How You Can Celebrate the Season with Apples

Apples are a symbol of purity and good health. With this symbolism in mind, students have given teachers an apple to show appreciation. Some slogans we are all familiar with are: An apple a day keeps the doctor away, a child is the apple of his parents eye, and we all want a slice of apple pie. Let us not forget calling someone a bad apple. Apples have been read about, talked about and eaten throughout history.

Ranging from tart to sweet in taste and crisp to soft in texture, apples are one of our favorite fruits. In our pies, on our waffles, or quickly grabbed for a snack from the fruit bowl, apples are interwoven into our lives. An integral part of our past, and sure to be included in our future, and if we are lucky, for dessert.

The origin of apples can be traced back as far in time to Adam and Eve. Eve ate the forbidden apple in the Garden of Eden. It is still being debated exactly where the first apple tree bloomed. One theory is the first apple plant grew in Alma-Ata, meaning mother of apples, located in Kazakhstan, now part of Russia. Kazakhstan was once a section of Central Asia.

Ancient Egyptians grew apple trees, as did the Greeks and Romans. It's still debated as to who was first, but the Greeks are said to be the first to grow fertile trees, with the sweet taste we so love to consume today. When immigrating to the New World, European settlers brought apple trees over to cultivate and harvest. That being said, the pilgrims were the first to plant apple trees in the United States. "They planted their first trees in the Massachusetts Bay Colony."

In American history, Johnny Chapman spent close to 50 years planting apple trees. An American folk hero and legend, popularly known as Johnny Appleseed, he would carry a bag of apple seeds and plant them in the mid-western states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. He helped others to plant and cultivate apples, and in return some of them would give him food and a place to rest. It takes 4-5 years for an apple treat to fruit, so Johnny would visit people often, keeping an eye on the apple trees. His original orchards can still be found and descendants of his original apple trees are still produced today.