Apples of the blues

Blues in the 1940s was a thing to behold. Like honor and integrity, like low clouds on the horizon. It was a genre burst florth out of a farming people, as apples tree seedlings themselves burst forth out of the turf.

Sonny Boy Williamson recorded two songs about apples: Apple tree swing, and Big apple buisness. Big Joe Williams recorded Mellow apples in 1946. Peetie Wheatstraw recorded big apple blues in 1938. Josh White -Eve's apple tree in 1940. Elizabeth Moore -old apple tree in the ground. These are just a few and just in a small window of time.

A little research found me over 300 somce involving apples. I will not list them here today. That would be silly crap. But I will note that I am quite fond of Woody Herman & His Orchestra's version of Apple Honey.

And if you have any sap in your heart thsi is worth listening to: http://www.otterbrooksongs.com/sounds/appleTreeSMPL.mp3

Fir-apples are not apples

It's a potato. Only the english would name a potatoe for the apple. They are fine taters though. A very old late maincrop variety. It's kept going because of its fine flavour and texture. The tubers can be rather irregular in shape so it is best cooked whole in its skin. If preferred, remove the skin after cooking.
available here: http://www.shropshire-highland-seeds.co.uk/

Its traditional in some parts of Europe to give apples at Xmas packed in fir boughs. Perhaps the etymology of the word lies here.

The eaerliest reference I've sen to them is rather late but here goes:

Frederick slipped down on theother side, and picked up some stones. Then he climbed up again, and tried to hit the thieves on the head with them: but they only said,'It must be near morning, for the wind shakes the fir-apples down.'

It's from the Grimm tale of FREDERICK AND CATHERINE. the reference is clear, but is vexing, fir apples are potatoes... which definitely do not grow on trees. It is certainly an arcane reference that is lost on me.

Apple: State Symbol

Washington is the nation's top apple-producing state, so it is appropriate that the apple was named a state symbol in 1989. The shame is that it did not ocurr earlier. It was a fine occasion though; their centennial year. The apple trees of eastern Washington represent one of the largest industries in the state. More than half of all apples grown in the United States for fresh eating come from orchards in Washington state. The Washington apple is certainly one of the most recognized symbols of the North West if not the nation.

Washington state has gone so far as to appoint an apple comission [here: http://www.bestapples.com/ ]

More than 225,000 acres of orchards are nestled in the picturesque foothills of the Cascade Mountains. These orchards are irrigated with cool clean mountain water. The area first became known to American pioneers at the turn of the 19th century. By 1826, early settlers had discovered the area’s rich lava-ash soil and plentiful sunshine created perfect conditions for growing apples. The arid climate also meant fewer insect and disease problems and a smoother finish on the apples than in some other places. This makes for a fine apple my friend.

sadly the state tree is not the apple tree.. it is the Western Hemlock. Spurred on by a Oregon newspaper the Portland Oregonian picked out the western hemlock, Tsuga heterophylla. It was signed into law in 1947.

Ode To Autumn Apples

because no ode to autumn could escape the apple

Ode To Autumn

By John Keats

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness!
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.
Where are the songs of Spring?
Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,
--While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft,
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

Antioxidants in Apples

Apples are a significant dietary source of antioxidants and have been associated with a reduced risk of chronic disease. Most of this protective quality in fruits and vegetables has been attributed to phytochemicals, which protect against oxidation. Oxidative damage plays a role in cancer and heart disease, and as oxidative damage accumulates it plays a role in the overall aging process. Flavonoids are a major class of phytochemicals found commonly in fresh fruits and vegetables. This is not just for hippies.

Dr. Boyer and Dr. Liu found apple to have the second highest level of antioxidant activity, compared to other commonly consumed fruits. Cranberry had the highest level of antioxidant activity, while apple was followed by red grape, strawberry, peach, lemon, pear, banana, orange, grapefruit, and pineapple in decreasing order.

A wide range of antioxidant content was found among different apple varieties. Fuji had the highest level of flavonoids, followed by Delicious, Northern Spy, Fortune, Gala, Liberty, Rome Beauty, Golden Delicious, Jonagold, Idared, Cortland, and Empire in decreasing order. Fuji also had the highest level of phenolics, followed by Delicious, Gala, Liberty, Northern Spy, Golden Delicious, Rome Beauty, Fortune, Jonagold, Idared, Cortland, and Empire in decreasing order.

go here: OMFRA NEWS

Apples in a Sci Fi short story.

Alienation and Love in the Hebrew Alphabet
a short storyby Lavie Tidhar. A fine Sci-fi tale... a more modern Americana somewhat reminiscent of the legendary Phillip K. Dick.

http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/alienationandlove.htm

Aleph
An apple tree. A little girl standing beside it.
The apples are small and bitter, like old men; they are wizened and sour.
Somewhere, a chime sounds, a wind blows leaves on the ground.
Somewhere, the hiss of escaping air.

State Flower: Apple Blossom

In 1901, the Malus (Pyrus) coronaria (The sweet crab-apple blossom) was adopted as the Arkansas State Flower by the Thirty-third General Assembly. Apple blossoms have pink and white petals and green leaves. At one time Arkansas was a major apple-producing state. The town of Lincoln in Washington County still host the annual Arkansas Apple Festival.

The apple blossom was chosen because at that time Arkansas was known as the apple state and sometimes called "The Land of the Big Red Apple." At one time Benton County was the chief apple-producing county in America. Today Arkansas has slipped somewhat, ranking at a mere 32nd.

This apple tree is a native of Europe that adapted well enough. It is a naturalized citizen like so many others. It flowers from April to June. This is one of the 1000-some apple varieties cultivated in the United States, and all of which are supposedly descended from the Wild crab (Pyrus coronaria, Linné). [I prefer to think that each sprang forth spontaneously from the earth.]

The flowers are large, fragrant, the calyx-tube is urn-shaped, with limb 5-cleft; the pedicels and calyx villose-tomentose. Petals are roundish, or obovate,and villose at base. Stamens vary by variety which are numerous.