Northern Spy apples are renowned for their tender-crisp flesh and slightly tart taste with a hint of pear. Each large carmine red apple is packed with dietary fiber and vitamins A and C. The Northern Spy is also among the most versatile of apples, suitable for serving raw, baked, roasted, and especially in pies. But all of these advantages come at a cost, and for Northern Spy growers that price has always been a combination of time and patience. The hardy winter apple originated in New York’s Finger Lakes Region, where Oliver Chapin settled and built a gristmill in 1789. A few years later, he planted an apple tree using seeds from Salisbury, Connecticut. That tree died before it could bear fruit, but sprouts taken from it by Roswell Humphrey were replanted and began producing apples 10 to 20 years later. In 1852, the American Pomological Society listed the Northern Spy as a new variety of promise and worth cultivating. The stout red apple soon became popular throughout the northeast, where it is picked late in the season and can be stored for months. Yet patience is also needed at harvest time. Northern Spy trees may take longer to come into bearing – often ten years or more – and are susceptible to disease. But pie lovers throughout New England know the Northern Spy apple is worth the wait.