Apple Science, From American Beauty to Zestar
22:17 minutes
The humble apple wears many faces, from the crisp and crunchy Honeycrisp to the soft and tannic Mac. How did apples get so diverse? Apple breeder Susan Brown explains the ins-and-outs of apple reproduction and reveals how modern plant genetics allows her to “stack the deck” in favor of crisp and sweet offspring. Plus, orchardist and apple historian Dan Bussey introduces us to some weird and wonderful heritage breeds. (Click here for an apple recipe.)
Susan Brown is an apple breeder and professor of agriculture and life sciences at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
Dan Bussey is author of The Illustrated History of Apples in North America (JAK KAW Press, projected 2016) and orchard manager at Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa.
Annie Minoff is a producer for The Journal from Gimlet Media and the Wall Street Journal, and a former co-host and producer of Undiscovered. She also plays the banjo.