The first description of the origin of the Granny Smith apple was not published until 1924. In that year, Farmer and Settler published the account of a local historian who had interviewed two men who had known Smith. One of those interviewed recalled that, in 1868, he (then twelve years old) and his father had been invited to Smith's farm to inspect a chance seedling that had sprung near a creek. Smith had dumped there, among the ferns, the remains of French crab-apples that had been grown in Tasmania. Another story recounted that Smith had been testing French crab-apples for cooking, and, throwing the apple cores out her window as she worked, had found that the new cultivar had sprung up underneath her kitchen windowsill. Whatever the case, Smith took it upon herself to propagate the new cultivar on her property, finding the apples good for cooking and for general consumption. Having "all the appearances of a cooking apple," they were not tart but instead were "sweet and crisp to eat." She took a stall at Sydney's George Street market, where the apples stored "exceptionally well and became popular" and "once a week sold her produce there."
Smith died only a couple of years after her discovery (in 1870), but her work had been noticed by other local planters. Edward Gallard was one such planter, who extensively planted Granny Smith trees on his property and bought the Smith farm when Thomas died in 1876. Gallard was successful in marketing the apple locally, but it did not receive widespread attention until 1890. In that year, it was exhibited as "Smith's Seedling" at the Castle Hill Agricultural and Horticultural Show, and the following year it won the prize for cooking apples under the name "Granny Smith's Seedling."
The quoted portion:
they were not tart but instead were...
The beginning of the article:
The flavour is tart and acidic.
I also think it's pretty funny they mostly say it's a cooking apple; they're my personal favorite to eat straight. I would've said something like one of those that dissolves into grit in your mouth is better for cooking, but idk if that's just because I can't picture doing anything better with them. I can't for the life of me remember which of the reds it is. I'm pretty sure it's red delicious or mcintosh, maybe jonathan. I wanna say it's red delicious because I remember thinking they weren't very delicious. I know whichever one it is softens a great deal when cooked because I do remember thinking turning to mush would be an advantage when cooked. But the mouthfeel was just horrendous imo.