Minnesota’s short growing season makes it tough to run an orchard here. But thanks to the University of Minnesota’s fruit-breeding program, there are a growing number of varieties that can withstand our winters. MN90 producer Andi McDaniel learns the story behind the wildly successful Honeycrisp apple and its U of M-born cousins.

Workers sort Honeycrisp apples at Pine Tree Orchard in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Photo by Flickr user jpellgen, October 19, 2021. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Honeycrisp apple trees in Homestead Orchard in Maple Plain, Minnesota. Photo by Flickr user jpellgen, September 14, 2006. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Bitter rot on a Honeycrisp apple creating sunken lesions. Photo by Wikimedia Commons user Jesusistmeinhimmelunderde, August 14, 2018. CC BY-SA 4.0

A fruiting Honeycrisp apple tree in the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia. Photo by Wikimedia Commons user MikeyMoose, October 11, 2009. CC BY-SA 3.0

A cross section of a Honeycrisp apple (top) with a cross section of the Envy cultivar (bottom). Photograph by Forest Starr and Kim Starr, December 26, 2013. CC BY 2.0 Generic

A Honeycrisp apple. Photo by Wikimedia Commons user Evan-Amos, September 28, 2011. CCO 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication

Members of the Muhvich family in their vegetable garden in Ely on August 17, 1917. The Oliver Iron Mining Company provided the families of employees with gardens.

Detail of a map of the Matt and Kaisa Hill Farmstead (Pike Township, St. Louis County) submitted with the National Register registration form for the property in 1990.