“We’ve become so reliant on grocery store chains to tell us what we need to eat. She grows heirloom vegetables in her garden, often from seeds she’s saved or swapped.

The project is a vivid reminder that there used to be a greater variety of lettuces, peas and the like available, says mycologist Melissa Flora, who runs Lost Apple Project’s Michigan arm, which formed earlier this year. Brandt and David Benscoter prepare to ride a 200 yard tram across the Clearwater River in Idaho to look at some orchards believed to be planted by settlers. The group offers grafting classes and sells trees to cover costs.Į.J. Each fall, they send 200 sample bags of found varieties to the Temperate Orchard Conservancy in Oregon for identification. In addition to Benscoter and Brandt scouring nursery ledgers, plat maps, county fair records and the internet for potential leads, they received 600 tips last year alone. “The history these old apple trees have is just incredible,” says Dave Benscoter, a former FBI agent and IRS investigator, who runs the Lost Apple Project with EJ Brandt.Īpple hunting is painstaking and time intensive. The group seeks to identify and preserve heritage apple trees planted before 1920 in the Pacific Northwest. At least 17,000 named varieties were once grown here after early colonists brought apples to America today, there are just 5,000. Since 2014, the nonprofit organization has found 23 lost or nearly extinct apple varieties. The phrase “lost and found” is being imbued with fresh meaning thanks to the Lost Apple Project.

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