Weird fact ... today's 7,500 types of apple have almost double the number of genomes we humans do!! If you ate an apple a day it would take you 20 years to eat one of each type available in the world .. and we know exactly where they originated - in southern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Xinjiang, China. Which means it’s not so hard to understand why 50% of the 69 million tons of apples grown annually are grown in China. In second place … the USA, so no surprises there I guess (Johnny Appleseed, Mom's apple pie, and all that) but, the next in line are a bit surprising (to me anyway) Turkey, Italy, India, and then Poland. The UK doesn't even figure on the global apple growing nations top 10 radar, and yet apples are a huge part of the culture.
October 26th was “apple day” so I headed down to Borough Market where they promised
to have loads and loads of apples joining in the fun. The one they shouted loudest about is Britain’s
oldest known apple “Court Pendu Plat”.
Despite its French sounding name and claims, the chances are it got here via the
supply cart of some Roman army cook, and then the "spat out pips" grew seedlings that
appreciated having slightly cooler and damper feet and so settled into the English countryside.
Ironically, in the terrible frosts and winters of 1997/1998 that destroyed many apple orchards, it was the very tiny numbers of heritage apples, often growing unnoticed in ordinary back gardens, that toughed it out. Nowadays, like much of the other quickly disappearing heritage flora and fauna, they are the subject of quiet saviour campaigns across the UK and hooray to that I say!!
6 comments:
Fascinating stuff - good piece!
Very informative.
All I hear is people complaining about the fact that their old favorite apple types are gone.
I had no idea there were that many varieties of apples.
I didn't know there were an apple day but it's worthit :)
My cousin has carried on the orchard his parents started. He grows quite a variety.
Ted, I do admire the research that you do for your weekly food posts. I like apples a lot, so today's post has a special appeal.
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