It is quite easy to sow a seed from and apple. A cold environment is ideal for it to grow.
Photo: Grøn Kommunikation ©

It is the time for apples, which means the natural ripening period for apple seeds is now. When the seed turns brown, it means it is ready to be sown. If you leave an apple on the ground you may, if you are lucky, see an apple tree growing out of the ground from where the fallen apple was. It is nature’s way of securing the new generation, but it is not always the case. Sometimes the birds will eat the apple before it can plant its seed. If that is the case, then you can help it along and maybe even become famous.

This was how the Filippa apple came into the world. The apple originates from the Danish Island of Funen where the teacher Johannesen, in 1876, named the apple after his daughter Filippa.

Sometimes you are lucky to get a delicious apple, but at other times you are not so lucky. If you do have the space to do it, you can try to experiment.

The seeds should be in a cold environment in the beginning. At this time of the season, when the apples are ripening, you can choose a healthy apple. Store it in a cool place until January and then you take out the seeds.

Place the seeds on a damp paper towel from which the seeds can absorb water. Plant the seeds in pots with soil mixed with a bit of sand. The soil should be a bit moist, but not too much. Cover them with 1-2 cm of soil or sand. Remember to add a note saying which variety the mother plant is. Keep only the healthy-looking plants.

If you want to speed up the process, you can put your seeds and the damp paper towel in the refrigerator. When they start germinating, plant them in a pot and place it on a cool windowsill until spring, and then transplant the tree outside.

Now you just need to wait about five years and then you can get a taste. If the apples taste nice and others think the same – then you may be on the way to fame.