Connecticut Garden Journal: Johnny Appleseed

It's apple season and we've all heard the story of Johnny Appleseed. According to folklore, he wandered the Midwest in the early 1800's planting apple seeds. He was eccentric, often walking barefoot and wearing a burlap sack. While the folklore is mostly true, I thought I'd elaborate. Johnny Appleseed was born John Chapman in Massachusetts. He wasn't just an errant, wandering apple seed planter. He grew up growing apples and planting the seeds had as much to do about his love for apples, as acquiring land. Back in the 1800's, frontier law allowed settlers to claim to any track of land that had signs of permanent development. This included apple orchards. So, Johnny would wander in unsettled regions, create an apple tree nursery on the land and sell mature trees to settlers who moved in. The apples he planted weren't for fresh eating, but for making hard cider. That was the drink of choice in the 1800's. Unfortunately, many of those original trees were cut down during prohibition or died out because the apples were small, gnarly and not tasty. However you can still buy a descendent of Johnny's trees at specialty nurseries. Johnny Appleseed was a character. He was a follower of the Swedenbourg religion and as a vegetarian, never wanted to harm plants or animals. So he never used grafting to make new trees. Since he planted so many seeds, he personally created a huge, genetic diversity of apple varieties. Some were the forebears of modern varieties such as 'Delicious'.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.