Wickson Crab Apple

Wickson Crab was bred in 1944 by Albert Etter, a self-taught, largely academically unrecognized California plant breeder working from his own orchard in the Mattole Valley of Humboldt County, who was known for returning again and again to wild crabapples as breeding stock at a time when many trained pomologists of his era dismissed that approach. Etter named the variety after his friend Edward J. Wickson, a prominent California pomologist, and it was one of six Etter apple varieties that finally reached the public in 1944 through a California Nursery Company catalog listing, appearing alongside others of his creations like Pink Pearl. Etter claimed Wickson was a cross of Newtown Pippin and Esopus Spitzenburg, but modern DNA testing has genuinely been unable to confirm either of those varieties as parents, leaving its true parentage an open question despite the traditional origin story. The fruit is unusually large for a crabapple and, unlike most crabapples, is sweet enough to eat fresh rather than requiring cooking, with a notably high sugar and acid content that gives it real complexity — qualities that have made it a favorite among craft cider makers specifically for the depth of flavor it contributes to a blend.