November 6, 2015 • 1

Rétropomme: Preserving Switzerland’s Heritage Apples

During a recent Sunday walk with my family, we stumbled upon a fête d’automne hosted by Rétropomme. This nonprofit organization helps to preserve heritage apples and other fruits in Suisse Romande. With over 300 varieties on display for the event, we marveled at the colorful trays of fresh apples and pears. Visitors could use their Swiss Army knives to slice and taste the fruit to determine which tree to purchase.

Rétropomme currently manages five orchards in Suisse Romande. The total area of its orchards measures about 25 acres (10 hectares), according to its website. Its annual fall festival was held at Rétropomme’s orchard at Pierre-à-Bot (Neuchâtel). This time of year we found that most of the trees were absent of fruit, but many had beautiful fall foliage. We sampled fresh apple cider, which my kids pressed themselves (the highlight of their day).

Overall, Rétropomme has several ways you can get involved:

Courses: Want to learn about growing fruit trees? Rétropomme offers courses on pruning and grafting.
Membership: An individual membership to Rétropomme costs CHF 40 per year. With this membership you can receive discounts on the purchase of fruit trees, courses and publications.
Events: The autumn festival we attended represents just one example of various events hosted and attended by Rétropomme. For example, later this month it will host a bio-Marché, also at its Pierre-à-Bot site.