The fruit grower’s bookshelf should always welcome a new fruit growing book as they are rarely published. None more so than Michael Clark’s “Apples – a field guide”.
An amateur artist of some repute and long associated with the Tewin Orchard in Hertfordshire, the book is well illustrated with Michael Clark’s craft, and a long list of apple varieties is covered, painted, described and notated. In this publication fruit shapes are described, as are season, provenance and tree habit. He draws from the work of Brogdale’s John Bultitude to aid identification, something that remains an elusive skill to this day. The pages of narrative are informative and, as one would expect of an individual familiar with amateur fruit growing, full of cross references to individuals who have assisted fruit gardeners with knowledge and experience of fruit growing. Michael Clark’s legacy may well include his orchards at Tewin, this new book will endure forever.