Features

Apple month

ESCANABA -- Apple pie, apple jelly, apple cider- October is national apple month for many sweet reasons.

Every Yooper has a favorite spot to go apple hunting. Sometimes we go back to the same trees year after year. The gnarly old apple orchard behind the farm still produces some juicy apples.

As old as the season of autumn, weather beaten, woodpecker pounded and wildlife mauled, some of the old apple trees on the homestead have stood the test of time.

Johnny Apple Seed out did himself in Upper Michigan.

From the little crab apple trees tucked away in the woods by camp to the frost sweetened Wolf River apples hanging on the tree by the road, this fruit thrives in the north country.

Maybe John Chapman (A.K.A. Johnny Apple Seed) ventured this far planting apple seeds or perhaps our great-great grandparents threw out some apple cores, that sprouted over the years. However they got here does not matter. What matters are the delicious traditions the apple trees have caused.

In the pioneer days, a basket of tart, green apples was a treasured find. Apples can be stored for a long time in the cellar. They can be easily cooked, canned, dried or fermented into wine.

Like the old saying "an apple a day helps keep the doctor away", it's true apples are packed with phtyto-nutrients an anti-oxidants. Mom was right; apples are full of vitamins B and C.

I think we can all recall coming in on a cold October day and smelling Mom or Grandma baking apple pies. The comforting warmth of the kitchen and the scent of cinnamon were such a welcoming thing. The bubbly baking apples oozing over the golden, brown crust is an aroma not soon to be forgotten.

Michigan grows over 30 million bushels of apples per year of many different varieties. But the best kind of apples are the ones you pick yourself off of the tree in your backyard. The trees by camp planted by family members have better tasting fruit than the super market ones for sure.

My mom knew just the right apples to pick for making her apple jelly. My Aunt Sandy makes the best apple slices in the world. These are some of the apple traditions in my family.

For many years my family and I have made an October trip to Washington Island Wisconsin to visit my brother Jim and his family. This Island, off the Door County Peninsula, is the home of many apple trees.

Squeezing apples to make fresh apple cider has been a part of this annual trip for over thirty years. Picking apples, sorting apples, and grinding the apples into juice has been fun for the whole family.

It was enjoyable to watch my nephew Matt working the apple press as his three year old daughter looked on. Matt's Grandpa (my Dad) made the apple press years ago and he squeezed quit a few gallons of juice out of apples with it.

Matt's dad (my brother Mark) wishes he could have a dime for every cup of cider he turned out of that simple machine too. He'd be rich.

We are certainly rich in apple traditions. Whether we are picking up apples for the deer or peeling apples for pie, the fruits of autumn have given us many happy hours.

After making apple cider all day, we gathered around the table to play a card game called "apples to apples". What an awesome October weekend.