Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing, the largest marketer of South African apples and pears, opens its Heritage Orchard of historic apple and pear trees to the public for a guided tour, hosted by Tru-Cape’s quality assurance manager, Henk Griessel and new varietal expert Buks Nel, at Oak Valley Estate in Grabouw on Saturday February 4, from 10am to noon. There will be an opportunity to see and taste historic fruit no longer in commercial production. Entry is free, and tickets booked via Quicket must be shown at the gate to gain entry. Griessel and Nel co-authored a book on historic apple varietals, Apples in the early days at the Cape, and the Kroonappel from Holland will be one of the varieties available to taste. “Further investigation has shown that there were four Kroonappels, but it is most likely that the one around at the Cape in 1723 was the Kroon-Appel with the synonyms Fyne Kroon, Aagt-appel, Engelsche or Hollandsche Aagt or Lekker Beetje ”, says Griessel.
For more information, call Norma on 021 848 9060 to arrange a museum visit.
