Shafer Apple (Spring 2027)

This is our first year growing Shafer, so everything below is secondhand until we get more long-term data from our own mother trees.

Overview

Shafer is a Manitoba applecrab, which means it sits right on the line between an apple and a crabapple. The fruit is about 1¾ inches across, bright red, and sweet with a tart edge, and it's one of the hardiest apples we offer.

Origin and History

Shafer was found by W. Shafer at Poplar Point, Manitoba, and introduced by the Morden Research Station in 1963. The USDA germplasm description, as quoted by Alaska Fruit Trees, calls it "similar to Trail in size and quality but slightly darker orange and does not bruise as easily as Trail." We haven't found its parentage published anywhere.

Fruit and Uses

Steve Masterman at Alaska Fruit Trees grows it in Fairbanks and describes the fruit as medium, about 1¾ inches, "bright yellow, washed with red, often to the point of being completely bright red," and "very nice, sweet but with a tart almost cranberry-like flavor." It ripens in early September in both Fairbanks and Manitoba. It only keeps a week or so, so plan to eat it fresh, dry it or turn it into sauce. Prairie Gardens in Alberta also recommends it for juice and cider.

Growth Habit and Spacing

Ours are grafted onto Malus baccata full size rootstock, the hardiest rootstock we work with. Expect a full size tree and plan on 18 to 20 feet between them. It comes into bearing quickly, and both of Steve's trees fruited well in their third and fourth years. The one weakness he notes is that it's susceptible to fire blight.

Pollination

Shafer needs a pollenizer. It blooms early to mid season, so pair it with another hardy apple in that window, like Centennial, Rescue, Norkent, Parkland, Prairie Sensation or Dolgo.

Cold Hardiness

This is a true zone 2 apple. Steve lists Shafer with his very hardiest apples in Fairbanks, in the same group as Dolgo, Rescue and Trailman, and rates it "hardy to Zone 2a or colder." The Alaska Pioneer Fruit Growers Association puts it in their "Hardiest" class. We have it listed at zone 2, which is hardy to -50F.

Photo credit: USDA-ARS National Plant Germplasm System, Plant Genetic Resources Unit, Geneva, New York, accession PI 589465. Public domain (U.S. government work).

About the photo: this isn’t Shafer itself. Photos of Shafer are either under copyright or simply unavailable, so we picked the open-source image that looks closest to the fruit. Photo: “Apples 8122” by Bengt Nyman, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.