WA lawmakers introduce bipartisan bill to preserve the state’s historic apples
Workers at Okanogan Specialty Fruit process apples for market. Apples are a top crop for the state and a large symbol of the state's heritage.
FILE PHOTO
Apples hang from a tree in an orchard near Mattawa. Preserving the older types of apples that helped Washington get its start as an apple-producing powerhouse is the subject of a bill being considered by the Washington Legislature.
OLYMPIA — As the nation’s top apple producer, Washington is best known for varieties such as Gala, Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Fuji, and Red Delicious. But across small orchards and family homesteads, antique apples – some short and stout, covered with yellowish russets, with names like Winter Banana – grow quietly, preserving pieces of state history that were never truly gone.
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