Β The Granny Smith apple was a complete accident. In 1868, Maria Ann Smith (aka Granny Smith) accidentally grew the first batch in Ryde, New South Wales, Australia. The story goes that Granny Smith threw out some rotten apples, suspected to be French crab-apples grown in Tasmania. Later on a seedling was produced. Another story has Granny cooking away using the crab apples and throwing the cores out her kitchen window, where later on the seedling was found. Either way, she and cultivated the seedling and found that the crisp, green apples were not only good in baking but also for general consumption.