Apple Breeding

[Steph S]

I guess the obvious first step for apple breeding would be to plant commercial or heirloom favorites to serve as parents.   My thoughts about the seedling apples, we could do with some earlier varieties here.
Fairly amazing though, to pick perfectly sound apples as late as December, and after several hard frosts.

My Mom will be 89 in a couple of weeks.  The adventure of having apples to pick has been a lot of fun for her. 

[Jeremy Weiss]

That's one way. Personally, I'd start (and I've started) by going around to the "wild" and well established (i.e. older) trees around me and tasting their fruits in season. That way, I already know my starting stock is well adapted to the area. If you like the taste, take some seeds or a branch to graft, and go from there.

[Cathy A]

"I'm actually surprised how adaptable our apple trees seem to be, producing fruit in a 'mixed forest' situation with no special care."

I think this is a case where the genetic instability of breeding apples is actually a benefit. They are hard to stabilize (barring grafting and cloning), but that very variation of genotypes and resulting phenotypes lets them adapt readily to a wide range of conditions.

We get a steady supply of fruit from a couple of wild trees on our property. The fruits are small (but larger than crabapples) and somewhat astringent rather than sweet, and they make great apple jelly, apple butter, applesauce, and can even be used for apple pies and cakes if you have the patience to peel and slice many small apples instead of a few large ones.