How can I help? Any input is greatly appreciated!!!

I would be delighted to hear about any old apples in your community. These could either be on your property or at the homes of friends or relatives. Also it would be appreciated if you can suggest any promising areas for me to search for old apples. Any old apple information can be helpful. It could be the description of an apple you remember, the name of a neighbor who has old trees, a telephone call to a relative asking about their apple trees, etc. Listed below are several examples of how a small suggestion can lead to a valuable rare apple being found.

I remember an old apple. Would this be helpful? Yes!!! Yes!!!

A Roan Mountain (TN) man told me that there had been a Black Jack apple near his home although he was not positive of the name. There had definitely been a Nickajack apple in the area, and most likely this is what he had been talking about. Just because he had mentioned the name, I kept asking people about the apple. No one else had heard of the Black Jack. The next year I asked a man and he replied, "Sure. There was a Black Jack tree up Hampton Creek." The tree was there, the apple fit the historic description, and it definitely was not a Nickajack.

A Wilkes County (NC) man told me about a long departed apple, a Hayes Green. It was large to very large, always green, more pointed than a Sheepnose, and hangs on the tree well into the winter. I was 200 miles away in the western tip of North Carolina when I stopped at a home with six apple trees. The owners knew the names of five of them. As soon as I looked at the sixth tree I said, "That just has to be a Hayes Green Apple." It was.

If these names or descriptions had not been mentioned, then neither of these apples would have been found.

I know nothing about old apples. Can I still help? Yes!!! Yes!!!

A retired minister in Wilkes County (NC) knows only a couple of old apples, but he knows hundreds of people. With his help, I have found ten very rare apples.

I called an Avery County (NC) woman who someone had casually mentioned. I asked her if she had any suggestions of who I should contact in Avery County. She suggested five people. I followed up and found six lost apples. When my leads ran out, I called her back and asked her if she had any other suggestions. She gave me three more names. I found three more apples. She did not know what apples any of these people had. She was just making logical suggestions of people she thought might have a few apple trees. A Macon County (NC) woman provided similar help.

A few minutes spent thinking of who might have old apples in your community could result in a very valuable old apple variety being saved from extinction.