Just as Spring is the birth of nature's cycle, we think of Fall as the elderly years of our seasons. Usually, the time when things die back and return to the earth. Since we just made a fall Apple Pilgrimage to Pleasant Valley Orchards for both apple and pumpkins, now seemed the appropriate time to share this tale of passing.
Once Upon a Time in Vancouver, Washington, an apple tree was planted in 1826..... It has become known as the Old Apple Tree for over a century now. Folk tales have the original seeds coming from Royal Navy Lieutenant Aemilius Simpson. He was handed the seeds at a dinner back in Britain before coming over to a fur trading post for the Hudson Bay Co. They were brought over to the Pacific Northwest and planted in an early orchard at Fort Vancouver as part of the food crop for the soldiers. The Old Apple Tree is on grounds about a 1/2 mile from the original Fort where most of the living quarters were, so it is a slight bit fuzzy as to how it got to the spot itself. But the tree was from that original handful of seeds in Simpson's pocket that sailed across the wide waters of the Atlantic and migrated the US Territory.
The apples from the Tree were called English Greenlings which was a generic term for any that came over from the Old Country. They were bright green and not the usual red, very tart and were great for baking because of their crispness and durability to winter over. It has been diagnosed to be genetically unique and apart from all other varieties of apples across the globe due to the soil conditions and years of cross pollination.
Over decades, railways and highways were built around it. Storms may have damaged a limb, but were lucky enough not to take a harsh toll on it. As it aged and grew to acclaim, school field trips would visit it and important dignitaries and Presidents even visited it. In 1984 a Public Park was designed around the tree and a Festival was held each season in Oct to celebrate its harvest.
But in 2015, gardeners for the park noted cracks in its outer bark and it started to die back. This led to a later crack in its hollow trunk and infection set in. They knew the tree was fated, but had hoped the dying process would take longer. In June of this year, it also fell victim to the pandemic and was officially felled.
But all hope is not lost. Just as Spring brings new life. Caretakers took care to tend to suckers coming out of the ground at the base of the tree. This happens for any tree that s trying to send up shoots of new life. They will ensure that one of these suckers will continue to grow and become the new edition the Old Apple Tree. They have also taken some of these saplings back to the original Fort and in generations ahead, there will be a small orchard of descendants.
Think of this story the next time you bite into a Granny Smith apple and wonder about the incredible genetics of crops and the centuries it took to get them here today.
