All About Apples

All you need to know about apples--as long as this is something that you truly understand--is that it is impossible to know all about them. There are literally infinite varieties, infinite methods for growing, infinite tastes, and infinite ways to describe the smell of the apple.

To truly understand what I mean, one must first understand the anatomy of an apple. (Don't worry, I'll try to give the short and interesting version of a long...yet still interesting...tale. Someday, I hope you'll be inspired to read a little more about it.)

A display of Maine apples at the Great Maine Apple Day in mid-October.

My version of the Infinite Apple goes like this:

The apple you find at the grocery store (a Granny Smith, for instance) has within it several seeds--each of which contains the genetic code not for that Granny Smith but for another type of apple. That apple type is unknown and unnamed by humans...because it is unique to that single seed!

One of our Northern Spy cores cut in two, seeds exposed.

So, you may have read on our website that we plan on grafting each of the trees we put into school orchards. That is the only way to know what you are growing, and we want to know the variety, the type of fruit it yields, how it tastes (perhaps like cinnamon, grapes, or pina coladas, as I just learned some of the heirloom varieties do).

And yet...

You can ask the old-timers which was sweetest apples they remember tasting, and many of them will  site one of those nameless "seedling" trees. Our goal is to introduce a whole generation of young people to the world of growing food for themselves, so that we can ask them the same question. We will know we've succeeded when young people either feel the same way the old-timers do...or at least know what we are asking.

But there is no apple expert--young or old--who could provide an answer for all of your apple questions. I dare say, it's kind of like enlightenment: the more you know you do not know, the more you really know. Get it?

Anyway, we walked away with that sense of the unknown after our visit to the gurus at Great Maine Apple Day this weekend. We learned a lot of old tricks--and some new ones--for growing orchards. Interestingly, the new tricks, or experiments, seemed to be the most touted methods of all. Try everything, they told us. Watch the earth and how it works, learn from it, and try new things.

As it turns out, we are trying lots of new things.

I admit that this example belittles the point that they--and I--hope to make...but I feel compelled to share this photo of the new method we tried for extending the daylight (work time) hours:

An indoor lamp set outside to light our wood-chopping efforts.

New experiments, ancient traditions, asking our elders and trying new things--these are the riches we have in abundance as we continue the adventure of Re-treeing U.S. See our apple sauce recipe and pictures below for an example of old traditions with a twist.

A special thanks to Jessica Bates and our friends at Greenager.com, where you can find a beautiful article on our efforts. We are also excited to announce that our partnership with Votenet is up and running! Check out our program on their website: www.votenet. com.

How to Make Pink Apple Sauce (thanks to our neighbors' trees and Richard's mom's recipe)

My proud picture of our first apple sauce batch.

You will need:

a large pot-full of apples (we used Northern Spies, but any pink or red apple will do)
water
two pots
a stove (wood, gas or electric)
two large (or four small) Ball jars
an apple sauce maker like the one in our pictures (or something that works just as well)

Northern Spy apples from an orchard down the road.

Chop the apples to remove the cores. (If you're feeling adventurous, this is a great time to save the seeds, which can be planted for rootstock. You can then graft a branch from an apple tree you know to this stock.)

Put the seedless, coreless apples into a pot of water and bring to a boil. We chose to boil ours on a wood stove to save energy, but any stove will do.

Once the apples are soft, spoon or strain them into the apple sauce making device. Squish the apples, marvel at their most amazing smell, and pour the sauce into jars. Compost the skins. If you boil the jar lids before tightening them, this seals your container and makes a great holiday gift. If you don't seal the jar, enjoy that sauce right away!

Enjoy this recipe instead of Halloween candy for a healthier treat! And stay tuned for our Halloween post in the next couple of days...