Johnny Appleseed

September 26

Johnny Appleseed was born in Leominster, Massachusetts, on September 26, 1774.

Johnny Appleseed was a legendary American who planted and supplied apple trees to much of the United States of America. Many people think that Johnny Appleseed was a fictional character, but he was a real person.

His real name was John Chapman, but he was called Johnny Appleseed because of his love for growing apple trees.

Johnny was a skilled nurseryman who grew trees and supplied apple seeds to the pioneers in the mid-western USA.

Although he was a very successful man, Johnny Appleseed lived a simple life. It is said that as Johnny traveled, he wore his cooking pot on his head as a hat!

Johnny Appleseed gave away and sold many trees. He owned many nurseries in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Illinois, and Indiana, where he grew his beloved apple trees.

Apple Tree in Winter

Johnny died at the age of 70; he is buried in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He had spent 50 years growing apple trees and traveling to spread his precious trees around his country.

Away up high in the apple treeTwo red apples smiled at me.

I shook the tree As hard as I could.

Down came the applesMmmmm good.

EmpireAn excellent lunchbox apple or crunch snack! Sweet and tart at the same time. Use for fresh-cut slices, candy and caramel apples. Also used in baking. Texture remains very firm, a good storing apple. Popular in Great Britain.

Gala

Talk about a great apple: Crisp snappy bite over a mellow sweetness. Michigan’s 3rd most popular apple for fresh eating or cooking. Looks great, smells sweet, eats like a dream!

Golden Delicious A gingery-smooth, sweet taste treat lies under a thin skin. The most popular yellow apple, Goldens may be eaten fresh or cut up in salads. Professional’s choice for applesauce or cider, baking pies and other desserts.

Fuji

• Fuji is Japan’s favorite apple for good reason! Fantastic sweet and tart

flavor, with a low acid content.

An incredibly good keeper,

Fuji stays crisp for weeks!

Honey Crisp

This apple is hot! -- and mighty crisp. Combines unusual color and excellent sweet flavor with a great bite. Use it for fresh eating, fresh-cut slices or cut up in salads.

I know a fruit that grows on treesAnd apple is it’s name-o!

Chorus:

A-P-P-L-E x4And apple is its name-o!

In summer and early fallIt’s time to pick an apple.

Chorus:

A McIntosh or Granny SmithOr a Golden Delicious!

Chorus:

Make apple juice or applesauceOr apple pie with apples!

Chorus:

Braeburn Braeburns are great for snacking and baking. Washington growers harvest the variety in September and early October. Consumers can purchase Washington Braeburns from October through July.

Ida RedSuits your every use! Eat fresh or for cooking. Taste is both tangy and tart. Flesh is white, crisp and juicy. Favored for sauces, pies and desserts. Texture holds up well when baked.

Jonagold

Make sure you try this one! Superbly crisp and juicy with shades of tart and sweet in each apple. Usually large and aromatic. Highly ranked by apple connoisseurs. Popular in Europe.

McIntosh

First apple tree planted by John McIntosh about 1811.  Two-toned red and green, it is an  all-purpose apple.  Available September to June.

Paula

Don’t miss this late summer apple! Available only into October. Pleasingly tart flavor and good aroma. Great in back-to-school lunches, or early season baking. Discovered in Sparta, Michigan.

Four red apples on the tree,Two for you and two for me.

So shake that tree andWatch them fall.

One, Two, Three, Four - that is all.

Red Delicious

America’s most popular apple, known for the “five little bumps” on the bottom. Named when a nurseryman in 1894 exclaimed," My that's delicious!" Discovered over 100 years ago in Iowa.

Granny SmithGranny Smith apples have been cultivated for at least 150 years. Its origin traces to a mess of French crabapples that were tossed out in Grandmother Marie Ana Smith's Australian garden. Smith had found the seedling growing where she had thrown out some apples. She began using the fruit for cooking, and was soon marketing the fruit.

Rome

(Rome Beauty) Named for an apple-growing area in Ohio, not Italy.  Slightly tart.  Best for baking.  Available October to August.

Northern Spy

Intriguing name, yet this apple is a professional baker’s dream! An antique apple still popular because of tart, acidic properties that cook up well in applesauce, pie and other dishes. A hard apple that ripens late and stores well.

Winesap

Granddaddy of American apples!  Wine - like flavor.  All purpose apple.  Available November to July.

Apple, apple on the tree,I know you are good for me.

You are fun to snack and munch,Or for packing in my lunch.Apple, apple on the tree,

I know you are good for me.

Peel an appleCut it up,

Cook in a pot.When you taste it

You will findIt’s applesauce you’ve got.

Ten Red ApplesHere I have five apples

(hold up five fingers on right hand)And here are five again.

(hold up both hands.)How many apples all together?

Apple Poem

Why, five and five make ten!