-Groucho Marx
"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies."
-Groucho Marx
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On Saturday some of us went apple picking in the Valley with a crew of the younger nephews and nieces. We picked mainly McIntosh, Gravenstein, and Cortland apples, though the boys went off and picked some Viking apples just because of their name. Fun fact: the only apple native to North America is the crab apple. All other types were brought from Europe or hybrids of those which came from Europe. In fact, the some of the very earliest of these trees were brought to Port Royal right here in Nova Scotia by French settlers in 1606. The parentage of the McIntosh apple is rather obscure: a farmer in Upper Canada named John McIntosh was clearing some brush on his land in 1811 and found some apple seedlings which were presumed to have grown from some discarded apples of a type popular at the time- Alexander, Snow, and/or St. Lawrence Fall- which cross pollenated and grew. In any case, he transplanted the seedlings and eventually discovered that one of them grew really tasty apples. By 1820 he was selling seeds from this tree, but these didn't produce fruit of the same quality. This problem was solved when McIntosh's son Allen learned about grafting in 1835 and by this method the McIntosh apples retained the qualities of those from the original tree. It really took off after that; the McIntosh is now Canada's national apple, and a lot of apple hybrids are descended from it. It remains popular because it's a good all purpose apple, good for both eating and cooking. Gravenstein apples are very popular in Nova Scotia as well, and were in fact first introduced to Canada by prominent Nova Scotian horticulturalist Charles Ramage Prescott in the early 1800's. They were originally from Denmark and were first brought to North America, it's believed, by Russian fur traders who planted a tree in Fort Ross, California in 1811. Gravensteins are a tarter apple, and are great for making applesauce and other dishes with. Cortlands are one of the varieties descended from McIntosh apples (named for Courtland County, New York where they were developed). Also a popular all purpose apple, they're a bit sweeter than the McIntoshes. What plant we in this apple-tree! Fruits that shall swell in sunny June, And redden in the August noon, And drop, when gentle airs come by, That fan the blue September sky, While children come, with cries of glee, And seek them where the fragrant grass Betrays their bed to those who pass, At the foot of the apple-tree. -From The Planting Of The Apple Tree by William Cullen Bryant I came home with 20 lbs of apples, split between the three previously mentioned types. First usage: a couple of apple cinnamon loaves. I'll take one to work and freeze the other for Thanksgiving (Canadian) which is coming up rapidly.
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