We all know about the benefits of having an apple a day, and there is little that is more natural or enjoyable than biting into a crisp sweet apple. It also brings the Currawongs down in the morning for the cores! They like them as much as I do.
Apples are so easy to access, just pop into the supermarket and choose from the 3 or 4 varieties they have on offer. Alternatively, you could grow your own apple tree, and have a choice of between 15,000 – 30,000 verities of apples that are available.
But it is not just the increased variety options you have that make it worth planting an apple tree in your own yard, there is also the satisfaction of knowing you are eating it in the purest of states. Compare going into your back yard, picking an apple and eating it right there and then, verses popping down to the supermarket to get one. Not only is there the car ride, but there is also the processing to consider. Here is a quick overview of the life of a Supermarket apple.
- It grows up in a vast orchid where it is subjected to numerous pest and disease controls, with pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. Nothing more needs to be said about that!
- Once picked, they need to be thoroughly cleaned, making sure all the flavour gets washed away along with the residue from the insect, weed and fungal controls it is subjected to. This is somewhat of a contrary procedure, as much of the cleaning is done with sanitising, chlorine based solutions, or organic acids – YUM!
- And then just to be sure, wax coatings are applied to the recently washed apples, to make them look even more appetising than nature made them, and help them last through the long miles of travel they have to endure. You can see these waxes easily if you take an apple and put boiling water over it, the wax will melt and run off in front of your very eyes.
Of course, all this is legal and apparently, according to the Supermarkets safe and sound, but that is one hell of a journey, and we have not even mentioned all the machines, fuel, packaging, handling and moving involved in getting them to the shelf, OR all the poor rejected ugly ones, that get cast aside like garbage.
So why not plant an apple tree of your own, they don’t have to be big and can be planted in a pot or in the ground. So don't wait any longer, now is the time to plant one.
Enjoy!
Peter