A to Z of Apples

It’s all about the APPLES!!!

Here’s a fun A-Z of apple and cider facts. How much do you already know?

A B

is for APPLES. How many varieties of apples can you name? is for BEES. They are an essential part of the cross-pollination process. The key

to a good crop of apples is the successful pollination of the blossom.

C

is for CIDER. Did you know that it’s made from apples? It was first introduced to

Britain by the Normans after the invasion of 1066.

D

is for DRYING. Dried apples are a tasty treat, slice them up, soak in juice and

water, pat them dry and bake in the oven.

E

is for ESPALIER. It’s the practise of pruning and training trees to grow like a fan

where space is limited. Have a look at the pears growing up against the wall in the kitchen garden at Hamptonne.

F

is for Faîs’sie d’Cidre. It means ‘cider making festival in Jèrriais.

G

is for GRAFTING. Grafting is

when farmers join a bud from the variety of apple they want to grow onto a young tree known as the rootstock.

H

is for HAMPTONNE and HORSES.

Horse power is used to work the traditional apple crusher during the cider making process at Hamptonne every October.

I

is for ISAAC NEWTON. It was an

apple falling to the ground that inspired him to formulate his ‘Theory of Gravity’.

J

is for JUGS. Jugs of cider from the barrel

would be carried to the fields as refreshment for farm workers.

K

is for Kirghizia - a place that lies on the

slopes of the Tien Shan, or heavenly mountains that forms the boundary between western China and the former Soviet Union. In this remote area shepherds used to tell stories of forests of wild fruit trees; it was in these forests that the domestic apple originated over 1500 years BC.

L

is for the LONGEST apple peel competition.

Have a go and send us the results.

M

is for MYTHOLOGY . The apple has

always been associated with love and immortality. In Greek mythology Gaia – Mother Earth – presented a tree of golden apples to the god Zeus and his bride Hera on their wedding day. The tree grew in the garden of the Hesperides, guarded by a serpent that never slept, and it was one of the twelve labours of Hercules to steal the magic apples.

N

is for NUTRITION. ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’.

Apples, especially the skin, are a good source of dietary fibre and vitamin c.

O

is for the ORCHARDS that used to cover a

quarter of the land in Jersey.

P

is for PESTS. Wingless female codling moths lay eggs on fruit, then their

caterpillars eat into the centre of the apple. Greased bands tied around the centre of the tree trunk prevent the females climbing up, as does chicken wire wrapped around the trunk to get rid of the rough bark.

Q

is for Queen Victoria. It was during

her reign that the English apple became popular. Victorian gardeners exploited the possibilities of training apple trees on walls and in hedges. Both Cox’s Orange Pippin and Bramley’s Seedling were developed during this time.

R

is for the Romans who introduced cultivated apples to Britain. Goods and

cultures moved around the Roman Empire and were brought in from outside – pleasure in fruit and fruit trees had come to Rome from Persia via Greece. Romans would eat an apple at the end of a meal to help with digestion.

S

is for SUNSHINE. Because apple trees require full sun, they need a growing

location where they receive six or more hours of sunlight daily during the growing season.

Young apple trees, however, can suffer sunburn from too much sunlight.

T

is for TRINITY. The northern parish that was the location of an orchard planted with

traditional Jersey apple trees in 1989. The orchard was planted two years later using 150 rootstocks. It contained about sixteen identified and many unidentified varieties of Jersey cider apple trees

U

is for UNDERLEAF which is a variety of

apple from Gloucester. The Gloucester Old Spot is known as the orchard pig as it was traditionally fed on windfall apples. In Jersey, animals used to be kept in the orchards with their heads tethered to their legs during the fruit season to stop them eating the apples. Oh no!!!

V

is for VARIETIES of old Jersey apples. The

orchard at Hamptonne is planted with twelve varieties of apple trees - Côtard, Petit Romeril, Gros Romeril, Têtard, Petit France, Gros France, Gros Pigeonnet, Nièr Binet, Late Rouget, Caplyi, Douces Dames and Belles Filles. Head to the orchard at Hamptonne during apple season September – October to see if you can tell the difference between them all. Make sure you print the apple tree map on this Apple Apprentice event page to take with you.

W

is for WASSAIL . Wassailing is a

tradition that comes from apple producing regions in France and England. It’s a ceremony to bless an orchard in order to receive a good harvest of apples later in the year. Cider is poured around the roots of a tree and small pieces of toast soaked in cider are added to its branches to feed the tree spirits. Jersey Heritage have a Wassail in Hamptonne orchard every January.

X

is for XMAS decorations. Finding an x related apple fact was tricky so forgive us

using an abbreviation! Decorating Xmas trees with baubles recalls the ancient practice of hanging apples on to evergreen boughs as symbols of hope and renewal in the depths of mid-winter.

Y

is for YEW TREES. It is one of the few evergreen plants native to Britain. Yew, nuts and

apples were the ingredients of Apple Gifts made to welcome in the New Year.

Z

is for

ZZZZZZZZ

ZZ. You’ll have a good sleep with sweet dreams after

a day of apple picking and cider making.