An apple a day

I refuse…

to write about politics today, the mockery of last night, how deeply ashamed I am to be a citizen of a country that calls that man our President;

to write about this virus and our lack of a national response and the disaster of reopening schools and the politicalization of everything from masks to vaccines;

to write about our deep wounds as a nation and as a people and how they are festering.

Instead, today I write about APPLES. Yes, apples. Because they are fresh and crisp and healthy, and they grow abundantly in our state, and they make me very happy. Standing in our little orchard eating them right off the tree, oh yeah. A cauldron of applesauce simmering on the stove that makes the house smell like heaven, uh huh. Big box of apples delivered to the Food for Lane County Dining Room. A bushel of apples to Wildcraft in exchange for juice and cider. Liza’s apple pie.

Herewith…more than you want to know (but interesting!) about the original epicenter of apple-growing in our state: Hood River.

But first, fun fact: The oldest apple tree in the Pacific Northwest is located six miles from downtown Portland in the middle of a highway interchange. This tree was planted circa 1826.

The nation’s grocers discovered Hood River apples—huge, crisp and able to maintain their perfection through the winter—at countless agricultural exhibitions throughout the country in the late 1800s, especially the World’s Fair in Chicago, where Hood River apples took the grand prize, the gold medal and twenty-seven other medals. At the Columbia Exposition in 1892, Hood River Valley received sixteen awards, more than any other region, including a prize for the largest apple, a six-and-a-quarter-inch high, thirty-three ounce Spitzenberg as big around as a cantaloupe.

In 1900, responding to interest generated by the awards and contracts made through the expositions, Hood River growers freighted their first shipment of apples to New York. Five years later, 90 percent of the valley’s apple output was being shipped east for the “fancy trade.” From 1900 to 1910 the entire crop of valley apples sold while still on the trees.

Today Oregon ranks in the top ten states for apple-growing (Washington is first).

In our little orchard we grow Galas, Fujis, Braeburns and Red Delicious. Fyi, Galas and Fujis are the two most popular varieties in the state. Other common apple varieties grown in Oregon are Jonagold, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp and Braeburn.

‘Ya see, I took your mind off the hot mess that is the United States 2020 for about two minutes! You’re welcome.

Now go eat an apple.