Heirloom Apple Varieties
Westfield Seek-No-Further
While we love collecting and preserving new (to us) apple varieties, The Seek-no-further may be the end all in taste. Maybe. Marvelously complex, slightly acid, sweet and perfectly crisp, eating this apple is the acme of eating apples. Many other orchardists feel this way too. SA Beach, in his treatise, Apples of New York, begins his description as, “Among fruit growers and fruit dealers this variety is commonly called Seek or Seek-No-Further and doubtless will continue to be so called as long as it remains in cultivation…”
1790’s, Westfield, Massachusetts is identified as the point of origin, though the variety quickly spread through New England, and to settlements further west. The Westfield seek-no-further seems to do well in most northeast growing climates. It has been noted to have reliable heavy russeting on the fruit in southern growing regions. Through its history, it was not widely marketed as a commercial variety as it offered households little use beyond fresh eating compared to other popular varieties at the time. We have both the red and green cultivars. The red v. green cultivars of this variety is a matter of dispute ranging back centuries, and is still a point of conversation among growers today.
