Welcome to the spring issue of our Newsletter. We welcome feedback from you, our readers, and we hope to hear from you or see you in the near future. If you wish to send us any information then please address it to: 
The Apple Farm, 
Moorstown, Cahir, 
Co. Tipperary 


Where do apples come from?
The original apple forests of the world still exist today on the slopes of Kazakhstan's Tian Shan or heavenly mountains. The city of Alma-ata (meaning "father of apples") sits between two rushing glacial streams which run from these mountains. This city has been a trading centre on the silk route since the time of Alexander the Great. As little as fifty years ago the deep ravines and undulating hills behind the city were covered by forests of wild apples and apricots. Green, red, orange, yellow - rusty and smooth, large and sweet, small and bitter - apples were king. 
Because the apple has survived for so long on these slopes, and because until recently it has been undisturbed by man, it has retained a rich genetic diversity. The modern apples we find in the shops represent but a tiny slice of all possible apples that have existed in the world. They are the descendants of thousands of years of selection by man for colour, size, shape and taste. But they are also the chance descendants of the fruit and seedlings carried by travellers of the Silk Route and wild birds and animals that ate the fruit and spread the seed as it passed through their digestive tracts. The apples that reached Persia, Mesopotamia, the Mediterranean, and eventually central and northern Europe contain less than 20 percent of the genetic material found in these ancient Asian forests. Locked away in the genetic codes of that other 80 percent are tantalising apples of yet unknown taste. Apples of wonderful fragrance, rich colours and unimaginable texture. Apples which could be the basis of new untasted juices and ciders. 
Hopefully these forests will be preserved for the benefit of apple-eaters and growers everywhere. 


In our shop 
All our fruit is now gone. The last eating apples (Gala) were sold in early March, and the Bramley's finished soon thereafter. We still have plenty of apple juice however, and our shop is still open every day for anyone who wishes to get some. The large bottles are £1.50 each or £16.00 for a case of 12 (£1.33 each).

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