After extensive research spanning more than a decade, the exact species of the first apple picked in the Company’s Garden 357 years ago is back in its original home.A variant of the Witte Wijnappel (White Wine Apple), first picked in the Company’s Garden on 17 April 1662, was planted in the garden on 17 April over 350 later thanks to a partnership between Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing, Hortgro and the Cape Town Heritage Trust. Tru-Cape celebrates 17 April as the official birth of the apple industry.With the historic planting, the Company’s Garden has reclaimed a slice of its history: in all likelihood, the Witte Wijnappel was planted from seeds, with Jan van Riebeeck himself recording in his diary on 17 April that he had picked the first two Dutch apples at the Cape from a tree described as the Wijnappel.“The replanting of the Witte Wijnappel is a historic moment in the South African fruit industry,” Tru-Cape Fruit marketing managing director Roelf Pienaar said in a statement.Laura Robinson, director of the Cape Town Heritage Trust, shared Roelf’s sentiments adding: “This symbolic planting highlights the rich heritage of plants that were brought to the country by early colonists, as well as the development and growth of the fruit industry in South Africa.”Read more…