Fruit Tree Fundraiser
The historic pear tree at the Jonathan Fisher House
Help Preserve Local History, and Grow a Piece of it for Yourself!
The Jonathan Fisher house is offering organic, specimen, historically significant fruit trees for sale, grown from the stock of the original trees at the 1814 homestead in Blue Hill.
Leslie Cummins and Tim Seabrook, formerly of Five Star Orchard, have grown and tended these trees over the past several years, and have generously offered them to the Fisher House as a fundraiser. These are cherry, pear and apple saplings, grafted from adult trees on the Fisher House property. These trees should ideally be planted in April or May, but are housed in root pouches that will allow for delaying planting into the summer. All tree purchases will come with a sheet of directions for successful planting and growing, including advice on soil amendments and deer protection.
Tim clipping an apple tree from the reconstructed orchard in 2022
Leslie tending to the grafted saplings in 2025
The prices for these trees are on a sliding scale beginning at $170 for 2-year-old trees (4-5 feet tall), or $300 for 3-year-old trees (6-7 feet tall). These prices are set low to improve access for all who want a piece of this beloved Blue Hill history, but those who are able are encouraged to pay above the minimum price to help make this fundraiser a success. All proceeds from the sale of the trees will go to the Preservation Fund at the Jonathan Fisher House, which will be used for much-needed repairs and restoration work on the structure of the historic homestead.
Jonathan Fisher was Blue Hill’s first settled minister, and among many other talents he was an accomplished farmer and agriculturist. Fisher’s daily journals make note of him planting and “budding” apple, cherry, and pear trees on his farm from his arrival in Blue Hill at the end of the 18th century, through the mid-1820s. While most of Fisher’s original trees were lost over time, an effort was made in 2010 to re-create the apple orchard based on Fisher’s original map, using varieties noted in his journals and known to be growing in the area at the time. In addition to these re-planted apple trees, some older trees from Fisher’s time survive on the property, including a stunning pear tree that still produces fruit regularly.
1795 watercolor by J. Fisher, “The Apple Service.”
Tree varietals available are Ribston Pippin, Roxbury Russet, Golden Russet, Baldwin, Rhode Island Greening for apples, as well as “Fisher Pear” and “Fisher Cherry,” grafted from some of the oldest trees on the property.
For rootstock, all apples are grafted onto MIII, which is 65-80% of a standard size tree; cherries are grafted onto mazzard rootstock, standard size; pears are grafted onto OH x F97, standard size.
Pick up dates and times will be arranged from Tim & Leslie’s home in Blue Hill this spring. Shipping to those outside of the Blue Hill area may be available for an additional cost.
This sale presents a rare opportunity to own a living, growing piece of Blue Hill history, and support the preservation of one of its most iconic locations in the process. The trees will sell fast! For more information or to purchase a tree, please text Deborah at 216-272-3561.
Varietal Information
Ribston Pippin
From Ribston Hall, Yorkshire, England. Rich flavor, partly russeted late fall dessert apple. As said by English pomologist, Robert Hogg, “There is no apple which has been introduced to this country held in higher esteem than Ribston Pippin. It does better in Maine than any other state.” It is the parent to the famous Cox’s Orange Pippin as well as John Bunker’s all-time favorite, Starkey.
Rhode Island Greening
Often called a utility apple because of its baking, especially for pies, which meant so much to early Maine settlers. It was a commercial apple, low growing, prolific, pest resistant.
Baldwin
Biennial, which means it fruits every other year. When it fruits, it is very prolific. The hard yellow flesh makes excellent cooking and cider. It is long-lived and pest-resistant. On the coast it is a good apple to own.
Golden Russet
An important apple for late harvests, it has three components making a perfect cider and eating apple: sugars, acids, and tannins. If you have those three things evenly distributed, the cider will be very well balanced. Antique apples tend to be somewhat softer than modern apples. Our modern taste has changed to crisp, hard, juicy, and sweet.
Roxbury Russet
Known as Leather Coat on Deer Isle, it has thick skin and keeps pests away. Very similar to the Golden Russet, its origin is lost. A good guess is that it grows wild in Kazakhstan and came here via the “Silk Road”.
Fisher Pear
We (Tim and Leslie) are confused about the name of this pear tree because it was sent to Corvallis, Oregon, this spring for DNA testing. It was sent by Lauren Cormier, assistant to a MOFGA Director to the Pear Orchard at MOFGA. Our old tree, which is over 200 years old, will be reproduced at MOFGA. The name’s DNA came back as Clapp’s Favorite, not an exciting result because, as Tim and I understand it, that is the name of the graft (about 1860) that was top-grafted onto the tree. But this will come true before long. The Clapp’s Favorite is fairly common here but is a lovely pear. Here in the middle of Blue Hill, one has to keep an eye on squirrels. The mother pear tree rootstock has not-very-tasty small pears. The tree, however, is huge and beautiful.
Fisher Cherry
It is a beautiful, concise dark purple barked, pink blossomed sour pie cherry. We have not noticed any black knot on it or any other pests except birds.