I am currently reading several books by Michael Pollan and in Botany of Desire, he mentions John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed and his impact on Ohio. Thought some of the information was worth sharing. Hope you enjoy it.
Johnny Appleseed is a real person, John Chapman. Chapman, was a real historical figure who played a very important role in the frontier in the Northwest territory. In addition to learning that he was a real individual, he also turns out to be quite a character.
In learning more about Chapman, I learned an interesting botanical fact about apples, which is, if you plant the seeds of an apple, like a red delicious or a golden delicious, the offspring will look nothing like the parent, will be a completely different variety and will be inedible. You cannot eat apples planted from seeds. Apples apparently must be grafted, cloned.
Johnny Appleseed is a real person, John Chapman. Chapman, was a real historical figure who played a very important role in the frontier in the Northwest territory. In addition to learning that he was a real individual, he also turns out to be quite a character.
In learning more about Chapman, I learned an interesting botanical fact about apples, which is, if you plant the seeds of an apple, like a red delicious or a golden delicious, the offspring will look nothing like the parent, will be a completely different variety and will be inedible. You cannot eat apples planted from seeds. Apples apparently must be grafted, cloned.
Apples, although thought of in a representative way as a product of the United Sates are really from Kazakhstan and has made its way here and changed a lot along the way. Johnny Appleseed insisted on planting lots of apples from seed (he felt grafting was wicked) and those planted seeds meant the trees produced inedible apples. The upside of this is these apples were meant to become hard cider. Apparently you can use any kind of apple for making cider. Johnny Appleseed was bringing alcohol to the frontiers of Ohio and Indiana.
Apples were an excellent source of sweetness and an essential staple of the diets of those forging into unsettled, remote territory, and in some cases, the law required an orchard as a prerequisite for land ownership. Apples were also used for bartering in a time when cash was limited -- perhaps this will happen again. Using apple seeds from the cider mills of Pennsylvania, Chapman would move ahead of the homesteaders, on routes along which he guessed they were likely to settle, planting saplings from which they could start their orchards.
Chapman, aka “Johnny Appleseed” by the frontiersmen who experienced his "benevolence", continued planting spiritual seeds and apple seeds until his death on 18 March 1845. He died at the home of a friend, William Worth, in Fort Wayne, Allen, Indiana. The site traditionally believed to be his grave is north of that city in Archer Cemetery, part of Johnny Appleseed Memorial Park is most likely a memorial spot. It is believed that Chapman's grave is located along the St. Joseph River in Fort Wayne in the middle of "Johnny Appleseed Park", where a giant festival is held every year in his honor. To this day the actual site has never been found.
Additional Links:
http://www.depweb.state.pa.us/heritage/ Johnny Appleseed — A Pioneer Hero
http://www.swedenborg.com/ 
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