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 by Peter Lake |
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 by Matt |
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 by Capt Neptune |
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March 11, 2008
It's Johnny Appleseed Day, so let us raise a glass (preferably filled with applejack or calvados) to the American eccentric who blazed new trails in real estate speculation, spread the obscure Swedenborgian faith, and ensured that Americans settling the frontier in the early 1800s had plenty of booze to get them through ordeals of the pioneer life.
Doesn't sound like the Johnny Appleseed you learned about in school? Most likely not, as Johnny Appleseed (nee John Chapman) was a fascinating bundle of contradictions.
Yes, he did roam about the Ohio Territory and points west planting millions of apple seeds retrieved from Pennsylvania cider mills. But this was no Utopian project to bring healthy fruit and natural splendor to the frontier.
Apples are notoriously difficult to grow as a domesticated crop, historian Jared Diamond notes in his landmark "Guns, Germs & Steel." Their peculiar pollination requirements mean every apple tree is different from another, with most producing tiny, inedible fruit. Production of consistently good eating apples requires cultivation by the painstaking process of grafting.
So why bother planting millions of seedling trees, almost all destined, in Thoreau's estimation, to produce fruit "sour enough to set a squirrel's teeth on edge?"
Because those "spitter" apples still had enough sugar to produce a fermentable juice - hard cider. Drink it straight and you have a refreshing beverage much safer than any frontier water source and capable of producing a nice buzz. Distill the cider or leave it to freeze, and you'd have brandy or applejack, for times that required more serious drinking.
No wonder, then, that cider was the main beverage in frontier America and that one of the first stops pioneers would make as they headed into the wilderness would be at one of Chapman's free-form nurseries, where they'd buy a few dozen seedlings that would go into the ground the moment they claimed a homestead. Surely Chapman lives up to author Michael Pollan's designation as "Dionysus' American son."
But there was more to Chapman than the sweet science of intoxication. He was an early prototype for the back-to-nature movement, seldom sleeping under a roof (he preferred hollow tree stumps) and going about barefoot in the coldest weather. He was a curious sort of land baron, laying claim to many of the tracts he planted and dying with more than 1,200 acres to his name.
He was also a delightfully original take on the frontier tradition of the roaming evangelist, traveling from one pioneer cabin to another to spread the complex ideas of Emanuel Swedenborg, whose namesake faith proclaims that acts of charity and love to one's fellow man in this life determine one's place in the next life.
And let us not forget Mr. Appleseed's contributions to fashion, such as making a shirt out of a burlap sack and using a tin pot for a hat. Nor his legacy on Midwestern horticulture - Chapman planted stinking fennel everywhere he went in the mistaken belief that it prevented malaria. Ohioans have ever since spent untold hours ripping up the noxious pest they call "Johnnyweed."
Booze purveyor, naturalist, evangelist, environmental tinkerer - no, there can be no doubt that Chapman fully lived up to biographer Robert Price's summation: "He had the thick bark of queerness on him."
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Planting apple trees in my rodent-rich environment (at the top of the San Bernardino Mountains, w...
Mar. 11, 2008 12:15 PM
What's your favorite apple?
25% 33% 12% 13% 15% 2%
Elensari said...
Good morning.
Thank you for delivering this opportunity to us, your fans of the beautiful, the oddball, and the delightfully strange. I enjoyed the site so far, and the first article definitely falls in the category of delightfully strange. I have personally ripped much Johnnyweed protesting from the ground. I am amused to link it to the Johnny Appleseed folklore.
I look forward to following down the rabbit hole.
~k
james perkins said...
This site was a great idea.
StopBob said...
What better way to secure your mark in history than to supply everyone with booze? George Washington was one of the countries first large commercial distillers. Seemed to work out okay for him, as well.
mjorrin said...
Interesting site. Your choice of apples, however, is limited & reflects the narrow choices imposed by commercial growers. How about Northern Spy, Macoun, Cox's Orange Pippins, and others. For the best cider, you want a mix of apples.
Think said...
For our family, the tin pot hat has been memorable, and so far unique. God bless the fine line between creativity and thick bark or queerness.
boswellbear said...
Anybody remember the stories from the '60s and '70s about "Johnny Pot"? Supposedly some dude traversing the country planting really "killer weed". I can't remember meeting anyone who ever actually met him - but then I can't remember a whole lot of the '60s and '70s when in that milieu. Luckily, I didn't spend much time there - it gave me headaches and, unlike presidential timber folks, I DID inhale.
I DO know that along the Platte river bottoms across Nebraska, there was enough naturally (?) growing pot that it made for a fairly good cash crop for some of the farm kids going to school in Colorado. To those of us returning from the "Southeast Asia School of Jungle Warfare" it wasn't very good stuff - but for most of the ranch/farm kids from Greeley and its environs it was powerful herb.
Of course, in line with the "secure your mark in history" comment above, I suppose this was fairly contradictory since no one could remember what was going on anyway.
Good morning, and thank you! What a pleasant surprise to find something of interest in my mailbox and not the usual spam :) I loo forward to future mailings, and meanwhile have saved you on my computer to check back on my own.
TeamCosmo said...
I think Johnny Appleseed was great. He was an environmentalist before there was a good reason to be an environmentalist. He didn’t have any fear of global warming, he just loved nature.
Planting apple trees in my rodent-rich environment (at the top of the San Bernardino Mountains, where rodent predators have been short-sightedly suppressed) is challenging to say the least. But I am inspired to exert myself by pieces like this. I will not fail. I will never surrender. I will buy a few more shotguns and possibly a very, very quiet rodent rifle.
more on the honor rollsablebrush52 said...
Nicely designed site! The schema reminds me of the several garden-related groups of which I'm a member. There's a nice sun filled quality to the color design.
Hooray for Johnny Appleseed, an American original! Pass the cider! Hiccup!!
moreismore said...
I am aware of many local growers here in Southern Ontario, that do support
the Heritage type of plants seeds, not just Apples, but flowers and herbs.
An interesting site. Best Wishes.
Boswellbear: That would likely be "ditchweed," spread from the seeds of Midwest hemp crops planted up through World War II to supply fiber for rope and other vital war materials. I have a treasured photo of a young Wisconsin relative in the 1940s tending the village hemp plot. Stuff spreads like nobody's business.
thecatalyst said...
I have to admit it has crossed my mind to question whether this Johnny Appleseed character was worthy of his own day. Sounds like he really was something special.
Thanks for an interesting read, and a wonderful site.
rhinoguy said...
For those planning a trip to San Francisco, you'll want to include a visit to the San Francisco Swedenborgian Church ( where I'm one of the ushers). Built in 1895,it is the first Arts & Crafts building on the West coast and is very inspiring.See the website at sfswedenborgian.org for pictures of the church and find out what John Chapman found so compelling about Swedenborgian theology.
Why is it you think that we don't learn about the real Johnny Appleseed while we are in school? The life he lived compared to the life that we are exposed to are similiar, yet quite different. Sure he might have bounced around the countryside granting people the pleasure of a buzz or two, but he was much more than that. I believe our youth no matter the age can take a lot from this man, he has a very free spirit and lives for the simple things in life. (honestly anyone that can pull off a burlap sack and a tin pot on his head has't to be.) I can see it now, Owner's Manual No. 59 "What the real Johnny Appleseed would have worn." Back-to-nature Burlap sack (no. 1428) Men's sizes: S, M, L. There is a lot of talk these days about being "green" everything green! Wouldn't it be a blessing if he was around these days to teach us a thing or two? Johnny Appleseed aka John Chapman a true "green" American.
reedd said...
great site. i may like reading this almost as much as i enjoy reading the J Peterman catalogs!
audreyanna said...
Interesting Times - Comic Disbelief - Billy Crystal
New York Yankees shame on you!
Bud Selig shame on you!
Billy Crystal shame on you!
We have thousands of little boys and young men playing their hearts out for years to someday catch the " American Dream" and be drafted to play America's Favorite Sport, "Baseball".
How can you sell this dream so short.
I LOVE THIS SITE!!! IT IS SUCH A PLEASURE TO FIND THERE ARE OTHERS BESIDES MYSELF WHO ARE STILL INTERESTED IN UNIQUE AND UNUSUAL TOPICS WIHOUT BLOOD AND GORE ATTACHED. THE TOPIC OF JOHNNY APPLESEED IS NEAR AND DEAR TO MY HEART FOR SEVERAL REASONS. HIS SPIRIT LIVES ON IN OUR EVERYDAY LIVES EVEN IF WE DON'T NOTICE IT. MY WISH WOULD BE THAT WE ALL COULD EXPERIENCE A SMALL TASTE OF JOHNNY'S SIMPLE AND SINCERE NATURE BUT WITH A LITTLE SPICE IN OUR OWN LIVES.
leahold30 said...
This is a great site that actually makes you think. It's so nice to learn something on the web. Regarding Johnny, I assume our history books didn't include his true mission because they didn't want to promote alcohol consumption. It's really a shame how history is altered to make it more pleasant for our youth. Too bad, this version is much more interesting.
Wonderful site, one I'm sure I will be visiting daily!
What a great start. 'gives this wage slave something to look forward to every once in a while. Since my apple favs, Gala, Fuji, Cameo, aren't on the ballot, I'll vote for them here...although I love the Red June apples from our own tree.
Laurie said...
My vote for best apple is the Jonathan.
The Winesap is definitely my favorite, though it gets harder to find every year.
carolebj said...
Pink Ladies?