For years I’ve had a mental tic that makes me want to say ‘Milton’ when I really
mean ‘Milden’. The two apple names are easy to mix up, though the apples
themselves are quite distinct. Milton is about a hundred years old, ripens early, and
doesn’t store for long. Milden is at least a century older, ripens late in the season,
and keeps longer. Perhaps I should start calling the apple by one of its old alternate
names, ‘Winter Gravenstein’, though that might only increase the confusion: I
would never in the million years confuse the taste or appearance of Milden with
any strain of Grav I’ve ever encountered.
The precise origins of Milden are uncertain. Stilphen in The Apples of
Maine says that the apple was grown in Farmington, NH, in the early 19 th century
and was first introduced to Maine in the 1860s. Bussey lists it as being grown in
Alton, NH in 1813 and that it was first recorded in 1869. Farmington and Alton
are both towns in eastern New Hampshire located not far from the Maine border,
and both were at one time part of Strafford County. So whatever confusion there
might be on this score doesn’t matter much, except perhaps in winning local
bragging rights.
For me, Milden’s greatest virtue is as a superior pie apple, though it’s fine for
other culinary uses too, and for fresh eating. It’s fairly tart, but not outrageously so,
and the flesh has a satisfying crunch. In short, Milden deserves a wider audience,
and a place in the Pie Bakers Hall of Fame, alongside other classic apples like
Northern Spy, Bramley’s Seedling, and Rhode Island Greening.