Happy Birthday Johnny Appleseed! One of most unusual and eccentric frontiersman that ever was! Born John Chapman in the early 1800’s he planted over 100,000 square miles of apple orchards in the United States: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Virginia.
He anticipated where the Pioneers would settle and planted nurseries in those areas leaving them in the care of neighbours, and returning every year or two to tend to the trees, which would be sold to the settlers.
He was a legend in his own time and reportedly did actually wear a tin pot as a hat! A man at that time that was a barefoot vegetarian who wouldn’t harm animals, hunt, ride a horse, or chop down a tree was eccentric to say the least! Although on account of his land holdings he did die a wealthy man.
Apples don’t “grow true” (the seeds of the apple don’t produce the same variety of apple). Sweet and tasty apples come though grafting not planting seeds. In Johnny’s time the apples were mostly grown for hard cider which was a more delicious and safe alternative to corn liquor. Many of the apples that Mr Appleseed planted were of a sour variety – and great for cider.