Apple Notes from All Over

Just a few things I've read lately:

• This story of the Lady in Lady Williams rivals that of the Granny in Granny Smith:

In its inconvenient location, the unfamiliar apple tree was almost cut down many a time, but it survived thanks to Maud's protection and care. On one occasion when he almost destroyed it, Bob recalled getting a severe telling-off from his mum, who "stood it up again, bandaged it up and it took off again."

• Darren T, at Orchard Notes, takes us on a deep dive into the importance of chill hours:

Fruit trees need a certain number of hours' worth of low temperatures over the winter period in order to grow back strongly in spring. Knowing the "chill requirement" of a fruit species or cultivar helps gardeners and orchardists avoid buying and planting trees that are unsuitable for their local winters.

Darren fuels my dread about the effects of climate change.

• For veteran fruit reporter David Karp, those crispy, chipper apple names you see in supermarkets are the point of departure for an exploration of apples as intellectual property, the decline of public breeding projects, and the corporate consolidation of apple agriculture.
  
  Read "What's in a Name" (LA Times 2019). Karp quotes one California farmer:

"But if the trend continues to the most Orwellian scenario, fruit production will be controlled by a few growers who’ll have the patents and the land and water," he said. "I think I’ll still have a niche, but farmers who need access to wholesale markets will be screwed."

 I hope one of these scratches your apple itch!

Public-domain image of stories provided by pxhere.