Novel new apple variety: Eastsound Rose is at LeMaister Farm!
September 6, 2026
Taste a newly discovered local apple variety at the historic LeMaister Farm on the east side of Hummel Lake! Kwiaht’s new farm stand on Port Stanley Road (0.2 miles south of Hummel Lake Road) will feature heirloom apple varieties that we have identified and propagated from 19 the century orchards in the San Juan Islands (some as old as the 1850s), as well as unique seedlings that we believe hold great promise for sustainable local use--and they are uniquely tasty, too!
Named heirloom varieties will be available for sale at whatever price you wish--enjoy a few apples that you’ve never tasted before, and consider leaving a small donation towards our heirloom fruit program.
Unique new seedlings are $1 apiece, helping us with the costs of genetic documentation, conservation, and propagation; and we would also value your feedback. Was it good? Would you like one growing in your garden or on your farm? (We will make scions available in April 2027.)
Our first offerings (available beginning Labor Day September 7): Gravenstein, which has grown here on LeMaister Farm and elsewhere on Lopez since the 1890s (but has a European heritage stretching back several centuries, and was already popular in Gold Rush San Francisco); and Eastsound Rose, a unique seedling variety that our students discovered on Orcas Island in 2012. As its name suggests, Eastsound Rose has the aroma and flavor of roses: an unusually richly flavored, relatively early apple that we feel should be widely grown and enjoyed, in the footsteps of the Olga Red Gravenstein and Orcas Pear!
When we have new apples to share, the LeMaister Farm fruit stand will be stocked from noon to dark.
Look for notices of what new varieties available here on LopezRocks!
Named heirloom varieties will be available for sale at whatever price you wish--enjoy a few apples that you’ve never tasted before, and consider leaving a small donation towards our heirloom fruit program.
Unique new seedlings are $1 apiece, helping us with the costs of genetic documentation, conservation, and propagation; and we would also value your feedback. Was it good? Would you like one growing in your garden or on your farm? (We will make scions available in April 2027.)
Our first offerings (available beginning Labor Day September 7): Gravenstein, which has grown here on LeMaister Farm and elsewhere on Lopez since the 1890s (but has a European heritage stretching back several centuries, and was already popular in Gold Rush San Francisco); and Eastsound Rose, a unique seedling variety that our students discovered on Orcas Island in 2012. As its name suggests, Eastsound Rose has the aroma and flavor of roses: an unusually richly flavored, relatively early apple that we feel should be widely grown and enjoyed, in the footsteps of the Olga Red Gravenstein and Orcas Pear!
When we have new apples to share, the LeMaister Farm fruit stand will be stocked from noon to dark.
Look for notices of what new varieties available here on LopezRocks!
LeMaister Farm sign
Eastsound Rose