Apple The Fruit

Fun Facts & Cool Apple Trivia

Apple the fruit has some interesting history, myths and trivia that we just can't help but be curious about. :-)

Do you ever wonder how long an apple tree can live? Do you know what the science of growing apple tree fruit is called?

Who was Johnny Appleseed? And where did apples and apple bobbing originate?

The history of the fruit apple is interesting. They say apples originated in Asia, and eventually migrated to the western world where they've grown and evolved into more than 10,000 varieties of apples that are now grown all over the world!

Apple fruit has been grown commercially in the Okanagan BC since the late 1800's, and along with the many other types of Okanagan fruit, we enjoy apples fresh off the tree every year! There's nothing more delicious!

In 1914, the Canadian government established the Dominion Experimental Farm, in Summerland BC, to study the Okanagan Valley region of British Columbia for the tree fruit growing industry. Since then, the Summerland Research Station has developed a number of different varieties of apples including Summer Red, Sinta and Spartan apples.

Here's some fun and interesting trivia about apple tree fruit...

Pomology is the science of apple growing. Apple the fruit, the hardiest and most widely cultivated of all tree fruits, are members of the Rose family.

Folk hero Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) did indeed spread the cultivation of apples in the United States. He knew enough about apples, however, so that he didn't distribute seeds, because apples do not grow true from seeds. Instead, he established nurseries in Pennsylvania, Indiana and Ohio.

The game of apple-bobbing began as a Celtic New Year tradition for trying to determine one's future spouse.

In ancient Greece, tossing an apple to a girl was a traditional proposal of marriage; catching it was acceptance.

Apples are 'self-incompatible' - you need two trees growing near each other to have successful pollination. Apple trees take four to six years to produce their first fruit and they can live for hundreds of years.

We did the math - If you ate one apple variety each day, it would take 27.3 years to eat one of every type of apple grown in the world! (provided we did the math right - that is!)

88% of the thousands of varieties of apple the fruit that were grown in the early 1900s, no longer exist. If you grew 100 apple trees from the seeds of the same tree, the new apple trees would all be different.

The apples from one tree can fill about 20 boxes each year. An apple harvester picks about 12,000 apples per day!

In recipes calling for white wine, you can substitute apple juice. Two pounds (approx. 1 kg) of apples make one delicious 9-inch apple pie.

To keep potatoes fresh and prevent sprouting, put an apple in the bag.

How can you tell when apples are ripe? Cut open an apple. Brown seeds (not pale), and white flesh indicate a ripe apple for most varieties.

Do you know some fun facts, myths or trivia about apple the fruit? Please share....

Know Some Fun Apple Trivia, Myths or Facts?

Share what you know about apple the fruit!

Related Apple Fruit Pages:

• Fun and nutritious facts about apples
• Apple tips - picking and storing apples
• Summer Apple Varieties
• Fall Apple Varieties

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