San Luis Obispo -- Hundreds of people on the Central Coast will have a chance to grow a mystery apple that could become a new variety.
This weekend the Central Coast Chapter of California Rare Fruit Growers is holding it's Annual Scion Wood Exchange at Cal Poly.
This year they will be handing out cuttings from 3-thousand mystery apple trees grown right here in see canyon
John DeVincenzo was a local orthodontist owned the Avila Barn and Gopher Glen Apple Farm.
Back in 2007 he planted 3-thousand apple trees, their parentage is not entirely clear, but through cross-pollination John DeVincenzo was trying to achieve the perfect apple.
He died in 2009 and didn't get to see the trees mature or taste the fruit. The trees were on a patch of land that was sold and set to be bull-dozed. His wife Sally donated cuttings from all the trees to the Rare Fruit Growers.
Retired Cal Poly Professor Joe Sabol says the trees are like 3-thousand brothers and sister with the same parents yet each is different.
Sabol says, "We took the growth from last year's growth and we pruned it and now they're in the refrigerator being stored until we have a chance to put them on a root and make a tree."
About 300 to 400 people are expected at this years scion wood exchange and they will get a free cutting from one of John DeVincenzo's mystery apple trees. Next year in October the Rare Fruit Growers will get everyone together for an apple tasting to see which of the cuttings produced the best apple. It may become, as John DeVincenzo hoped, a new variety that you may see in the produce section at your local supermarket.
The scion wood exchange is this Saturday at 1:30 at the Cal Poly Crop Unit, parking is free, and so are the cuttings.
