Originally founded in 1904 as National Apple Week, National Apple Month has been expanded to a three-month promotional period from September through November. So the celebration continues. A previous article discussed the fruit in season at this time in my life in light of apples. To learn more about apples and National Apple Month, see http://www.examiner.com/x-20264-Columbus-Christian-Spirituality-Examiner~y2009m9d5-What-fruit-is-in-season-patience
Nutritional Benefits:
The health benefits of apples have been widely recognized for centuries. We are all familiar with age-old adage: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Apples and apple products can be an important part of a healthy diet. According to Botanical.com, rotten apples were used as a poultice in an old remedy for sore eyes that is still in use in some villages. Apples are said to be ideal for teeth cleaning and whitening.Australian researchers indicate apples may reduce the risk for asthma.Apples have also been found to be useful in a weight-loss program for women and offer many other nutritional benefits.
Origins of the Apple
A question remains as to the origin of the wide variety of apples grown around the world. Some historians believe that the Romans were the first to cultivate these wild apples into the tasty produce we enjoy today. Some say the apple's origins were rooted in Southwestern Asia. Others offer the Middle East the place of the apple’s beginnings
When early European explorers returned from their travels with new fruits and vegetables, the Europeans often didn't know what to call them. To them, the name "apple" symbolized all fruits and was at one time bestowed upon a wide variety of produce from avocado to eggplants and oranges to pomegranates, quinces, and tomatoes. Poet Robert Frost found this rather amusing and penned this poem:
The rose is a rose,
And was always a rose.
But the theory now goes
That the apple's a rose.
Apples in the Bible
Among the references to apples in the Bible is the phrase “the apple of his eye” found in
Deuteronomy 32:10:
In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye . . .
The phrase also appears in Psalm 17:8:
Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.
And in Proverbs 7:2:
Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
Zechariah 2:8 makes this statement:
For this is what the Lord Almighty says: “After he has honored me and has sent me against the nations that have plundered you–for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye.”
This phrase has come to mean "A cherished person or object.” In old English the pupil of the eye was called the apple because it was thought to be spherical and solid. Since the pupil is a crucial and indispensable portion of the eye, it serves as a symbol of something cherished.
Proverbs 25:11 uses another expression:
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.
Bishop KC Pillai indicates that the reference to “apples of gold” is actually referring to a variety of succulent oranges grown in the Middle East.
Indications are clear that the "apples" of the Bible were not the modern fruit we think of today. Another point of note is that there is no reference to an apple in the encounter with the Serpent and Adam and Eve in the Garden. The record in Genesis speaks of "the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil." Imaginative European artists made the fruit-bearing trees in their pictures as apple trees, thus the apple has become symbolic of original sin and temptation.
“As American as Apple Pie”
• Applescome in all shades of reds, greens, yellows.
• Twopounds of apples make one 9-inch pie.
• Appleblossom is the state flower of Michigan.
• 2500varieties of apples are grown in the United States...
• 100varieties of apples are grown commercially in the United States.
• Applesare grown commercially in 36 states.
• Applesare grown in all 50 states. Now that’s American!
Recipes and More
delish.com offers recipes and much more in “All About Apples: Your A-to-Z Apple Guide”
Local Apple Picking Places
Central Ohio abounds with local places to pick apples. Here are a few locations:
One of the most popular picking places in Central Ohio is Lynd Farms
9090 Morse Rd SW, Pataskala, OH 43062 Corner of Morse Rd. and S.R. 310
The orchard is open from August to the end of October dates from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., for more specific information contact http://lyndfruitfarm.com/
Terreece Clarke, about.com guide, offers information on Apple Picking in the Columbus, Ohio area and advises always check before you travel to the orchard:
Americantowns.com boasts, “We have the best Ohio apple picking orchards, apple farms, apple festivals for the state of Ohio. We have found the best 'pick your own' apple orchards and apple farms in and around the great state of Ohio. “
Two additional websites with information on local places to pick apples:
The Apple Song
Enjoy the accompanying version of "The Apple Song" by Plank Road Publishing that is used to teach students about the varieties of apples.
Additional related websites:
http://www.gone-ta-pott.com/National_apple_month.html
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