosc in honour of M. Bosc, a distinguished Belgian cultivator." Image by artist Mary Daisy Arnold (10/1/32).

Saint Ghislain - "A most excellent Belgian pear," according to Downing's guide which lists this variety as originating with M. Dorlain. However, the NCGR of Corvallis, Oregon, states that it was actually propagated in Belgium by Van Mons about 1810 and selected by M. Dorlain. Downing reports the St. Ghislain was introduced into the United States by S. G. Perkins, Esq. of Boston.

Bergamote de la Pentecote - Originated in Belgium by Van Mons in 1823. Included in the Easter Beurre group in Downing's Fruits & Fruit Trees of America, described as "one of the very best late winter or spring pears." Image of Easter Pear by artist Amanda A. Newton (12/20/11).

Doyenne d'Hiver - Grouped in the Easter Buerre category by Downing. Originated by Van Mons prior to 1823.

Nouveau Poiteau - Originated in Belgium by Van Mons in 1827.

Chasseurs - Originated by Van Mons, 1830.

Conseiller a La Coeur - 1841 introduced by Van Mons in Belgium.

Belle Julie - An early ripening pear introduced by Van Mons circa 1842.

More at: NATIONAL CLONAL GERMPLASM REPOSITORY Corvallis, Oregon (Plant Diversity For a Diverse Future). Images found in USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection, Beltsville, MD.

It is an important question with some nowadays, whether you should trim young apple-trees as high as your nose or as high as your eyes. The ox trims them up as high as he can reach, and that is about the right height, I think. - H.D. Thoreau, How the Wild Apple Grows

Some suggestions for winter pruning backyard fruit trees—
In the southern and western states, pruning can be done during winter when the weather is mild. Those places where winters are extremely severe, it is best to defer pruning until the end of February or even early March. But avoid pruning late in spring when buds have begun to swell and sap is flowing.

According to early American horticulturist, William Coxe (1762-1831) “when orchard trees are much pruned, they are apt to throw out numerous (superfluous) suckers from the boughs in the following summer; these should be rubbed off when they first appear, or they may easily be broken off while young and brittle—cutting is apt to increase their number.”

The cows continue to browse them thus for twenty years or more, keeping them down and compelling them to spread, until at last they are so broad that they become their own fence, when some interior shoot, which their foes cannot reach, darts upward with joy: for it has not forgotten its high calling, and bears its own peculiar fruit in triumph....By the end of some October, when its leaves have fallen, I frequently see such a central sprig, whose progress I have watched, when I thought it had forgotten its destiny, as I had, bearing its first crop of small green or yellow or rosy fruit, which the cows cannot get at over the bushy and thorny hedge which surrounds it, and I make haste to taste the new and undescribed variety. We have all heard of the numerous varieties of fruit invented by Van Mons and Knight. This is the system of Van Cow, and she has invented far more and more memorable varieties than both of them. - H. D. Thoreau, How the Wild Apple Grows

Household Hint– If you would like to bake tea pastries but do not have individual tart pans, turn over your muffin tins and fit the rolled pastry over the back of each muffin cup, in effect, baking the tart shells in an upside down position. You can get about 8 large tarts from a traditional 9-inch pie crust recipe. Divide the dough into eighths, roll each into a 5-inch circle and place each over an inverted muffin cup. To keep tart shells from bubbling and help them hold their shape during baking, remember to pierce pastry all over with a fork before placing in the oven. Large tart shells bake at 425°F for 10-12 minutes. Be careful not to let them get too brown. After they've cooled for a few minutes in the pan, remove and place on a rack. The shells can be filled with a variety of choices including fruit, jams, or even commercially prepared pie filling. Lovely served with coffee or tea!

Quick Click Highlights for Early Spring
Calendar & Daybook • Garden Links • Cooking Links • Searchable recipe database • Calorie Search • Fruit Calorie Search • Classic Garden Furniture Catalog • St. Patrick's Day Poems & Song Lyrics

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** Editor's Note: This Web-Letter is in the FruitFromWashington.com Archives. Availability of products may have changed since publication.

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October 22, 2004

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