Exhibition highlights Cornish orchard growing apples from discarded cores

A new exhibition highlights an orchard whose trees started life as cores discarded in Cornwall’s hedgerows and waysides.

Every apple grown from a seed is a unique variety – and the Some Interesting Apples (SIA) project has found and mapped over 600 apple “wildings” in Cornwall since 2019.

With climate conditions changing rapidly, each wilding has the potential to become a useful new cultivar adapted to future variability.

In 2023, SIA – founded by William Arnold and James Fergusson – worked with the National Trust to establish the first UK orchard solely dedicated to cultivating wild-grown, chance-seedling apples.

An exhibition of Arnold’s photographs documenting the variety of found apples and the first six months of the orchard’s growth will be on show at the Environment and Sustainability Institute (ESI) on the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus in April.

“As an artist I play with the value judgements people make when considering what to preserve of the natural world,” said Arnold.

“People get alarmed when they realise that the heritage apple varieties they love might not survive in a climate-changed world.”

“They don’t appreciate that we’re surrounded by unique wild apple volunteers that may be better adapted to future conditions.”

In February 2024, 80 apple rootstocks were planted at the Wilding Mother Orchard site near Helford, and grafting of the wilding scions began a few weeks later.

The orchard photographs show the graft union between rootstock and scion after six months.

The National Trust Lizard and Penrose team and SIA jointly manage the orchard as a community and research resource.

The project is currently working with Caitlin DeSilvey at the ESI to develop ongoing research, including genetic fingerprinting of the selected wildings to determine their parent trees and investigation of the cultural history of “wild” apples.

“Some Interesting Apples is a fascinating mix of horticultural activism, artful documentation and preparation for a future of climate weirding,” said DeSilvey.

“It’s been a privilege to work with William and James on the development of the Wilding Mother Orchard, which we hope will be a springboard for more creative research collaborations.”

The work of SIA has been supported by Forest for Cornwall, Kestle Barton, the Norwegian Research Council, Arts & Culture Exeter and the University of Exeter Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

The public is welcome to visit the Unwilding Apples exhibition in the ESI Creative Studio during regular opening hours throughout the month of April.

On April 4, the ESI will host a public “in conversation” event at 4pm with SIA collaborators, followed by a public reception.

The SIA team also welcome anyone interested to join them for a day of grafting at the Wilding Mother Orchard on March 21.

For more information and details about upcoming events please check Instagram @someinterestingapples.