Apple bounty

Flower & Garden Magazine, August-Sept, 1995 by Kay Melchisedech Olson

Apples are just about everybody's favorite fruit. Apple trees, known by the botanical name Malus, are grown for their fruit as well as for their ornamental value. Apple trees are truly a plant for all seasons -- in the spring the tree is covered with delicate pink-and-white blossoms; in the summer the green apples and leaves provide beautiful color and cool shade; in the fall the ripened fruit is ready to pick and eat; and in the winter the bare, gnarled branches add visual interest to the snowy landscape.

Apple growing is a science called pomology. Apples do not grow "true" from seed. If you plant the seed from an apple core, the tree that grows from it will not produce fruit exactly like the apple from which it came. Besides tasting good, apples are good for our health. Long ago, before refrigeration helped keep fruit fresh, people had to find other ways to make their apple harvest last throughout the year. Apples were squeezed into cider, cooked into applesauce, canned, jellied and also dried. All of these methods of preserving apples are still used today.

Dried apples, besides being a tasty snack, are also used to make decorative crafts. Native Americans and early frontier settlers made apple-headed dolls by carving a face into an apple and allowing it to darken and wrinkle as it dried, giving it a realistic "old" look.

Dried apple wreaths are another pioneer craft that is still popular today. You can turn some of autumn's apple bounty into a decorative wreath for your kitchen wall or door.

What You'll Need How to Do It

What You'll Need

* 5-6 large (or 8-10 small) blemish-free apples of the same variety

* a pencil

* a compass

* stiff cardboard or foam core

* an old window screen or wire rack

* ribbon With adult help or supervision:

* sharp knife and craft knife or scissors

* a hot glue gun (or thick craft glue)

* an oven (optional)

How to Do It

Step 1 Find a protected, airy place to set your wire rack or old window screen. (If you will be using an oven to dry your apple slices, you may skip this step.

Step 2 With an adult's help, cut the apples into horizontal slices. Correctly cut, the apple core will form a tiny "star" in the center of each slice.

Step 3 Lay the apple slices on the wire rack or window screen and set them out to dry. Turn the slices once each day. If you are using an oven with adult supervision, put the wire rack or screen into a warm oven (about 150 degrees) for 4 to 6 hours. Turn the apple slices about once an hour during this time.

Step 4 When the slices are hard and dry, they are ready to use for this project. (If they have been dried in the oven, allow them to cool first.

Step 5 Use the compass and pencil to make a 7-inch diameter circle on the cardboard or foam core. From the same center point, draw a second circle 8 inches in diameter.

Step 6 With an adult's help, cut the ring shape from the cardboard or foam core with sturdy scissors or a craft knife.

Step 7 Glue the apple slices around the ring; glue a second layer overlapping the first. Allow the glue to dry completely.

Step 8 Tie ribbon into a decorative bow and attach it in place with glue.

* Apple trees are perennial plants that grow 30 to 40 feet tall. Although there are thousands of varieties, the three main varieties are 'Delicious,' 'Jonathan' 'McIntosh.' Another popular newcomer is 'Granny Smith,' a tart green apple variety Australia and New Zealand.

* Pie is a favorite American dessert and apple is the nation's favorite pie filling. Our love for this fruit is evident in the expression "As American as apple pie. "

* The Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell banned pies throughout the English Commonwealth in the mid-1600s. He believed that pies must be wicked because it gave people pleasure to eat them.

* When English settlers came to America, they found no familiar apple trees here, so they had others bring along apple tree seedlings on later voyages.

* Some people think Johnny Appleseed is only a legendary character but he was a real person. John Chapman got the nickname Johnny Appleseed because he planted so many apple trees as he walked along the American frontier.

* There is truth to the adage: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Studies have shown that people who eat apples regularly have fewer headaches and colds than other people.

* In colonial days, apples were stored in root cellars. Today the best place to store apples at home is hydrator drawer of your refrigerator.