Thank You, Johnny Appleseed!

I know I talk about apples a lot but, honestly, have you ever come across a more useful and prolific fruit in your life? I mean, there is no end to what you can do with them, not to mention how healthy they are for you. They are rich in fiber and antioxidants. They have been linked to a lower risk of many chronic conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Apples may also promote weight loss as well as improve gut and brain health. How's that for a a bunch of reasons to enjoy them!

You may have heard the story about Johnny Appleseed when you were a kid in school. As the story goes, Johnny, whose real name was John Chapman, was born in Leominster, Massachusetts, in 1774. His dream was to produce so many apples that no one would ever go hungry. While the story told to children is of a man wearing a pot on his head, traveling across the country planting apple trees, what he actually did was to buy up tracts of land to plant thousands of acres of apple trees. He headed west in 1792 when he was 18 years old with his half-brother, Nathaniel. Eventually Nathaniel would stay behind to help their father with the farm and Johnny continued westward. Folklore also says that he was thought to be funny looking because of the way he dressed. It was said that he traded apple trees to the settlers for their cast-off clothing. After 50 years of walking the throughout the country, he died in March of 1845 at the age of 71 from pneumonia. It is said that it was the only time he was ever sick in his whole life.

I have nothing but thanks and gratitude for old Johnny and what he gave to this country. I honor the beautiful produce that he gifted us every year by paying a visit to our local apple-claim-to-fame, The Cider Mill, here in beautiful Endicott, New York. There you can see first-hand how apple cider is made, as well as their famous (and delicious, I might add) donuts - the maple ones are my favorites. Along with learning about how cider and donuts are made, you can choose from an unending variety of things made from apples: pies, applesauce, cookies, muffins, jams, jellies, butters, and even slushies. In addition, cheese, jams and jellies from other local producers are also sold there. My favorite part of my visit, however, is outside the building where every kind of apple you can think of are for sale: Cortland (only an hour's drive from here), Gala, McIntosh, Granny Smith, Delicious, etc., are all for sale in huge bins. Along side them are veggies and fruits of the season, freshly harvested: the first of the squashes, gourds, blueberries, and, of course, the first pumpkins, although there will be many more of those come October. I am in my glory every time I go there. Even though it is smack dab in the neighborhood, once you'e there, you swear you're out in the country enjoying the gifts nature has to offer. It is truly one of the highlights of the coming season for me.

So, thank you, Johnny Appleseed, for my apple pies, apple cider, apply smoothies, apple jelly, apple butter, and, oh, gosh, for that big, red, juicy apple itself! May it never fade away.

And so it is.