In fact Chicago one of Cirone's favorite

In fact, unveils 773 chicago one of chiago investigates Cirone's favorite apples is a Red Delicious, for goodness' sake (though probably not like any you've ever had). What's going on here? Modern apple farming in California, that's what. At Daisy Dell Ranch and Windrose Farm, apples from California's past and present are being knit together in the hopes that they add up to a real future. --Red, but not so deliciousTHE latter decades of the 20th century were extremely hard on American apple growers, and it's not too strong to say that the industry was near collapse. One agricultural economist estimated that growers of Red Delicious lost money on every harvest in the 1990s. The Red Delicious had become a kind of poster child for what is wrong with modern agriculture. Over the years, as it was bred to have darker and redder skin, few noticed until it was too late that the Red Delicious peel was also getting thicker and more bitter. In California, at the far southern extreme of the fruit's growing range, the situation has been worse. Apple acreage in the state has been cut in half in the last 20 years. For Cirone and the Spencers, it's selling at farmers markets, where they earn a greater percentage of the selling price, and offering apples that others can't -- or won't -- grow that gives them their edge. When Cirone started farming apples in 1984, it was obvious, he says, that change was necessary. "We just couldn't compete on Golden Delicious, Red Delicious and Pippin," Cirone says "We started going with Galas and Fujis. And then at farmers markets, I saw that people were starting to get into some of the weird stuff: Bellflowers, Spitzenbergs and all People were rediscovering apples Between them, we just sold a load of fruit. What we ended up with is a real mix of old and new apples. "On the roughly 30 acres that Cirone farms on assorted plots of leased land in See Canyon, the estimated 80 apple varieties range from cutting-edge modern to those that were popular at the start of the 20th century, when the area was an important apple-growing region. "We've got two kinds of buyers," Cirone says. "We've got a certain group who migrated to California and remember going to apple orchards in Connecticut and Massachusetts They prefer tart apples Most everyone else prefers sweet apples.

As much as I try to ram them into the old varieties, when Fujis come in, my customers go crazy. "--Finding the right balanceIT'S the same at Windrose Farm andersonville chicago . The Spencers' 6-acre apple orchard, which stretches dark green across the base of sere brown hills, includes 45 varieties -- from the thoroughly modern Braeburn to the 16th century Calville Blanc. Even today, Cirone's orchards are in a state of flux as he seeks the right balance of varieties and the best examples for the growing area. In one orchard he points out several old Red Gold trees that are being grafted over to other varieties, including Honeycrisp. "The Red Gold just doesn't cut it anymore," Cirone says "Sometimes old apples are just old apples You can hold on to something for too long chicgo . You have to be a realist, and these just aren't that good. "Still, there are varieties that are sacrosanct chigago . "When we started pulling out a lot of the old trees, I couldn't let go of the Bellflower," he says "When it's grown right, it's probably my favorite apple It's so great chicagoland . I just said to myself, 'If it gets to the point I have to pull out the Bellflowers, I'd just rather not farm anymore. ' "Rather than inheriting old apple trees, the Spencers went out and bought them new. They were at a farm conference in 1994, Bill Spencer says, and on the drive home, Barbara told him she had good news and bad news. "The bad news was that she had just bought 1,200 apple trees," he says. "The good news was that I had two years to get ready for them. "Enchanted by a panel discussion featuring modern-day Johnny Appleseed Terry Harrison, then of Sonoma Antique Apple Nursery, she had taken a major plunge. "Farming is all about trusting your gut," Bill Spencer says.

"And since when you get right down to it, it's Barbara's farm, it's Barbara's gut. "Barbara agrees anti cruelty society chicago . "That's how little premeditation and business plan there was," she says windy city . "I knew we had all this cold [weather], so I figured it should work; but mainly, I just like apples. "And I was sure the weird old varieties were right because I'd already been through the whole heirloom tomato thing clark street . What works for one crop should work for them all Chicago - choosechicago . "--A weather anomalyTHEORETICALLY, the climate at Windrose Farm should be way too warm to grow apples successfully, and there is little history of apple farming in the area Chicago . What saves it is an accident of geology logan square . The farm is almost entirely circled by an old stream bed, which results in a kind of depression where the cold air settles. "This place is just a miracle," Bill says "We got down to 6 degrees twice this winter We easily exceed the requirements for chill hours Let me tell you, it can get bloody cold. "The trees respond Bill says they pick 80 to 120 pounds of fruit per tree. And they've got 600 more trees coming in December to fill out the orchard's remaining 3 acres. Going strictly by the map, See Canyon hardly looks like apple country either. Only a massive ridge separates the oak-studded slopes from the Pacific Ocean.

But an apple industry has thrived there for more than a century . Until 20 years ago, it was even shipping apples on a commercial scale. The secret to the canyon's success is that tall ridge separating it from the ocean chciago . It is low enough to allow maritime breezes to creep over (the canyon is often shrouded in fog), yet the ridge is high enough that at the peak of summer the canyon is shady through the worst heat of the day. Chicago tickets "It's kind of amazing," Cirone says magnificent mile. "See Canyon just keeps going through thick and thin with apples All varieties seem to flourish here . Low-chill apples, high-chill apples; apples that are bred for the West and apples that came from New England and apples that came from the South Atlantic states . "Surprisingly, one of Cirone's prize apples is the much-derided Red Delicious But not the one you're thinking of. Long before that variety became the blood-red whipping boy of the apple world, it was a sweet-tart pleasure, and its peel was pale. Cirone still has a few of those trees Chicago - google . He prefers to call them "Hawkeyes" -- in deference to their home state of Iowa -- and because what apple lovers in their right mind would buy something called Red Delicious these days?Those apples have been in See Canyon since soon after the variety was introduced, just before the turn of the 20th century.