By Beatrice Hawkins
Do you know who is considered responsible for the saying “one bad apple spoils the bunch”, and what the science of apple growing is called?
I looked up some fun things about apples for this week as I have been enjoying the new season apples for some weeks now. Every few years I see new varieties in the fruit shops but some of the old faithfuls remain…especially Granny Smiths. To my mind there is nothing as good for an eating apple as a good fresh ‘Granny’, and I have yet to find a better cooking apple. They are a truly versatile and a very Australian variety having been first known as a seedling in 1868 by Maria Ann Smith.
Maria and her husband Thomas arrived in Australia in 1838 and already had three children when they established an orchard on North Road in Epping, and went on to have a further 13! She died in 1870 at 70 years of age and is buried in St Anne’s Anglican Churchyard Cemetery, Top Ryde.
The ‘Granny Smith’ was exported widely and sold to the American Army in 1918.
By the 1960s it had achieved worldwide fame for its flavour, versatility, beautiful green colour and keeping quality. It was the second most popular selling apple in England at this time. It seems the old adage “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” may be true. They have been found to reduce the incidence of stroke, protect and improve heart muscle, decrease the growth of some tumours and the incidence of some cancers. They are also fat and sodium free and a good source of fibre and vitamin C.
While I knew to put a banana in a bag with an avocado to speed ripening I did not know that putting an apple with potatoes will help keep the potatoes fresh and stop them from sprouting.
Apples are a member of the rose family and the trees can typically live for 100 years and have been known to live up to 200. The trees can grow to 40 feet high.
The number 5 is special for apples with the word containing 5 letters, blossoms usually forming in clusters of 5 and the blossoms having 5 petals.
The largest apple recorded weighed approximately 1.5 kgs. Apples float because over 25% of their volume is air.
The flavour of apples, and particularly the Granny Smith, varies depending on the soil type and climate. It is a good variety for the home garden and grows in every state in Australia and requires less ‘chill’ than most others.
(SUBHEAD)
The ‘garden days’ for June …
12th – Red Rose day
13th – Weed Your Garden Day
16th – Fresh Veggies Day
and 17th – Eat Your Veggies Day!! I promise you I did not make these up.
Don’t forget the Warwick Horticultural Society’s bus trip to Esk this Saturday on Fresh Veggies Day and get some new inspiration for your gardens.
Tickets will be available until 4pm on Friday from Danny Lyons in Palmerin Street so it is not too late to decide to enjoy a day out. The ticket covers the bus trip, morning tea en route and entry to the venue.
The society organises these events to promote gardening in our area and they are open to anyone who would like to come and enjoy a day out with like-minded people.
Oh, and the answers to the questions at the beginning? The quote is attributed to Geoffery Chaucer, famous medieval poet, father of English literature, author of Canterbury Tales and who died on October 14th 1400, and the science of apple growing? ‘Pomology’!
*This is an old article that has been digitised so our readers have access to our full catalogue.
