Just in time for the first of November comes this post from Merriam Webster, called “How About Them Apples?” It details a collection of apple-related products, from cider to schnitz, and pretty much everything in between.
Growing up on a Pennsylvania fruit farm, I had more than my share of apples. From picking to jelly-making, apples dominated our lives each fall. They were our biggest cash crop. And as part of the Knouse Foods Cooperative, Wolf Bros. Fruit Farm provided York Imperials for sauce and juice, as well as Stamen Winesap and Golden Delicious for sale as fresh fruit at our family’s stand on Broad Street Market in Harrisburg.
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I liked picking apples in the fall a whole lot more than trimming apple trees in the winter. The weather was better, for one thing. And most fall evenings would find our whole extended family in the apple shed at the back of the barn, grading apples. That involved running a contraption called a “grader” which had a series of rollers and long metal chains with various sized openings to sort the apples into “firsts,” “seconds,” and “culls” – meaning anything damaged or deformed. (The tiniest fruits and culls went into the cider bin.) By 9:30 or so I usually was yawning. But I also usually still had homework to do. Hey, it’s a living.
So, whether it’s an old-school variety like Macintosh, or a newfangled breed like Honeycrisp, have an apple a day. It’ll keep the doctor away. And it might even make an old apple farmer smile.