On the hunt for the lost apples of Lanark County

Ever bite into a Princess Louise?

How about a Wealthy, or a Snow?

Maybe you have one of these apple varieties growing on your property, or know someone who does. Either way, Jennifer Ferris would love to hear about it.

The Hopetown, Ont., woman loves a good mystery, and has been spending her time trying to find heritage apple varieties throughout Lanark County.

"I just find these old apples have way more interesting flavours in them, for sure," Ferris told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning.

"The old apples have ... subtle hints of — and some stronger than others — not just apple but pear, clove, a general spiciness, pineapple, banana, strawberry, raspberry, anise."

In particular, she's looking for the Lanark Greening, a hard, late-season green variety that was apparently developed in Fallbrook, Ont., and the Princess Louise, a juicy green/yellow apple with red/blush stripes that's good for dessert.

Notices about apple competitions in local fairs, printed in newspapers in the 1910s to 1940s, have been helpful. Ferris has a list of about 25 names to track down, and has a lead on a Princess Louise apple tree in Middleville, Ont.

She came close to finding a Lanark Greening tree — also in Middleville — where she met an 81-year-old man whose father won competitions with his apples.

The elderly man remembered the apples well and even had the remains of one of the trees on his property, but it had died just a few years before Ferris's visit.

"It's a mystery. I love a good mystery. I love that it's probably solvable, it's just a matter of finding the properties," she said. "I am hopeful that there are still Lanark Greenings out there."

To help with her search for forgotten apple varieties, Ferris started a Facebook page called Lost Lanark Legacy Fruit Trees. Anyone with tips about where to find old trees are invited to share their stories there.