Raise your hand if you know that today is Johnny Appleseed Day!
September 26, 1774 was his birthday. Johnny Appleseed" (John Chapman) is one of America's great legends. He was a nurseryman who started out planting trees in western New York and Pennsylvania, but he was among those who were captivated by the movement west across the continent.As Johnny travelled west (at that time, the "West" was places like Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois) he planted apple trees and sold trees to settlers. With every apple tree that was planted, the legend grew. A devout Christian, he was known to preach during his travels. According to legend, Johny Appleseed led a simple life and wanted little. He rarely accepted money and often donated any money he received to churches or charities. He planted hundreds of orchards, considering it his service to humankind. There is some link between Johny Appleseed and very early Arbor Day celebrations. So, in honor of this interesting fellow, let's get on with the questions!
1. What is your favorite apple dish? (BIG BONUS points if you share the recipe.) Probably New Mexican Apple Pie, which we discovered on a road trip out west a few years ago. They share their recipe on their website, and we've made it a couple of times, but it's much better if you go to Pie Town to have it.
2. Have you ever planted a tree? If so was there a special reason or occasion you can tell us about? My mom was more the tree-planter. We had peaches and apples in the yard thanks to her.
3. Does the idea of roaming around the countryside (preaching or otherwise) appeal to you? Why or why not? Oh, yes, it does. While the last dozen years of the same drive north-ish to see family has gotten tiresome, I absolutely love seeing new terrain. We took a 2,000-mile road trip through Texas and New Mexico a few years back, and loved it.
4. Who is a favorite "historical legend" of yours? Umm.... nobody's coming to mind.
5. Johnny Appleseed was said to sing to keep up his spirits as he travelled the roads of the west. Do you have a song that comes when you are trying to be cheerful, or is there something else that you often do? Lots of songs come to mind. I have a whole compilation of up-tempo Road Trip songs that I keep in the car. (Great for the open road; not to be used in city traffic.)
10 comments:
Never been to Pie Town...is it a local joint or a franchise?
Nice play!
What a great trip and an area I've yet to explore much.
RevHoney, Pie Town is an actual town, right on the Continental Divide. When we were there, we saw two pie-centric restaurants and ate at one of them.
I wanna go to Pie Town...sounds like fun. So do chiles in the apple pie...may have to try that one.
Oh, I'd like to go there too! The recipe sounds intriguing -- especially the pinon nuts, not so sure about the chiles. But I'd try it. Do you have other music for city traffic, or do you need Absolute Quiet for that?
I was skeptical about the chilies, too, Auntie Knickers -- so I let The Alpha be the one to order it and I took a bite of his. (And I was immediately jealous that I had to eat triple berry while he got to eat his choice.)
Oh, and music for city traffic is either whatever I'm preparing to sing in front of people, or NPR. (I'm such a nerd.)
Nerd Public Radio? You and me both, then.
This is the second time you've sung the praises of green chili apple pie, and now I am just going to have to try it!
Devon has been singing Johnny Appleseed songs all week because last week they did apple things. Maddie is starting to learn all about Johnny Appleseed just from the repetition.
They tasted 4 varieties of apples and picked their favorite. They made apples out of construction paper and posted them on a graph on the wall. Kindergarten is cool.
MM
And, of course I am also an NPR nerd. I also have official NPR nerd gear since I contribute. :)
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