Northern Red - Peoples Apple Breeding Project

Northern Sun maintains a gene bank of the world’s northernmost apple tree varieties and strains.
Between 1998 and 2015, Virpi Virolainen and Hannu Hyvönen surveyed heritage apple trees and other useful plants in hundreds of northern gardens, reaching as far as Lapland. Their botanical discoveries have since been collected and preserved in hundreds of home orchards. The result is the world’s northernmost in situ gene bank—where genetic heritage is not stored in freezers, but lives on as thriving plants in living gardens.

Northern Red – Join the Health Apple Project

Northern Sun maintains a gene bank of the world’s northernmost apple tree varieties and strains. Between 1998 and 2015, Virpi Virolainen and Hannu Hyvönen mapped old apple trees and other useful plants in hundreds of northern gardens, reaching all the way to Lapland. Their discoveries have been collected into hundreds of home orchards. The result is the world’s northernmost in situ gene bank, where genetic heritage is preserved not in freezers but as living plants in real gardens.

Did you know that red apples are not only a joy to the eye but also the healthiest?
Red-skinned apples contain the highest levels of flavonoids.

Each year, we collect seeds from red apples in the gene bank and launch a participatory plant breeding project: Northern Red – Pohjolan Punainen.

The goal is to grow apple trees from seed and study the characteristics that emerge from the world’s northernmost red apple genetics. 

Our experience from northern Finland’s apple surveys shows that the belief that apple trees grown from seeds are mostly poor is a myth.
It is very likely that many of the trees grown from our selected seeds will bear tasty, red-skinned apples that can thrive in extreme conditions.

It's important to remember that the harsh winters during wartime and the severe frosts of the 1980s destroyed most of Finland’s apple trees.

The genetics of northern apples is a kind of life insurance for apple cultivation. This project aims to discover new, high-quality varieties that can withstand cold winters and survive early summer frosts.

Our aim is to pass on the valuable genetics, knowledge, and skills gained from the Northern Finland Apple Project.

You can join the project for a €50 participation fee, which includes a collection of 50 seeds from the northernmost red apples, delivered to you in autumn.

Attached is a video from the northern apple survey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9egcWyCyGY&t=14s