According to Tru-Cape's quality assurance manager, Henk Griessel, and co-author with Tru-Cape varietal expert, Buks Nel of Early Apples at The Cape, on this day Jan van Riebeeck made the following historic entry in his diary: "Heavy drizzle in the morning and a strong north-westerly wind blowing in from the sea. Today the first two ripe Dutch apples were picked in the Company's nursery garden." They came from a little tree no more than 1.5 meters. This type of apple is known as a Wijnappel.
Griessel says that the first apple weighed between 165g and 180g. "It was a historic day and date to be remembered by every South African apple grower. We hope that our replanting of some of the older varieties in the Tru-Cape Heritage Orchard at Oak Valley Estate in Grabouw will be seen to be as significant in years to come."
Tru-Cape markets 1,376,470,875 apples and pears each year, equivalent to 224 Jumbo Jets or 950 Blue Whales.
