Lets Talk Apples!

Did you know that...

• The first Macs grew in Canada. The first McIntosh apple tree sprouted from one of several seedlings that were discovered in 1811 by John McIntosh on his farm in Ontario!
• In 1868, Dr. T.A Hoskins brought the McIntosh to Newport, Vermont right from Ontario. A descendant of John McIntosh, William McIntosh, planted these apples in his West Berlin, Vermont orchard in 1870...and the first printed reference to a mac apple appeared in 1876.
• In 1920, the "big four" Vermont apple varieties were McIntosh, Fameuse, Northern Spy, and Wealthy.
• In the 1980s, Vermont had an average of 79 growers on 3,500 bearing acres in total, and produced an average annual crop of 1.25 million bushels of apples.
• In England, to destroy an apple orchard was seen as almost sacrilegious, and it was said that if an orchard was destroyed to make way for another crop, the crop would never prosper.
• An old Samhain charm was for all the district's unmarried young people to tie an apple onto a piece of string and whirl it around before a fire. The one whose apple fell off first was said to be the first to marry
• McIntosh, Vermont’s “bread & butter variety,” remains within the top six apple varieties desired by consumers.
• The 2007 census reported 264 farms growing apples on 3,241 acres of land in Vermont, and the 2011 survey found those same results!
  If you loved these apple facts as much as we do, take a minute to check out Vermont Apples, a website with tons of information and history about apples, including more facts, orchard listings, and apple news! And for brilliant, tasty apple recipes... take a look at The Apple Lover's Cookbook, a 300+ page book containing 100 magnificent apple recipes!

And let us know what your favorite apple recipes are & your favorite places around New England to apple pick in the comments section or on Facebook!