Saving Rare Apple Varieties - across Europe

I'm on the search for rare and endangered fruit varieties - especially apples!

I'm currently hanging out in Latvia which I hope will be my new home.

The land here is so pristine, so wild and undisturbed, compared to 90% of the rest of Europe, that I feel ready to put down roots here.

Yet even in this unspoilt corner of Europe, rampant globalisation and exploitation of resources still threaten.

Foreign logging companies buy up large areas of forest or undervalued land to plant monoculture forestry plantations.

I'm horrified to here of the orchards that sometimes get bulldozed in the process for 'progress'.

The real wealth of resources is being forgotten and destroyed. Latvia has a great treasure trove of old fruit varieties, many of them probably not documented, and most of them would have never have been trialled elsewhere. Huge potential, diversity and cultural heritage are now at risk from extinction.

We must act now to save our old fruit varieties from disapearing forever. All over Europe the situation is similar. In the rush to modernise, nations have forgotten the jackpot they're already sitting on.

If you have an old fruit variety that you value and would like to see live on, I will work to try to help you preserve it.

Simply send me enough graft wood / scion wood of your chosen variety to graft two trees. One of the resulting trees I will add to my sanctuary for further trialling. The other I will send back to you, to plant in your own garden or with friends, family or neighbours.

This way the variety will live on in at least two different locations, giving it a very good chance of long term survival. I would also hope to continue propagating from successful stock to multiply them further to be planted across wider areas of Europe.

If this sounds like a good deal to you, please get in touch and I will do my best to help.

Just mail symbiosisnursery@gmail with the story of your chosen cultivar and I will send back instructions on how best to get the scion wood to me.

Thank you. Let us act now to preserve the wealth of diversity that our children's children deserve to inherit.

Let us keep them in our mind and heart, and our Earth will surely prevail in supporting a healthy environment for the next generations to enjoy...

Another unidentified early Latvian garden variety. Very sweet, and these were ready from mid - July, just two months after blossoming!!