Appalachian Apple hunter who rescued 1k ‘lost’ varieties (2021)
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Appalachian Apple hunter who rescued 1k ‘lost’ varieties (2021)
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Re: Appalachian Apple hunter who rescued 1k ‘lost’ varieties (2021)
#2I recently caught an apple-centric episode of 'Gastropod' and definitely recommend it. [1]
I like podcasts that have transcripts, and invite you to this moment where a few layers were added to my understanding of well known American figure 'Johnny Appleseed'[2]:
> TWILLEY: Johnny would get a mush of seeds and apple cores thrown out by a cider mill, and he would stick it in a dugout canoe, and tie that to another canoe and then float down the Ohio River to find a promising new patch of land.
> POLLAN: So like a real estate developer, he would make a kind of judgment as to where the next wave of settlement was likely to be. He’d buy or squat on a piece of land and he’d cultivate it and plant his apple trees and they would be ready when the settlers got there. And he would sell them for a couple pennies apiece.
[1]: https://gastropod.com/transcript-the-big-apple-episode/
Re: Appalachian Apple hunter who rescued 1k ‘lost’ varieties (2021)
#3I recently caught an apple-centric episode of 'Gastropod' and definitely recommend it. [1] I like podcasts that have transcripts, and invite you to this moment where a few layers were added to my understanding of well known American figure 'Johnny Appleseed'[2]: > TWILLEY: Johnny would get a mush of seeds and apple cores thrown out by a cider mill, and he would stick it in a dugout canoe, and tie that to another cano…
I kind of like this version better than the altruistic fantasy. It’s a capitalism-driven win-win for Johnny and the settlers.
Re: Appalachian Apple hunter who rescued 1k ‘lost’ varieties (2021)
#4I recently caught an apple-centric episode of 'Gastropod' and definitely recommend it. [1] I like podcasts that have transcripts, and invite you to this moment where a few layers were added to my understanding of well known American figure 'Johnny Appleseed'[2]: > TWILLEY: Johnny would get a mush of seeds and apple cores thrown out by a cider mill, and he would stick it in a dugout canoe, and tie that to another cano…
I kind of like this version better than the altruistic fantasy. It’s a capitalism-driven win-win for Johnny and the settlers.
> I kind of like this version better than the altruistic fantasy.
Same, although to be fair, in this day and age the altruistic version is the more realistic one; it's a lot easier to guerrilla garden some fruit trees than it is to run a commercial nursery. Which is why most of the people who run small independent nurseries do it as a second career, and don't start until their 60s or so.
Re: Appalachian Apple hunter who rescued 1k ‘lost’ varieties (2021)
#5Sitting by my bed is a copy of Michael Pollan's book "The botany of desire" he discusses Johny Appleseed in depth well worth the read.
Re: Appalachian Apple hunter who rescued 1k ‘lost’ varieties (2021)
#6Ironically, you will never find the best-tasting apples in your local grocery store. The tastiest apples are often smaller, brown or dark skin, not the big red 'juicy' apples the uninformed consumer thinks are the best. Viz. the Red "Delicious", whose flavor was bred out in favor of color and appearance. It is now insipid and flavorless.
In the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, the humble-looking Cox Orange is sweet as candy, with a hint of pear. You can only get it from local suppliers.
Re: Appalachian Apple hunter who rescued 1k ‘lost’ varieties (2021)
#7Ironically, you will never find the best-tasting apples in your local grocery store. The tastiest apples are often smaller, brown or dark skin, not the big red 'juicy' apples the uninformed consumer thinks are the best. Viz. the Red "Delicious", whose flavor was bred out in favor of color and appearance. It is now insipid and flavorless. In the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, the humble-looking Cox Orange is sweet a…
I heard the same thing about the American fig tree being basically candy compared to what we’ve got today.
It explains why carollers wanted figgy pudding so badly.
Re: Appalachian Apple hunter who rescued 1k ‘lost’ varieties (2021)
#8Ironically, you will never find the best-tasting apples in your local grocery store. The tastiest apples are often smaller, brown or dark skin, not the big red 'juicy' apples the uninformed consumer thinks are the best. Viz. the Red "Delicious", whose flavor was bred out in favor of color and appearance. It is now insipid and flavorless. In the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, the humble-looking Cox Orange is sweet a…
> Ironically, you will never find the best-tasting apples in your local grocery store.
I'm not sure it's "ironic". I think it is a case of "you get what you optimize for".
Grocery stores optimize for:
* cost
* transportability
* shelf life
* appearance
And all for good reason! That's what makes money.
Doesn't matter if you have the best tasting apple in the world if shipping it on a truck destroys 90% of them and you can't sell the others before they go off.
Re: Appalachian Apple hunter who rescued 1k ‘lost’ varieties (2021)
#9Ironically, you will never find the best-tasting apples in your local grocery store. The tastiest apples are often smaller, brown or dark skin, not the big red 'juicy' apples the uninformed consumer thinks are the best. Viz. the Red "Delicious", whose flavor was bred out in favor of color and appearance. It is now insipid and flavorless. In the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, the humble-looking Cox Orange is sweet a…
Any thoughts on the Arkansas black?
Re: Appalachian Apple hunter who rescued 1k ‘lost’ varieties (2021)
#10Ironically, you will never find the best-tasting apples in your local grocery store. The tastiest apples are often smaller, brown or dark skin, not the big red 'juicy' apples the uninformed consumer thinks are the best. Viz. the Red "Delicious", whose flavor was bred out in favor of color and appearance. It is now insipid and flavorless. In the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, the humble-looking Cox Orange is sweet a…
I heard the same thing about the American fig tree being basically candy compared to what we’ve got today. It explains why carollers wanted figgy pudding so badly.
It’s the case of pretty much every grown food product. As a comment above it comes down to the incentives / optimisations of a grocery store.