Sandow is a 1935 Canadian introduction from the Ottawa Experimental Farm in Ontario. It is a Northenr Spy seedling. Pollen parent is not known. It is a late apple, but not quite as late as N.Spy. It is also hardier than N.Spy, being generally recommended for zone 4. Most authors recommend it highly and consider it as underrated. The apples are big, excellent quality for fresh and cooked, and the variety is said to be quite free from scab, but sensitive to Fire blight.

Picture of Sandow from Claude's orchard, 2007 crop, shot on September 22. Maximum size is 78 mm across. Not pretty, but nice and clean, with good flavour.

GROWER COMMENTS:

Claude Jolicoeur, Quebec, Zone 4

I have one Sandow tree, planted in 1997 on Ottawa 3 rootstock. Got first fruits in 2007, and although this is not particularely fast, it is in the average for my orchard. What I found extraordinary of this apple, however, is that after only 2 years of fruiting, it has already graduated in the top 5 of my favorite apples. I really like it very much even if it is quite ugly. The flavor is great, the apples size and mature well in my short and cool summer, and they are also almost perfectly clean from scab without spray. I also like the fact that the sugar content is very high, making it suitable for cider (although I haven't had enough yet to use it in a cider blend). Fresh juice is also excellent. The tree has excellent vigour and is perfectly hardy. It doesn't naturally have a good shape however and grows very upright. The apples start falling by the 3rd week of September, but it seems preferable to wait a bit before harvesting - first days of October would be ideal.

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