THE AWESOME APPLE
Two of the most famous apple varieties were found here in West Virginia
by Susanah Holstein (Originally published in Two-Lane Livin’ Magazine)
Most of us know that two of the most famous apple varieties were found right here in West Virginia. The first, the Grimes Golden, was found on the farm of Thomas Grimes in Brooke County near Wellsburg in the early 1800's. According to local legend, this tree was from seed planted by none other than John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed. That tree produced fruit for over 100 years before it toppled in a storm!
The second was the famous Golden Delicious, discovered on the Anderson Mullins farm in Clay County in 1912. This tree was purchased by the nationally known Stark Brothers Nursery and is the ancestor of all Golden Delicious trees in production today.
Our soil and climate seem well suited to growing apples, and trees can often be found in the wild bearing heavy crops of fruit. We have several on our farm, one a yellow apple that came up from seed under the deck and is now over 40 years old and still producing. Every year I am struck by their amazing contribution to our lives. Some years an untimely frost brings disappointment, of course, and ruins the crop.
This year we are blessed with trees that are hanging low with fruit, and I am looking forward to filling the cellar with goodness once again. We might have to fight the yellow jackets and deer for them, but in a good year, we have more apples than we can use anyway. We usually make cider in September and freeze or process the juice for later use. I sometimes substitute cider for other liquids in baking; for example, I will use cider in place of milk when making pancakes or waffles, and sometimes in cake recipes too.
Apple butter time is another fall activity at our house. I love getting down the old copper kettle with the small split in its side and scrubbing it and the paddle in anticipation of the cooking-down day. This has become a family tradition, a time to gather in and enjoy each other's company as we stir and stir and stir.
The sauce will bubble out the small split for a while but eventually hardens over it so little is lost. I also make apple preserves that taste like apple pie filling (delicious on biscuits), and apple pie filling to freeze for winter use.
If you have any apples left after all these uses, you might want to try drying some slices and gluing them onto a wreath, or hanging the dried slices on a jute string with dried orange slices to make an autumn window garland. In older times people dried apples whole and used them to make the heads of apple dolls, a craft that can sometimes still be found at fairs, festivals, and Appalachian craft shops.
People once believed (and maybe some still do) that apples protected against evil, and that cider vinegar was especially powerful. To get rid of a haunt, a saucer of cider vinegar would be left out to evaporate overnight, which was disagreeable to the troublesome spirit and it would leave. As we approach October and the ghostly season, this might be a good trick to remember.
In some cultures, the firstborn child in a family is given an apple. The apple is cut open and if a worm is found inside, woe be to the poor child for it portends a life of troubles and want.
Here's an apple to your health!