Facile Friday - Uncommonly Common

Way back when, there was this guy who ran around the country with a pot on his head planting apple trees.

Johnny Appleseed is what they called him but his real name was John Chapman and he was on a mission that is said to have started in 1792 and ended with his death in 1845 at the age of 71.  John Chapman traveled all over the country over a span of 50 years and at some point he was here in Wisconsin and some of his seeds got planted.  Whether or not the tree in our back yard is one that John planted is unknown but it is a common apple and is certainly a descendant of what he planted.

Johnny Appleseed

                                                                     
No one plants common apples anymore because they are susceptible to EVERYTHING!  Bugs, fungus, bacteria, disease, you name it and these trees will get it.  Our tree was in very sad shape when we moved in almost 9 years ago and we have pampered it over the time we have lived here but it has always been a tree that had its own unique way to grow.  We have had the tree drastically trimmed and yet we have never been able to stop it from growing in pretty wonky ways.

This tree has had quite the life adventure since we have known it.  It has grown, produced sickly little apples, produced scabbed apples, produced bigger healthy apples, been pruned within an inch of its life, been struck by lightening, lost limbs and all the time provided shade, jelly, applesauce, pies, apple butter and a sweet, handpicked snack on a warm sunny day.

Apple Butter

Two years ago, a lightening strike crippled our poor tree and it cost the tree 3 big limbs that were completely cauterized and not able to feed the smaller branches.  On a flat clam and sunny day, one of the last two large limbs gave way under the strain of a partially charred area and a bumper crop of apples.  It split and dropped down onto our back fence.  No major damage to the fence but the tree lost half of itself.

We will clean up the mess, keeping the apple wood to use in our smoker.  The next step is to have someone who knows these kinds of trees come out and examine it to see if we can revive it and help it to keep doing what it does best.  Hang in there old friend.

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