Heading South

After a few good hardy weeks of Wisconsin winter I am taking several weeks to travel through southern Mexico and Gutemala.  Being as I hope to largely take a break from the world of internet and cell phones in order to explore and emerse myself into my new surroundings I will not be posting for several weeks. 
When I return I will be making an attempt to land my feet on the ground Asheville, NC, a place my partner and I have chosen to call home.  Upon my return I will continue my exploration into the world of apples.  If anyone has any travel suggestions or places not to miss in the Yucatan, Chiapas or Guatemala don't hesitate to send me a line.  Cheers!

Story of an Apple: Winter Banana

I have currently found myself in the deep winter of Northern Wisconsin. With several feet of snow outside and below zero temperatures that make the otherwise deliciously picturesque wonderland that looks so appealing from beside the wood stove almost intolerable even when dressed in all the winter garb you came with, I thought it apropos to tell the story of the Winter Banana. I was introduced to this apple for the first time this past fall while picking in New Hampshire. Having a name which to some may seem contradictory in terms, the Winter Banana is considered an heirloom variety and although it has often been used for fruit baskets, because of its beautiful appearance it is more commonly planted today to serve as a pollinator for other varieties.

The fruit originated in 1876 on a farm owned by David Flory, near the town of Adamsboro in Cass County, Indiana. Although native to the Midwest, the apple was more commonly grown in Washington and British Columbia. Grown as a fancy specialty apple, the gorgeous fruit, which has stunning red blush against a waxy yellow skin found a profitable market in parts of England and was often shipped in boxes to private residences in London. By the 1920's the popularity of the Winter Banana as an eating apple had also made it a desirable apple in English gardens. Although it was an aesthetically pleasing addition to gardens for British horticulturalists, the fruit did not thrive well in their cool climate found in the British Isles. In other parts of Europe however, such as Germany, the apple is still valued as an ornamental garden fruit and is also used to make juice.  Although Winter Banana is still sought after by a few apple enthusiasts it is largely planted as a pollinator. Some small orchards are making an attempt to bring it back, but it still has a rather small and select following.
At Moose Hill Orchard where I picked this fall, it could often be found planted among Cortlands and Red Delicious as well as Mutsus. The Fruit, which often is incredibly waxy to the touch can sometimes have the aroma of a banana (my girlfriend thinks they give off an olfactory sensation similar to Runts). The apple is very late to ripen, and cool frosty nights are needed to sweeten the flesh and make the texture more palatable. In New Hampshire it is harvested very last, usually after most of the crew has already departed. Often a small group of only two or three pickers will be sent out in the cold early weeks of November with a tractor. They will drive up and down the rows of trees stopping at each one baring the glowing spheres. The apples with bright crimson blush which looks almost painted on would still stand out even if they weren't the only apples left in the orchard. Often one bin is all that is required for the few people what will wander into the packing shed looking for Winter Bananas.

Grower information about this apple is available here.

Apple Yoga

I was asked by my significant other who has her own blog about yoga thejoyofyoga.blogspot.com to write a guest yoga sequence.  I decided to write one that was was inspired by many of the strateches and stances I take on a usual basis when I pick apples.  The sequence will be posted on her blog next week, but being as it was inspired by apple picking I thought it would be appropriate to also post it here.  Hope you enjoy it, even if you don't practice yoga.

 Apple Yoga  

I have picked apples for nine seasons and in many ways it has become part of me and influenced my direction in more ways than I probably know.  Having only begun to explore yoga a little over a year ago, it wasn’t until this past fall picking apples in the beautifully clad autumn of New England that I began to see how much yoga was involved in my daily life as an apple picker.  I saw it in my physical movements, whether it be a balancing pose on a ladder to reach that one apple that seemed just out of reach, or placing yourself in a squat in order to retrieve those apples just above the ground.  I saw yoga also in my simple presence among the trees.  The meditative act of picking fruit hour after hour gave me space to clear my mind and relax in the solitude of the darkening days of autumn. 

The sequence that follows in one inspired by apple picking, but I encourage you to also let it inspire you to reflect on all the ways yoga can be present in your life outside of the classroom or your personal practice.  Finding your breath in a spare moment during your day or listening to your body and being conscious of your movements as you move through simple daily tasks or more strenuous physical activities can allow you have a continuous yoga practice.  If you would find it helpful, try writing a yoga sequence that is inspired by a common task you perform or a work activity you do and see how it may change your actions the next time you perform it.  Being present in every moment and being aware of both your body and your mind and how you choose to use them is, I believe, the essence of a yogic lifestyle. 

1. Standing Meditation (3-5 minutes)
2. Tadasana (Mountain Pose) (stretch your arms up, pretend you are reaching to pick an apple that is just out of reach)
3. Bring your hands into prayer pose
4. Repeat 2 and 3 several times trying to reach a little higher each time
5. Twist gently to each side several times warming your spine
6. Anuvittasana (Standing Backbend) (gentle)
7. Prasarita Padottanasana  (Wide-Legged Forward Bend) (6 breaths)
8. Tadasana (Mountain Pose)
9. Utkatasana (Chair Pose) (focus on reaching arms up)
10. Uttanasana (Forward fold)
11. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward facing dog)
12. Repeat 8-11 twice more
13. Balasana (Childs pose)
14. Table
15. Balancing table (focus on stretching arms arm legs out)
16. Repeat other side
17. (Malasana) Squat, Hands in prayer pose (6 breaths)
18. Widen stance come into Bakasana (Crow pose)
19. Malasana (Squat)
20. Step or jump back
21. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward facing dog) (6 breaths)
22. Stretch right leg back, open hip
23. Low forward lunge
24. Raise arms (interlock if you want)
25. Lift knee, high lunge
26. Anjaneasana (gentle backbend)
27. Namaskar Parsvakonasana  (Prayer Twist)
28. Virabhadra Mudra (Warrior Seal)
29. Downward facing dog
30. Repeat 22-29 other side
31. Virabhadrasana I (Warrior I)
32. Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II)
33. Viparita virabhadrasana  (Reverse Warrior)
34. Parsvakonasana (Extended side angle)
35. Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II)
36. Virabhadrasana III (Warrior III) (imagine trying to do this on a ladder high up in an apple tree)
37. Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II)
38. Adha Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing dog)
39. Repeat 31-38 other side
40. Matsyendrasana (Seated spinal twist)
41. Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana (Revolved Head to Knee)
42. Lay on back
43. Setu Bandhasana (Bridge Pose)
44. Pavana muktasana (wind relieving pose)
45. Bridge into Wheel or inversion of your choice
46. Balasana (Childs pose)
47. Ananda Balasana  (Happy Baby) (Hold for at least 6 breaths)
48. Shavasana (Corpse Pose)

The Apple Wassail

Wassailing, I discovered recently is not just a practice of walking from house to house caroling during the holy days of the year, but is also an old practice, taken up in orchards in mid-winter by farmers and country folk.  In his book Wild Apples, Henry David Thoreau recalls the following:


"On Christmas eve the farmers and their men in Devonshire take a large bowl of cider, with a toast in it, and carrying it in state to the orchard, they salute the apple-trees with much ceremony, in order to make them bear well the next season."  This salutation consists in "throwing some of the cider about the roots of the tree, placing bits of the toast on the branches," and then "encircling one of the best bearing trees in the orchard, they drink the following toast three several times --
                                
                                           Here's to thee, old apple-tree
                             Whence thou mayst bud, and whence thou mayst blow,
                                      And whence thou mayst bear apples enow!
                                          Hats-full!  Caps-full!
                                          Bushel, bushel, sacks-full!
                                          And my pockets full, too!  Huzza!


"They then shout in chorus, one of the boys accompanying them on a cow's  horn.  During this ceremony they rap the trees with their sticks."  This is called "wassailing" the trees, and is thought by some to be "a relic of the heathen sacrifice to Pomona"
                                      

Apple wassailing is thought to have originated in the cider orchards of Southwest England.  The first known mention of wassailing was in 1585 in Fordwich, Kent, a small town on the River Stour near Canterbury, England.  The practice, which is thought to "bless" the tree, quite possibly originated from pagan roots, and may have evolved independently of the more commonly recognized form of wassailing.  The general understanding was that the singing and noise made by wassailing would awaken the apple trees from winter sleep and scare away any evil spirits, making way for a good crop the following autumn.
Wassail bowls, which were used to carry the cider and bread to the orchard, could sometimes be very ornate.  Often the shape of a large goblet,  more elaborate ones would be decorated with silver decorations.  More common however, were bowls made from white maple, which were commonly used by poorer peasants.  
If one would like to wassail in the old way, the tradition is still very much alive in parts of England.  If one were to visit Somerset or Devon in the Southwest of England on January 7th (the historic 12th night), they would find crowds of wassailers making there way from orchard to orchard, making general merriment in hopes of a good harvest to come.

If you find yourself in an orchard this season or just strolling past a scraggly crab apple, lonely in the deep dusk of a winter afternoon, give the trunk a good wrap.  Look for the deep red of that one apple that never fell and still clings under the burden of the falling snow.  Stand for a moment in the solitude of the coming darkness and let the thought of warm tangy cider on your tongue comfort you and the brisk wind that nips your face evoke the crisp of a late fall apple.  Give a good shout and awaken the tree with this verse:                              

Stand fast root, bear well top
Pray the God send us a howling good crop.
Every twig, apples big.
Every bough, apples now.

Story of an Apple: Cortland

The Cortland has been around since 1898, when it was born in Geneva, New York.  After the advent of the McIntosh breeders began to experiment with hybrids through grafting.  The Cortland was one of the first successes, the result of a union between a McIntosh and a Ben Davis.  The apple was named after the city of Cortland, the county seat of Cortland County, New York.  
A very popular apple in the 19th century, largely due to its properties as a good keeping apple, the Ben Davis was a favorite for growers since it would not fall from the trees until late in the season and could be counted on to produced a good crop year after year.  With improvements in packing and shipping techniques in the 20th century, the Ben Davis fell out of favor being replaced by apple varieties that were thought to have better flavor.  Today it is almost impossible to find a Ben Davis, however the offspring of this nearly extinct cultivar is still popular and can be found in most orchards.
With prominent green and red striations the Cortland is a larger apple with stunningly white flesh.  Cortland trees, whether large or dwarf tend to show a distinct "droop" of the branches, that often remains even after the weight of the fruit is removed.  They seem to also attract more vines than other trees giving them a particularly wild appearance.  I have often imagined that a Cortland tree might bare a resemblance closest to what one of its ancestors may have looked like growing in the forests of Kazakhstan.
Cortlands are a mid-season apple, usually harvested after Macs but before later apples like Empires and Red Delicious.  They are often a favorite of pickers because they are generally very large and do not bruise particularly easy.  After weeks of picking delicate Macs that seem to fall from the tree when you breath, and bruise when you touch them, Cortlands are a welcome change.  Cortlands often grow in pairs, stemming from either side of the branch (see above), which allows them to be easily picked two at a time if you can manage to fit both of the large apples in one hand.  The biggest chalange when picking cortlands is spying the greener apples that skillfully hide in the dense foliage of the inner tree.  Cortland trees often hang low to the ground requiring a lot of kneeling or bending over even in larger trees.