How Do Apples Grow?  

                                                              

Apple trees start to bear fruit from when they are 4 or 5 years old until they are over 50 years old. The tree itself can live for over 80 years.

 

Apple trees need a certain number of months of freezing or near freezing temperatures in order to set fruit. Every varieties require their own specific conditions, and there are varieties for almost any climate except extreme cold and tropical.  

 

• Spring:        Leaves emerge, tree blossoms, bees cross-pollinate

• Summer:     Blossoms drop petals, form buds where apples grow

• Fall:             Apples ripen, leaves fall

• Winter:        Buds form for spring

 

Seasonal Growth

Health Benefits

 

History

 

Apples originated in the Middle East over 4,000 years ago. There is evidence of apples in England and Europe since Roman times. European colonists brought apple seeds with them to North America.

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Propagation

 

Apples grown from seed produce an inconsistency of fruit is from tree to tree. Most apples grown commercially are grafted: Branches that have successfully produced masses of tasty and well-shaped apples are grafted onto hardy, disease resistant rootstock.

 

Harvest

 

Many orchards still hand pick their trees in fall, but large commercial growers use huge machines that shake the trees followed by others that vacuum up the fallen fruit.

 

Storage

 

Apples are best stored in temperatures that range from 32F to 40F (0C to 4.5C). Apples ripen twice as fast at room temperature 50F-70F (10C-21C).

Most apples will keep for two to four months if wrapped individually in paper, placed in a box or basket, and stored in the refrigerator or cool cellar.

If an apple is bruised or contains rotten spots, avoid contact with other apples, and use as soon as possible.

 

Fun Facts

 

1 apple = 95 calories

Removing the peel halves the nutritional benefits.   Find out the nutritional value of an apple

One apple provides 14% of daily Vitamin C requirement, plus antioxidants and fiber that prevent inflammation and lower cholesterol levels.

Apples contain an antioxidant called quercetin that improves lung health. There is a positive correlation between the number of apples eaten per week and lung function. Apples may lower the risk of asthma in young adults.

Iowa Women’s Health Study(with 34,000 women tracked over 20 years) reported in 2012 that apple eaters were at a lower risk of death from heart and cardiovascular disease than non-apple eaters.

 

A Finnish study of 9,000+ men and women tracked over 28 years showed a lower risk of stroke in those who ate apples on a regular basis.

Joyce Hendley reported in EatingWell Magazine that researchers who analyzed National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES) data, a survey of eating and health habits, found that people who had eaten apples in any form over the past day were 27 percent less likely to have symptoms of metabolic syndrome than those who didn’t. The apple eaters also had lower levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation whose presence in the blood suggests an increased risk for heart disease and diabetes.