Aland apples

The time has come for a new 5 cent stamp as well as a 4 euro stamp. Both stamps show the Åland apple cultivar Strömma with an interesting story to tell. More than 100 years ago, the Ålander Fridolf Sundberg began spreading his varieties of apples in Åland and the southern parts of Finland. On a farm in the village of Strömma in Hammarland, he discovered the Strömma cultivar. Fridolf grafted his different varieties of apples on crab apple trees in Örnäs in the municipality of Finström, where he settled with his wife Amanda. Amanda and Fridolf Sundberg successfully ran something of a model farm on never previously cultivated land. At the same time, Fridolf was a fruit growing pioneer, cultivating his own trees and importing varieties from Denmark, Sweden and Finland. In addition to producing a volume of approximately 1 000 trees per year for more than 20 years, he also imported berry bushes. Two of the trees planted by Fridolf are still standing in Örnäs and yet another tree can be found just a few kilometres away. The apples on the stamps were photographed in Hammarland. Sven-Olof Sundberg, Fridolf and Amanda’s grandson, today lives in Hasselbo close to Örnäs. He has a newly grafted Strömma apple tree in his garden

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