I love to go apple pickin’ in the fall. Bill and I went to Oak Glen, California to Riley’s Apple Farms (rileysapplefarm.com) It was an amazing place loaded with tons of apple trees and tons of charm. I’ll be honest, I am mostly in it for the caramel apple, which I thoroughly enjoy. Nothing says Fall to me better than a caramel apple! Last week while in DC, my daughter and her family took me to Hollin Farms in Virginia (hollinfarms.com) for a delightful apple picking day. It was such a joy to see my grandbabies discover the delight of picking an apple off of a tree. They loved it! The problem was, they wanted to pick more than we needed … and that is against the apple pickin’ rules.
I thought you might enjoy a few fun facts about apples. These facts are taken from myapplecountry.com and allaboutapples.com
- Apples are a member of the rose family of plants, along with pears, peaches, plums and cherries.
- The science of apple growing is called pomology.
- Apples come in all shades of red, green and yellow.
- Most apples are still picked by hand.
- Americans eat more apples per capita than any other fruit (fresh and processed combined).
- It takes about 36 apples to create one gallon of apple cider.
- 25 percent of an apple’s volume is air; that’s why they float.
- At last count, more than 7,500 apple varieties have been identified worldwide; more than 2,500 varieties are grown in the United States – 100 of which are grown for commercial sale.
- Apples are grown commercially in 36 states.
- A medium-sized apple has about 80 calories.
- Apples are fat-free, sodium-free and cholesterol-free. And they taste great, too!
- Apples are an excellent source of fiber; one medium apple contains 5 grams of fiber, including the soluble fiber pectin.
- Pilgrims planted the first U.S. apple trees in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
- A standard-size apple tree starts bearing fruit 8-10 years after it is planted. A dwarf tree starts bearing in 3-5 years.
- Most apple blossoms are pink when they open, but gradually transition to white.
- Apple trees can be grown farther north than other fruit trees because they bloom late in spring, minimizing the chance of frost damage.
- It takes the energy from 50 leaves to produce one apple.
- Apples are the second most-valuable fruit grown in the United States; oranges are the first. (Source: USDA Economic Research Service)
- The largest U.S. apple crop was 277.3 million bushels, harvested in 1998.
- Archeologists have found evidence that humans have been enjoying apples since 6500 BC.
- Newton Pippin apples were the first apples exported from America in 1768; some were sent to Benjamin Franklin in London.
- In 1730, the first apple nursery was opened in Flushing, New York.
- One of George Washington’s hobbies was pruning his apple trees.
- A peck of apples weighs 10.5 pounds.
- A bushel of apples weighs 42 pounds, and will yield 20-24 quarts of applesauce. (myapplecountry.com)
Did you know you could eat a different apple every day for more than 19 years, and never eat the same kind twice! The “Delicious” apple variety is the most widely grown variety in the United States. Six states — Washington, New York, Michigan, California, Pennsylvania and Virginia — produce the vast majority. The top five in the United States are Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Gala, Fuji and Granny Smith. (allaboutapples.com)
That is a lot of apple information! Apples always represent something good and useful. We all know that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. We think about taking our teacher an apple to find favor with her. We hear a father say, “She is the apple of my eye!” (referring to the most cherished). Most importantly, who doesn’t love a homemade apple pie?
The Bible also talks about apples in quite a few verses. Here are a few…
Proverbs 25:11
“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.”
“Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Your wings.”
“Keep my commandments and live, and my teaching as the apple of your eye.”
We know the producing of fruit is a good thing. John 15:4-5 tells us, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.we abide in Him and He in us then we will bear much fruit.” Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control…..”
I want to bear all this fruit in my life. I always want to be the apple of Jesus eye!
So, how is your fruit production these days?
Just Jesus,
Sheri Langley
STORYPEACE 