This has to be one of the prettiest apples I’ve ever seen and it’s absolutely brand new.
The fully trade-marked Salish apple was announced and launched in October, 2012 by The Honourable Ron Cannan, Member of Parliament for Kelowna-Lake Country, on behalf of Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. He revealed the name of the newest apple on the market today at the annual University of British Columbia (UBC) Apple Festival . “When you taste the Salish apple(…) you are sampling the sweet rewards of many years of research and investments in innovation that will pay off for the farmers that grow this tasty achievement.”
Previously only known as SPA493, the Salish apple was developed and tested by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) scientists, in partnership with the Okanagan Plant Improvement Corporation (PICO). Like all AAFC varieties, this new apple was developed using traditional cross-pollination methods. It originated from a cross between ‘Splendour’ and ‘Gala’ cultivars made in 1981 at AAFC’s Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre (PARC) in Summerland, British Columbia.
The Salish is named for the Canadian Interior language of Thompson, Okanagan-Colville, and Shuswap. AAFC researchers at the Pacific Agri-Food Centre (PARC) in Summerland led the Salish’s development and worked closely with the Okanagan Plant Improvement Corporation (PICO) to test it with growers.
