Snowman

 

Johnny Appleseed – John Chapman – was born on this date in 1774. I grew up imagining him walking barefoot through the New England wilderness, wearing a pot on his head and throwing apple seeds on the ground wherever he went. I suppose most of what I thought I knew about this unusual pioneer came from the Disney animated short The Legend of Johnny Appleseed (1948). The real John Chapman was a nurseryman. He pulled seeds from cider mill waste and used it to plant nurseries. He’d build fences around these nurseries to protect them from cows, deer, etc. Then he’d leave them in the care of local farmers who’d sell the trees to neighbors. In this way, he introduced apple trees to Pennsylvania, Ontario, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. While the cartoon mentions fun ways to eat apples – applesauce, tarts, pie, dumplings, cakes and fritters – John’s apples would have been tiny, tart and rock-hard: suitable only for cider.