Zone 3 - Vermont. 1855 - standard rootstocks

Cooking, baking, dessert
Late-season

Parentage: Likely a seedling (or relative) of Blue Pearmain
The first record of Bethel is in 1855. It’s round to oblate with a thick skin mottled and striped red becoming darker with a purplish-carmine tones and a bluish bloom at maturity. The flesh is yellow with a hard, crisp texture, unique flavour and a satisfying amount of juice. A favorite at the nursery.

The story goes that David Stone, the finder of Bethel, was walking “past a cidery where he foraged some fallen apples to eat. He found them so good that he collected a small bag full of pips from those apples to take home. They were almost certain to be Blue Pearmain  apple pips which had been open pollinated. When Stone arrived back home in Bethel, he planted them them around the region. Several of the pips sprouted and eventually bore apples that were remarkably similar to the Blue Pearmain which was widely used for cider making through the northeastern Americas. The Blue Pearmain had originated just a few years prior and had made a name for itself as the essential ingredient in the New England style cider produced extensively around Boston, in what was to become the state of Massachusetts. The Bethel maintains that tradition, bearing excellent all-purpose apples. It has been, to some extent, overshadowed by modern custom bred varieties, it nevertheless has a strong following in the New England states (U.S.A.) and has benefited from the resurgence of heritage breeds.” (pomiferous.com)

• standard rootstock

• 1 year

• bare root