An Apple a Day

October 22, 2022
Owl Feather Farm, San Juan Island

Human beings and apples have traveled together through this world for 4,000 years—200 human generations—all the way from the foothills of the Tien Shan Mountains in present-day Kazakhstan to unlikely homes such as Southern California, Mexico, Brazil, Egypt and right here at Owl Feather Farm. Our four-year-old orchard has 23 apple trees of 17 different kinds, most of them varieties a century old or more.
This year is our first real harvest, a truly historic occasion.
Unlike much of the human mythos, much of the story of apples is true. An apple a day will keep the doctor away—they are rich in fiber, trace minerals and, most important, vitamin C, which is why they have been so important for so long. Properly stored, apples keep until spring, curbing vitamin deficiencies such as scurvy. Apple cider was treasured because it substituted for unsanitary water supplies.
An Apple a Day

A beautiful basket of Bramleys

Apples may have been the first domesticated fruit. They spread across Eurasia along the Silk Road—maybe even before silk. And Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) really did roam the United States in the early 19th century, planting apples across eastern North America, sleeping in the woods and asking little but stewardship of his trees.
There are more than 7,000 known varieties of apples, reflecting the fact that each seed is likely to produce a unique offspring. New varieties are thus propagated by grafting rather than seeding.
An Apple a Day

Two pies are better than one

This year at OFF we harvested a dozen different types, and conducted a celebratory taste test in the form of apple pie, a food so ripe with significance that it calls to mind heady concepts such as nationhood, heritage, health and bounty. Our winner was Bramley, a famous culinary apple discovered by a young English girl in 1809. The trees are famed for their vigor (twice as large as all our other apple trees) astounding productivity and fabulous flavor. Because of the magic of grafting, our tree is actually the same wood as that first Bramley that arose 213 years ago.

So the next time you have an apple in hand please take a moment to appreciate its magnificent backstory, and the marvelous power and abundance of nature that it represents. They are our partners, sent us by forces much wiser than simple human industry.

—Eric Lucas

An Apple a Day

And the winner is...

more articles