WAITSBURG—Honeycrisp, Fuji, and Gala are all names we recognize. How about Fall Jeneting, McAfee, and Nero? Thanks to the work of Dave Benscoter and the Lost Apple Project, you may become familiar with a couple of recently-rediscovered lost apple varieties.

The Lost Apple Project came to be after Dave Benscoter was asked to help pick apples for a friend outside of Spokane. Benscoter grew up around apple trees and quickly determined that none of the fruit was usable, but he couldn’t quite kick the strange-looking apples from his mind.

Benscoter offered to help his neighbor trim trees in the spr...