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Merit Badge Chit Chat:  About those Apples . . .  |
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Gypsyjewelcb
Farmgirl at Heart
4 Posts
Connie
Huntsville
Texas
USA
4 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 15 2016 : 7:09:31 PM
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Here I am going after my APPLES merit badge. I grew up in Moscow, Idaho, so I a partial to the wild apples that would grow along side roads and mom and I had a old abandoned orchard we would go to and pick from(with permission), Grandma had several on her property as well. Now that I am living in Texas, I find myself buying my apples, from the store, which I am not very happy with. The apple butter I make from wild apples is much better than the store bought apples. I usually use Fuji or Gala apples here, I also like honey crisp, and jazz apples to snack on when I can get them here. In my beginning quest for my badge I have found it very interesting the origin of the apple of where it came from, and that hard cider was the colonial choice beverage.
-Connie B.
...I figure if a girl wants to be a legend, she should go ahead and be one. -Calamity Jane |
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6663 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6663 Posts |
Posted - Mar 16 2016 : 05:57:37 AM
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Connie, I hope you will continue to find your apple badge fun and helpful! I live here in Florida where apples do not grow, but like you, I grew up in a state( Virginia) where apples have thrived for hundreds of years. Apples that grow for production lose a lot of flavor in exchange for skin color and longevity of shelf life. You are not imaging that your apple butter and eating apples are missing something. They are:FLAVOR! The apple badge was inspired by me and I wrote out the requirements based on the past few years of exploring more deeply about this beloved fruit. The more I read and learn, the more I want to know. It is true that apples and their uses are intimately tied to our American dinner tables throughout the history of our nation. We started a new tradition here last September by proclaiming that September was Apple Festival Month at MJF! We had a wonderful celebration together culminating in our latest Farm tradition, Apple Pie Sunday which will always be celebrated the fourth Sunday of September . Oh my, the apple pie and apple recipes that were shared were inspiring! Enjoy your Apple badge work and be sure to jump in here for September 2016 Apple Festival at MJF!!
Winnie #3109
Red Tractor Girl
Farm Sister of the Year 2014-2015 |
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disTizmoi
Farmgirl at Heart
5 Posts
Suzy
Bentonville
VA
USA
5 Posts |
Posted - Mar 30 2016 : 06:20:51 AM
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ceejay -
We just moved to a small town near Front Royal VA (also a small town but bigger than where we live.) Near, if not in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. I used to live in Southern Maryland. This area of VA is famous for apples. I'm looking forward to starting my Apple badge because all I know about apples is the type I like to eat (Fuji) and the type I like to bake with (Granny Smith). I also know my Dad likes Macintosh. That's it! I know, pathetic. :) But this will soon pass...
thanks and enjoy!
Suzy
It is ME...Suzy!
Farmgirl #6922
"Oh my goodness...go play outside!" said her Mom |
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ceejay48
Farmgirl Legend/Schoolmarm/Sharpshooter
13664 Posts
CeeJay (CJ)
Dolores
Colorado
USA
13664 Posts |
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6663 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6663 Posts |
Posted - Mar 31 2016 : 05:50:52 AM
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Suzy, I grew up in Charlottesville, Va. and yes Virginia produces wonderful apples! You are going to have a lot of fun this coming Fall searching out the farm stands and trying out some local favorites. I am looking forward to hearing about what you discover in your area. I hope you will be sure to share some photos with us here come September and let us know what your favorites are!
Winnie #3109
Red Tractor Girl
Farm Sister of the Year 2014-2015 |
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debbieklann
Sharpshooter/Schoolmarm
783 Posts
Debbie
Madras
OR
USA
783 Posts |
Posted - Apr 12 2016 : 7:03:47 PM
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Hello Sisters!
I am just getting around to applying for my beginner badge in Apples! I have a fun story to share. My husband's greatx3 grandfather, Henderson Luelling, brought the first fruit trees to Oregon from Iowa in a covered wagon in 1847. He had 700 1 year old grafted trees in a specially built wagon and somehow managed to keep them alive until they got to the now Milwaukie area of Oregon in the Willamette Valley. He established the first nursery there in 1848. I believe some of the original trees are still there! Besides apples, he also had pears, cherries, peaches, quince, black walnut and hickory trees and also grapes, currants and gooseberries. The story has it that the Native Americans that they met along the way thought that a man who could carry such living things as trees must have a special "magic" and they honored him and his family and the others travelling in their party.
Many of the varieties that he brought with him are old and I hadn't heard of them before....Blue Pear Main, Gloria Mundi, Red Check Pippin, Rhode Island Greening and Seek No Further. Some I did recognize....Gravenstein, Newton and Winesap.
While he was in Oregon, he and his brother, Seth, developed the Bing Cherry that we all love and named it after one of their Manchurian workers. It's a part of my husband's family's history that they are especially proud of....now that I think of it, I think my husband told me this on our first date!!!! Thanks for letting me share! |
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SouthForty
True Blue Farmgirl
206 Posts
Doris
Dallas
TX
USA
206 Posts |
Posted - Apr 12 2016 : 7:34:13 PM
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How cool is that, Debbie?! That sounds like an awesome first date conversation. . . I see why he was a "keeper!"
SouthForty, MJFG#3794
~*~ You can put your boots in the oven but that don't make 'em biscuits! ~*~  |
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6663 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6663 Posts |
Posted - Apr 13 2016 : 06:27:25 AM
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Wow, Debbie, this is a wonderful family story about the beginning of apple orchards across the U.S.!! Thank-you for sharing this fun bit of history with us. Does the original homestead still belong in the family? Can you actually go and visit this place where Mr.Henderson Luelling lived? Fascinating!!
Winnie #3109
Red Tractor Girl
Farm Sister of the Year 2014-2015 |
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ceejay48
Farmgirl Legend/Schoolmarm/Sharpshooter
13664 Posts
CeeJay (CJ)
Dolores
Colorado
USA
13664 Posts |
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debbieklann
Sharpshooter/Schoolmarm
783 Posts
Debbie
Madras
OR
USA
783 Posts |
Posted - Apr 15 2016 : 10:49:03 AM
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Thank you! From what I understand, there is no Luelling home in Milaukie, where the orchard was. Unfortunately, there is now the Waverly Country Club where the orchard used to be :( Although, they do have a large display at the Country Club about him and the orchard and there are some original trees left in the area.
Before he left for Oregon with his nursery stock, he and his family lived in Salem, Iowa. His home there was built in 1840 and is still standing. He was a Quaker and an abolitionist and used his home as part of the Underground Railroad. It's now a park of the National Park Service and is open to tours. My husband's aunt and uncle were able to go through it several years ago on a road trip and sent us pictures...it's pretty cool! We have that on our list of places to see....and it's SO CLOSE to the John Deere Factory in Moline, Illinois!!!! hahaha That would be quite the road trip! |
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6663 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6663 Posts |
Posted - Apr 16 2016 : 4:25:35 PM
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Debbie, what fun that you can visit the home in Salem, Iowa. It makes the story so much more personal when you can stand in a place that your relative did so many decades ago!
Winnie #3109
Red Tractor Girl
Farm Sister of the Year 2014-2015 |
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Janice
True Blue Farmgirl
191 Posts
Janice
Vancouver
WA
USA
191 Posts |
Posted - May 08 2016 : 8:54:52 PM
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I can't believe how many different kind of apple their are. 'Lady in Red' is a new one we carry at the very small chain market I work at. I remember as a kid visiting my Grandparent farm in Eugene, OR. picking apples off the tree in the summer time and eating very large red delicious apple they grew on their farm. It was so large I could never finish it.
Janice Vintage Artist |
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fox
Farmgirl in Training
12 Posts
Joanne
CA
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - Oct 20 2018 : 3:49:39 PM
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I was very interested to find out from debbieklann that her ancestor brought apple and other
trees to Milwaukie OR. I used to spend summers up there on a farm and there was a fantastic apple tree and
wonderful black walnut that had been planted in the mid 1800’s, maybe from her relative. It was also interested
to find that the red delicious that I remembered had been great, and now find I’m not that fond of them, that they
have actually been changed and not the same apple I remembered.
Farmgirl sister #7732 |
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MaryJanesNiece
True Blue Farmgirl
7231 Posts
Krista
Utah
USA
7231 Posts |
Posted - Oct 22 2018 : 12:12:29 PM
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Joanne, that would be so cool if the apples you ate were Debbie's ancestors! It's amazing how we find so many connections in this world.
Krista |
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fox
Farmgirl in Training
12 Posts
Joanne
CA
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - Nov 06 2018 : 2:23:07 PM
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That would be cool. I went on google earth and it looks like the fields, the orchard, the apples, black walnut trees, and the original farm house have all been torn out and replaced by housing. Only the newer farm house remains without the barn or milk house. What a shame!!
Farmgirl sister #7732 |
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debbieklann
Sharpshooter/Schoolmarm
783 Posts
Debbie
Madras
OR
USA
783 Posts |
Posted - Nov 06 2018 : 2:35:59 PM
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Joanne and Krista....from what I understand, there are a couple of the original trees left where the old orchard/homestead used to be. It's now the Waverly Country Club. My husband and I were in that area a couple of months ago for an Oregon Trail celebration and thought we'd drive by to see what we could see. Unfortunately, we drove past the exit and ended up turning around and not going to the country club. Our cousin had told us that if you call ahead of time, they will let you in to see the family history display but NO DENIM FABRIC is allowed on the grounds....AT ALL!!! Since we were both wearing blue jeans, we decided it probably wouldn't do us any good to stop!
Debbie Klann
Farmgirl Sister #770
2018 Farmgirl of the Year
"Well behaved women seldom make history"....Laurel Thatcher Ulrich |
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fox
Farmgirl in Training
12 Posts
Joanne
CA
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - Nov 06 2018 : 3:26:40 PM
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It looks like your family property was turned into a country club. The farm I used to go to as a kid was in Milwaukie and it looks like only the newer house (although still quite old) is still there. The house where my mom was born was saved as a historic home but was moved to 12006 SE McLoughlin Blvd. Was that the original house that has turned into the country club?
Farmgirl sister #7732 |
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Merit Badge Chit Chat: About those Apples . . . |
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About those Apples . . .
