The Apple: A Delicious History is the fascinating 10,000 year story of the world’s most tempting fruit (yet 70% of apples in England are imported, which is why it’s good to buy local apples to preserve our heritage orchards (also buy organic, to avoid the ‘waxy apples’ covered in shellac – dead insects).
Apple chunks are choking hazards for babies and people with swallowing difficulties. Keep pets away from apples due to pips/seeds containing natural cyanide (and recipes that use dried fruits, nutmeg or fresh dough). Read more on keeping people & pets safe in the kitchen.
Always ask permission before feeding apples to equines, as too many cause colic. If you do feed horses a cut up apple as a treat, feed from a flat palm to prevent choking (and discard the core).
This book takes us on a tour of apple’s prehistoric beginnings in the Tian Shan mountains of Kazakhstan to the modern day. You’ll learn how apples even featured on the shopping list of a senior Roman officer on Hadrian’s wall. The perfect gift for anyone enjoys a slice of apple pie or a drop of cider, get to know your apples (from Bramley to Cox).
In the early 1840s, a young Yorkshire vicar set about planting an orchard next to his new farmhouse. Around him the world was in turmoil. Ireland was in the throes of its great famine. Western Europe teetered on the cusp of violent revolution. In setting out his orchard, our tree-planting vicar was investing in a happier future. Those fifteen or so tiny saplings would eventually transform into veteran trees which still every autumn, sit heavy with pounds of apples. That orchard and its farmhouse are now my home.
about the author
Sally Coulthard is a best-selling author on natural history and rural life. She lives with her family (which includes an assortment of unruly animals) in Yorkshire.
