Air Date: Week of October 22, 1999

Our story on Carlos Manning, the heirloom apple cultivator, prompted another inquiry about an old-time apple and we were able to track down its availability.

Transcript

CURWOOD: Time for just one listener letter this week. It's from Randy Cregger, who listens to WFPL in Louisville, Kentucky, and heard our profile of Carlos Manning, the man who saves and cultivates heirloom apple trees. "I'm 74 years old," Mr. Cregger writes, "and when I lived in southwestern Virginia as a boy, we had a small apple orchard that had very big apples. Four to five inches in diameter, green in color. Very tasty and full of juice. My father called them Fallwater . I would always look on the ground for a big one to take to school. I just wondered what the real name was, and if they still exist."

We did a little digging, Mr. Cregger, and yes, those apples you remember do still exist. They're called Fallawater apples, and if you're interested in getting a hold of some, you can contact Carlos Manning at his nursery in Lester, West Virginia. The phone number there is 304-934-6558.

You can contact us any time. Call our listener line at 800-218-9988. Our e-mail address is LOE@NPR.ORG. It's NPR's Living on Earth. I'm Steve Curwood.