it is widely grown on both coasts, although more in old farmstead orchards and back yards than in commercial orchards. During the first half of the 20th century, Gravenstein was the major apples cultivar grown in western Sonoma County, California, and was the source for apple sauce and dried apples for the U.S. troops in World War II. Most of the orchards in Sonoma County are now gone due to a combination of a shift to wine production, and economic changes in the apple industry. Only six commercial growers and one commercial processor remain in Sonoma County as of 2006. In 2005, Slow Food USA declared the Gravenstein apple a heritage food and included it in their Ark of taste. Slow Food USA reports that production in Sonoma County is currently 750,000 boxes (15,000 tons) of Gravenstein apples a year; a third of the fruit (250,000 boxes) is of premium market quality. California State Route 116 through portions of western Sonoma County is designated "Gravenstein Highway" to commemorate the industry. Gravenstein is not a production apple in New Zealand and is not available in grocery stores anywhere in the country. There are a few trees here and there, though, and on occasion a small fruit grower or farmer's market will either have them for sale or allow a u-pick. On the North Island of New Zealand, they are ready for picking around the last week of February to the first week of March. In Nelson in the northern region of the South Island, Gravenstein apples may be picked as early as mid-January as a cooking apple. In New Zealand, two red sports were selected from the more stripey "common" Gravenstein: Albany Beauty and Oratia. In Norway, Gravensteins are grown particularly in the provinces of Telemark and Hardanger. In Hardanger a memorial has been erected for Johannes Pedersen Aga who planted the first Gravenstein tree in Norway in 1792. The town of Sogndal, home to numerous orchards, has named one of its streets Gravenstein Street. History According to a common version of events, Gravenstein was brought Denmark by count Carl Ahlstedt, who found it at the monastery L’Abbaye de Hautcombe near Lac du Bourget in Savoyen. He sent branches home to his brother, count Frederik the Younger (1662-1708), who grafted them onto an apple tree in the garden of the family's Gråsten Palace. The apple cultivar was named "Gråsten" or "Gravenstein"