Thanks to Iowa State and the Iowa Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, apple lovers have an opportunity to own a little piece of history.

“Originally, back before the 1940s, Iowa was quite a fruit-growing area,” said Lynn Fevold, vice president of the association.

But a huge blizzard in the early ’40s wiped out most of the state’s fruit trees. Following the blizzard, “most farmers went to corn and beans instead,” Fevold said.

One important tree that survived the Arctic blast was the original Red Delicious Apple tree near Winterset, first discovered in 1870 by Jesse Hiatt.

Now with a little help from Iowa State plant experts, the association is making sure the tree survives.

“What we’ve done is gone in and gotten some shoots from it, and propagated a few trees,” said Paul Domoto, an ISU horticulture professor.

With the hope that they could grow trees to sell to the public, association members took four buds from the tree last year and grafted them onto root stock.

Fevold said the trees were originally going to be grown in Iowa, but when her “right-hand man” in the project suddenly died, she was forced to send them to a commercial nursery out of state.

“[A nursery] in Washington state is growing them for us,” she said. “There we have a controlled environment. When the trees are ready, they will be shipped back to Iowa.”

She said the buds grafted last year are now growing. By 1998 the trees should be ready for distribution.

About 1,000 trees were propagated. “We have about 800 sold, and we’re getting more inquiries every week,” Fevold said.

The price of the trees depends on the number ordered.

For up to nine trees, the cost will run $20 per tree. If 10-19 trees are purchased, the price will be about $15 per tree. For more than 20 trees, it’s $10 per tree.

Proceeds from the tree sales will help sponsor speakers for the Iowa Fruit and Vegetable Growers Convention.

The Red Delicious apples, originally known as Hawkeyes, are sweeter and have a brighter red color than most “modern” apples.

Fevold said when the apples first came out there was not much interest in them. But Red Delicious apples did catch the eye of the Stark Brothers Nursery in Missouri, which discovered the tree while nursery officials were looking for new fruits. The company eventually purchased the rights to the tree.

“Hiatt’s tree was super hardy,” Fevold said.