Honoring Johnny Appleseed Month

(Because I missed the actual day earlier in March!)

John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, was a pioneer nurseryman during the days of the great American frontier.  He was an eccentric but kind and generous personality, and has become a dearly loved legend, respected for his love of the land and all living things, his leadership in conservation, and his missionary work with The New Church.  But most of all, he is remembered for his apple trees.

Born in 1774 in Massachusetts (around the time of the Battle of Bunker Hill; his father, Nathaniel Chapman, served in the Continental Army under George Washington in the Revolutionary War), John Chapman went west at the age of 18.  As a boy, he was started on his career as an orchardist through an apprenticeship to a Mr. Crawford, who had apple orchards.  There are many tales about the path Johnny's life took, where exactly he lived and traveled, and the popular image is of Johnny scattering apple seeds randomly as he walked.  But in truth, he planted nurseries along his way, leaving them in the care of a neighbor who then sold the trees for him on shares, and returning every few years to tend his trees.  In this way, Johnny introduced apple trees to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. 

Though apples grown from seeds aren't typically the sweet, fresh-eating apples we think of today, the small sour apples his trees produced were popular among settlers for baking and making hard cider. 

The only surviving tree, according to the American Forests' Historic Trees program, is located on a farm in Nova, Ohio.  Most agree that the tree is a Rambo variety, introduced to American in the 1640's.  The fruit ripens in September and is a cider or baking/applesauce variety of apple.  Cuttings of the "Johnny Appleseed Tree" are grafted onto rootstock and young saplings are available through nurseries, such as Raintree Nursery. 

(I want one!!!)

Planting a Johnny Appleseed Tree is a wonderful way to keep the spirit of one of America's greatest legends alive, and remember the role agriculture played in the settling of the great American frontier.  Plus, it's an excellent conversation starter, with botanists and historians alike!