Tom Burford

Tom Burford (1935- March 29, 2020) was an American pomologist, orchardist, and apple historian. He is considered one of the most influential figures in the revival of heritage apples and cider in the United States.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Early life and education

Thomas Nelson Burford was born on Tobacco Row Mountain in Amherst County, Virginia. His Burford ancestors were early settlers of Amherst and Nelson Counties, first arriving in 1715. He studied philosophy at the University of Virginia.[7]

Career

He and his brother ran Burford Brothers, a company which ran several businesses including a forestry business, a sawmill, and a construction company that specialized in passive solar construction.

When he closed his business in 1994, he gave his collection of more than 200 heirloom apple varieties to Vintage Virginia Apples in North Garden, Virginia. [8]

Burford was a consultant on the care of old orchards and the design of new ones. He lectured for many years on the history of apple cultivation in the United States and the origins of the apple. He held yearly workshops on apple grafting, inducing at Montecello.

Awards and honors

He won the 2014 American Horticultural Society Book Award for his book Apples of North America.

He won the 2015 "Founding Cville" award from the Tom Tom Founders Festival.

Books
  • Apples: A Catalog of International Varieties
  • Apples of North America: Exceptional Varieties for Growers, Gardeners and Cooks (Timber Press, 2014)

References
  1. Brennan, Shannon (2020-04-08). "For Love of Nature: The man who loved apples". The News & Advance. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
  2. Hausman, Sandy (2020-04-15). "Professor Apple Remembered". WVTF. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
  3. "Tom Burford, a father of the Virginia cider movement". Charlottesville Tomorrow. 2015-11-30. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
  4. Raver, Anne (2011-03-02). "He Keeps Ancient Apples Fresh and Crisp". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
  5. "This Apple Historian Wants You to Meditate on Your Fruit". www.vice.com. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  6. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/tom-burford-champion-of-the-heirloom-apple-dies-at-84/2020/04/03/99c7f116-75b2-11ea-87da-77a8136c1a6d_story.html
  7. "How Tom Burford sowed the seeds of the Virginia hard cider revival". C-VILLE Weekly. 2012-11-09. Retrieved 2020-12-03.
  8. Raver, Anne (2011-03-02). "He Keeps Ancient Apples Fresh and Crisp". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
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