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Ever eaten an antique? Apple, that is. Whether you call them antique, heritage or heirloom, old-timers like Stayman still got it.

“In October when the phone rings, it’s usually people calling to ask if the Staymans are ready yet,” said Lewis Barnard of Barnard’s Orchard in Kennett Square. “The phone rings more for Stayman than Red Delicious these days.”

Dating back to the nineteenth century, “it’s a crisp apple with a snap to it” and “tart fall taste,” he described. “You don’t see it in the grocery stores very much at all. You did 30 years ago.”

While most supermarkets now favor newer types, local orchards preserve the past.

“To me, an heirloom is a currently neglected older variety,” said Ike Kerschner of North Star Orchard in Cochranville. “They have some problem that makes them not suitable for commercial growers.”

“The reason we grow them is there are flavors in them that are not in the modern varieties,” he added. “I’m kind of just a total apple geek. The point of North Star’s existence was to satisfy my desire for good apples.”

Of his 300 apple varieties, about half are heritage with quirky names like Bloody Ploughman, Cornish Gilliflower and Rosemary Russet.

“The oldest variety we probably have is Calville Blanc, an ancient French variety,” Kerschner said. “It has a very distinctive shape that’s seen in Renaissance paintings.”

Another place to take a bite out of history: Hopewell Furnace in Elverson.

“The earliest mention of an apple orchard at Hopewell Furnace dates back to April 2, 1788 in The Pennsylvania Gazette,” noted park ranger Frank Hebblethwaite. The real estate ad boasted “an excellent young bearing orchard of about 250 apple trees of the best fruit.”

The National Park Service replanted it in 1942 and 1960. Today you’ll find roughly 35 varieties, including Ashmead’s Kernel, Kerry Irish Pippin and Northern Spy.

“We’re just trying to keep the orchard as accurate as possible,” he explained. “The one this year that I liked the most is Tompkins King.”

Taste for yourself since “everyone’s entitled to one free apple.” After that, pick your own for $1 a pound.

Back at Barnard’s Orchard, visitors fill the parking lot in good weather, taking home Grimes Golden, Smokehouse and, of course, Stayman.

“It’s one of my favorite apples,” said Barnard, a fourth-generation farmer. “It’s neat to pick up a different apple each time and see if there’s something in there you might appreciate.”

PHOTO BY EMILY RYAN Lewis Barnard calls Stayman “a heritage apple that is still a today apple.”

PHOTO BY EMILY RYAN A boy carries freshly picked apples.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NORTH STAR ORCHARD Expand your horizons at North Star Orchard’s apple tastings.

PHOTO COURTESY OF HOPEWELL FURNACE Pick your own apples at Hopewell Furnace.

PHOTO BY EMILY RYAN Hopewell Furnace produced iron products from 1771 to 1883.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NORTH STAR ORCHARD These are just some of North Star Orchard’s roughly 150 heritage apple varieties.

PHOTO BY EMILY RYAN Its flaky crust and just-right filling make this apple pie a winner.

PHOTO BY EMILY RYAN At Barnard’s Orchard, a handwritten sign points pickers in the right direction.