An apple a day…by Tina Clinefelter

A couple of apple questions popped up today – where to obtain crabapple trees, and had I heard of ‘pound’ apples?
A little Googling found any number of nurseries that had plenty of ‘flowering’ crabs, but fewer that carried Malus domestica, the only native North American species that bears small, tart apples beloved of the wild things. As far as the pound apples are concerned I found a variety called Fall Pippin, aka Pound Pippin, described as an 1800’s variety of uncertain origin with large oblong shaped fruit, with clear yellow skin and a delightful fragrance and taste, ripening in August/September.
Of course, in the pursuit of this knowledge I came across some fun facts beginning with the fact that apples were very popular with the ancient Greeks and Romans (natch) and that the largest apple ever harvested weighed a whopping 3 lbs when you only need 2 lbs of apples to make a 9” pie!

Did you know that there are 2500 different varieties of apples grown in these United States and 7500 varieties worldwide? All 50 states can produce apples but only 36 grow them commercially; a peck of apples weighs 10.5 lbs and a bushel weighs 42 lbs; it takes 4 – 5 years for a young tree to begin to bear fruit and apples ripen 6 – 10 times faster at room temperature than being stored in the refrigerator!

The science of growing fruit is called ‘Pomology’ from the Latin pomum, meaning ‘fruit’ (no stretch of the imagination there…), and the common methods of propagation are budding and grafting. Here is where we have a problem with the common perception of Johnny Appleseed travelling the countryside scattering seeds as he went – apples do not come true from seed. Mr. John Chapman established small nurseries as he wandered, fencing them in against animals, and leaving them in charge of a neighbor who sold young trees to others and shared in the profits. Maybe Johnny had a vision into the future where apples would become the second-most valuable fruit crop in America – oranges being the first!
Anyway, I feel he must have known how good they are for us, keeping doctors away, and providing a fat/sodium/cholesterol free snack containing only 80 calories per medium apple. Please eat the peel as it contains 2/3 of the fiber and antioxidants and although Red Delicious is the most grown variety, won’t you try Honey-crisp or Pink Lady?

Just a few more tid-bits: the apple blossom is the State Flower of Michigan, and the apple itself is the State Fruit of Minnesota, New York, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia.

I hope you are taking notes of all this information so that if you are ever playing Jeopardy or Trivial Pursuits, you will know that the apple is a member of the rose family, originated between the Caspian and Black seas, and that ‘Lady’ or ‘Api’ is the oldest variety in existence today – now who wants a slice of apple pie made with no apples, but Ritz crackers???
I have a recipe…