Maybe Jaya and Joshua took apples for granted when they moved into an orchard in my novel Nearly Canaan. That ignorance didn’t last long.

Here are a few of the things they may have discovered.

1. Apples are a member of the rose family. (Good thing they don’t have thorns!)
2. Apples have to be picked by hand.
3. The trees require four or five years to produce their first fruit. Some trees grow to be 100.
4. Apples account for half of the world’s deciduous fruit tree production. China, by the way, grows more apples than any other country.
5. They come in sizes ranging from as small as a cherry to as big as a grapefruit – and can weigh up to three pounds.
6. More than 2,500 varieties are grown in the U.S. but only the crabapple is native. Globally, more than 7,500 varieties are raised.
7. The first apple tree in North America was planted by the Pilgrims.
8. The harvest from an average tree can fill 20 bushels or boxes each weighing 42 pounds.
9. About 36 apples go into a gallon of cider.
10. Upstate New York used to be a big producer until acid rain from Midwestern coal-powered plants led to serious blight.

~*~

And, yes, as far as that apple a day doctor thing goes, the fruit has no sodium, cholesterol, or fat but is rich in fiber.

What can you add to the list?