09/30/2025
This year's final open house at the Little Red Schoolhouse was held on Sept. 28 with retired Family & Consumer Science Educator Alice Lammly as guest speaker. Her topic was “From Orchard to Table: The Delicious History of Apples”.
If you are like me, you may have never really thought about the origin of apples in our country. But there is a very interesting history behind it. For those unable to attend, I have shared a condensed portion of Alice’s presentation on the history below.
“Apples have been part of the human experience since the beginning of human history. Apples originated in the Tian Shan mountains of Kazakhstan, Central Asia. The Indigenous people brought their apples to America when they migrated from Siberia to Alaska. Those apple trees, which we refer to as crabapple trees, are the only native apple tree to North America.
When the Romans conquered England about the first century B.C., they brought apples with them. The Romans, through their practice of grafting, were able to cultivate those early apples to ones of different varieties for their taste and size.
In the 1600s, when the colonists settled in Virginia and Massachusetts they found the crabapple nothing like the apples from home. The Massachusetts Bay Colony requested seeds and cuttings from England, which were brought over on subsequent voyages to Boston. Other Europeans brought apple stock to Virginia and the Southwest, and a Massachusetts man, John Chapman, became famous for planting trees throughout Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. You might know him by his nickname, “Johnny Appleseed.”
The apple industry boomed in the 19th century, driven by regions like Western New York and the Hudson Valley, with New York State becoming a significant producer, developing new varieties, and fostering a thriving commercial trade that continues today.
Washington is the top apple-producing state in the United States, accounting for more than half of the nation's apples.
New York is a major producer, often ranking second or third with Michigan, Pennsylvania and California also being a producer.
New York State averages 29.5 million bushels of production annually with approximately 600 commercial apple growers in the state.
The oldest known apple orchards in Albany County were part of the Watervliet Shaker community. An 1838 map shows an extensive orchard belonging to the Watervliet Shaker community, with a portion of the original trees located near the Ann Lee Pond Nature Preserve.
While the Shaker orchard is the oldest, Indian Ladder Farms in Albany County is the oldest continually operating commercial apple orchard. It was founded in 1916 by Peter Gansevoort Ten Eyck in Altamont, NY. The current owners represent the fourth generation of the Ten Eyck family.”
Alice also provided some general healthy apple tips:
Red Delicious: considered the healthiest choice due to high antioxidant content.
Pink Lady/McIntosh: Good for boosting Vitamin C intake.
Honeycrisp/Granny Smith: Excellent sources of fiber.
Granny Smith: Lower in sugar and good for managing blood sugar levels.
I think everyone’s favorite part of the program came with the delicious samples offered such as apple butter, apple broccoli salad, Grammie Rosie’s apple pie, apple bundt cake with caramel drizzle, and apple cinnamon oatmeal cookies. All accompanied by a cup of apple cider.
