A group of about 15 Biochemistry Department members and associates ventured out to an isolated apple tree orchard on the side of Mt Cargill a few Saturdays ago.
The Jim Dunckley Heritage orchard is an over-20-year old collection of heritage apple tree cultivars collected from old trees across coastal Otago, run by the NZ Tree and Crop Association. It is thought to be the most diverse collection of apple cultivars in New Zealand, with over 300 varieties, and an appropriately diverse collection of names, including Peasgood's Nonsuch, Nontet Bastard, Hens Turd, Warner's King and Albany Beauty.
The working bee mostly involved 'tree releasing' – getting rid of weeds and plastic sleeves placed when the trees were seedlings, that now choke the trees.
Attendees were also able to taste some of the apples – quite an exciting activity with the result often unknown given the great variety of different looks and tastes available. The general consensus was that Russett Red was best – not too sweet and not too sour.
The event was part of a newly established relationship between Otago Biochemistry's Associate Professor Lynette Brownfield, other researchers from around the university, and the caretakers of the orchard, the NZ Tree and Crop Association Coastal Otago branch.
Lynette hopes that they will be able to help the Association determine genetically exactly what they have in the orchard, establishing a diverse library of apple genetics. In terms of New Zealand future apple breeding, as environmental conditions shift and new diseases appear, such a library will be a potentially vital resource to the apple industry.
The orchard also could be a great teaching resource for future generations of New Zealand horticultural geneticists, as an ideal demonstration of genetic variation in a important revenue-earning species.
Photo top: Biochemistry Department members and associates at the heritage apple tree orchard.
Bottom: Ayo Fayoka (L; Brownfield Lab) and Finn Dobbie (Brown Lab) hard at work getting rid of weeds and a plastic sleeve from around an apple tree.