SEPTEMBER 26, 2012 - NATIONAL JOHNNY APPLESEED DAY
IS IT TIME FOR APPLES? IT'S NATIONAL
JOHNNY APPLESEED DAY.
Today marks the birthday of John Chapman in 1774. John Chapman was a gentleman that most of us know better as Johnny Appleseed. Johnny was a nut, no pun intended. For example, he once threw away his shoe to punish his foot for stepping on a worm. But Johnny was much more than just a nut. Johnny used to go to the cider mills in Western Pennsylvania and get the seeds from the part of the apple that was being thrown away. Apple seeds have a little bit of cyanide in them which makes them very bitter so cider mills are careful about always throwing them away. Johnny would then take these seeds to where no one lived but where he thought people would soon be moving. He would plant his seeds and grow apple trees. Five years later when people moved into the area (Johnny was very good at guessing which areas would become popular) he would sell his trees. The law at the time required that anyone claiming land had to grow fifty apple trees to show that they were serious about living on the land. Johnny did so well with his apple tree business that he died a very wealthy man.
Today marks the birthday of John Chapman in 1774. John Chapman was a gentleman that most of us know better as Johnny Appleseed. Johnny was a nut, no pun intended. For example, he once threw away his shoe to punish his foot for stepping on a worm. But Johnny was much more than just a nut. Johnny used to go to the cider mills in Western Pennsylvania and get the seeds from the part of the apple that was being thrown away. Apple seeds have a little bit of cyanide in them which makes them very bitter so cider mills are careful about always throwing them away. Johnny would then take these seeds to where no one lived but where he thought people would soon be moving. He would plant his seeds and grow apple trees. Five years later when people moved into the area (Johnny was very good at guessing which areas would become popular) he would sell his trees. The law at the time required that anyone claiming land had to grow fifty apple trees to show that they were serious about living on the land. Johnny did so well with his apple tree business that he died a very wealthy man.
But here’s the part that Disney never mentions.
Apple trees grown from seeds produce very sour fruit that is almost always
inedible. Henry David Thoreau wrote, “[the apples] were sour enough to set a
squirrel’s teeth on edge and make a jay scream.” The apples that we get in the
store are always grown by grafting. So if Johnny’s apples were inedible what
did people do with them? They made them into hard cider. Yep, as author Michael
Pollan writes, “Johnny Appleseed was bringing the gift of alcohol to the
frontier.” And that is the real story of Johnny Appleseed.
Check out the holidays website for even more: http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/March/appleseedday.htm
Check out the holidays website for even more: http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/March/appleseedday.htm
