Granny Smith Apples
Granny Smith is one of the best cooking apples with a sensational tart, tangy flavor. When fully mature the sweetness level of this popular apple increases.
Granny Smith was born Maria Ann Sherwood in Sussex, England, in 1799, and at 19, she married farm labourer Thomas Smith. The family emigrated to Sydney in 1838 and seven years later, purchased 24 acres of land on the edge of the Field of Mars Common to establish an orchard. The Granny Smith Memorial Park, Marsfield, now marks part of the southern boundary of the farm.
The earliest record of the Granny Smith Apple appeared in the Farmer and Settler, June 25, 1924. A local historian interviewed fruit-grower Edwin Small who recalled that in 1868, he and his father had been invited by Maria Smith to examine a seedling apple growing by a creek on her farm. She explained that the seedling had developed from the remains of some French crab apples grown in Tasmania.
Maria Smith died in 1870 and sadly her apple didnt become a commercial variety in her lifetime. Howe'ver, it continued to be cultivated by local orchardists and in 1891, it was exhibited as Smiths seedling in the Castle Hill Agricultural and Horticultural Show, winning the prize for cooking apples. The following year many growers exhibited Granny Smiths.
In 1895, the NSW Dept of Agriculture, named Granny Smiths Seedling as a suitable variety for export and it has since become a much loved apple variety, known world-wide.
It is the third most popular apple in Australia after the Pink Lady and Gala accounting for 18 per cent of all sales.
The owner of the Aumann Family Orchard at Warrandyte (Victoria) Barry Aumann said the Granny Smith had lost its popularity in recent years which he put down to its tangy flavour .
He said the biggest buyers of Granny Smiths usually were older people who might have grown up with the variety.
Apple and Pear Australia CEO John Dollisson said the Granny Smith always had been popular in Australia with the average apple consumption overall about 8.5 kilograms per person per year.
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