Martha Applecrab

Overview

Martha is an applecrab from Minnesota dating to the late 1800s, commonly associated with the work of Peter Gideon (the same Minnesota pioneer famous for the Wealthy apple). It’s grown because it’s hardy, reliable, and genuinely useful for fresh eating and cooking. 

History & Parentage

Edible Crab, applecrab, crabapple. People have different names for Martha and given that we do not know exactly if it is a cross between a pure crab and a domesticated apple (unlike Kerr, which is Dolgo x Harlason), Rod and others we know in Montana refer to it as an applecrab. Its history goes back to the late 1800s, tied to Peter Gideon’s era of Minnesota fruit work. Formal parentage is not typically published in the references most growers use. 

Fruit Quality & Uses

Martha is rose-red, about 2 inches across, with crisp, juicy, slightly yellow flesh and a sweet-tart flavor. The flavor is exceptional and life changing (see the story below!). It’s used for fresh eating, baking, sauce, jelly/jam, and as an excellent addition to cider blends. 

Growth Habit & Spacing

It’s spreading/open and productive. Spacing depends on rootstock and training, some of these are on Bud 118 and can be spaced 15 ft. apart. The full size Dolgo should be 20 ft. apart. Both rootstocks can be spaced tighter for a more intense spacing/pruning regiment, or even further apart for a more lax approach.

Pollination

As with essentially all apples/crabapples, cross-pollination improves fruit set. The list is long but some ideas to go with Martha include Trailman, Kerr, Chestnut, Rescue, Dearborn's Unknown, Mantet, Norland, Norson, Norda, Lodi, Yellow Transparent, and many others.

Cold Hardiness

Given Martha's success in which it saw no winter injury in Corvallis, MT that saw -38F on 1/13/24, Martha is at least hardy to -40F. It's certainly a zone 3a apple, and is likely hardy down to temps even colder, although we simply don't have this data yet.

Fun Backstory

One of Luke's mentors, the late Rod McIver, fell in love with fruit growing because of a single taste. When he was in his 50s, a friend from Oregon handed him a Wickson crabapple. The flavor floored him. Wanting to grow it but unable to find a nursery that carried it, he was told the only solution was to learn to graft. So he did. He found cuttings, grafted one successfully, waited four years, and when he finally tasted the fruit he said, in his southern drawl, “This ain’t the fruit I tried five years ago!”

That started a decade-long quest. He gathered cuttings from near and far, trialed rootstocks, and devoured books. He didn't realize it at the time but he was falling in love with fruit growing and pomology (the science/practice of growing fruit). Finally one late-summer evening, he plucked a tree ripened apple, took a bite, and shouted, “By God, I’ve found it. Martha!”

That was the name of the apple he’d tried all those years earlier (and funny enough, the name of his eldest daughter!). Rod went on to have the largest germplasm of fruit varieties in the whole state, and it all started with Martha.

Images courtesy Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners