Johnny Appleseed: Deciphering the Myth from the Reality

Our friends at City Fruit posted this great story today about the myth and reality of Johnny Appleseed.

Depending on who you ask and the source of information, today could be Johnny Appleseed Day. Some people celebrate it on the anniversary of his death (either March 11 or March 18 — this seems to be sketchy), while others choose to celebrate it on the anniversary of his birth, September 26. Either way, it’s a good excuse to learn more about the man & the legend.

We’ve all heard the stories and seen the images of Johnny Appleseed walking around, generally barefoot, spreading apple seeds wherever he went. But the reality is, he was much more deliberate than that, although the barefoot piece seems to be accurate during the summer months. Rather than spreading seeds randomly, he created nurseries of trees that were managed locally. The local managers were then encouraged to sell trees on credit or barter.

He definitely lived a subsistance lifestyle with many sources referencing how he would give away most of his clothes and posessions, traveling from house to house telling stories to children in exchange for a place to stay and some food. At this time, the “west” referred to states such as Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.

At some point in his life he became a minister — which suited his travelling tendencies. But it’s unclear as to whether this shift came after he started planting the seeds or before. One source claims that the seed & tree selling (or bartering) was to support his ministry efforts.

The legend talks about the good eating apples that were produced by these trees, but a few other sources claim the apples were used for making liquor and not for eating. The Straight Dope tries to explain why the story may have evolved:

We stopped drinking apples and started eating them in the early 1900s. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union publicized the evils of alcohol, the movement towards Prohibition was gaining momentum, and the apple industry saw the need to re-position the apple…We can thank prohibition for shifting the image of the apple to the healthy, wholesome, American-as-apple-pie fruit that it is today.

There are even rumors that there are some apple trees here in Seattle that come from the same root stock as trees Johnny Appleseed is known to have planted. If anyone has any info about that — please post it in the comments. It would be interesting to document whether there are Johnny Appleseed trees in town!

For additional information, you may refer to Michael Pollan’s book,  The Botany of Desire or Robert Price’s book, Johnny Appleseed: Man and Myth.

So celebrate Johnny Appleseed today, on the 18th, or in September — but definitely celebrate him. Eat an apple, drink some (hard) cider, or make one of these recipes.

Related posts:

1. Urban Homesteading: Harvesting Fruit From The Neighborhood
2. Hard Cider Blues
3. People On The Move: Gail Savina of City Fruit

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