grasswire primitive worried about apples

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=268x4969

Oh my.

grasswire  (1000+ posts)      Sun Sep-18-11 09:55 PM
Original message
 
Gravenstein Apple Orchards Disappearing in California
 
The best apple of all is endangered.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/us/02apples.html?_r=1

SEBASTOPOL, Calif. — It would be almost impossible to visit this town, in the heart of Sonoma County, and miss the Gravenstein, the sweetly tart (or tartly sweet) apple whose name suggests a Transylvanian undertaker. The Gravenstein is harvested in August and often gone by Labor Day, and its name emblazons a local highway, a couple of schools, a town shopping center and an annual festival that draws thousands of visitors — and apple-a-day acolytes — to this mellow Bay Area getaway.

But despite its fame, the delicate little Gravenstein —the jewel of a once-thriving apple industry in the county — is in danger, its supporters say, in large part because of another product from Sonoma: wine.

“It’s grapes,” said Paul Kolling, a soft-spoken organic apple grower who farms 75 acres of Gravensteins in the picturesque hills outside town. “It’s just more profitable to grow grapes on the lands than apples anymore.”

Indeed, according to a recent report from the county agricultural commissioner, wine grapes were far and away the No. 1 crop in 2010, valued at about $390 million, while the Gravenstein checked in at No. 13, with a mere $1.7 million. And as goes profit, so goes the plow; land used for Gravensteins has dropped to 763 acres, the report said, down from 833 acres in 2009, part of a long decline in apples in the county. Wine grapes, meanwhile, took up more than 56,000 acres, with an array of cabernets, pinots and merlots soaking up sun and valuable water.

All of which has caused enough consternation among Gravenstein farmers and Gravenstein fans to set off a counteroffensive to “save the Gravenstein,” a motto seen on bumper stickers and handmade signs across the county. Leading the charge is a local chapter of the Slow Food movement, which promotes traditional and sustainably produced foods and which has enlisted dozens of restaurants to feature the apple in dishes and desserts, placed wooden boxes full of free Gravensteins all around Sebastopol and blanketed farmers’ markets with free samples of its juice.

KT2000  (1000+ posts)      Sun Sep-18-11 10:00 PM
Response to Original message
 
1. Gravensteins are the best!

Maybe Washington can convert their Delicious Apple orchards to Gravenstein and take up the slack. They do grow well here.

grasswire  (1000+ posts)      Sun Sep-18-11 10:18 PM
Response to Reply #1
 
2. There are Gravensteins in Wenatchee

But definitely not the predominant crop.

In front of me sits a slice of Gravenstein pie -- yum yum. You are right -- they are simply the best! I bought some more at the farmers market today, and they were beautiful. Next week I will take my red wagon and load up.

I like to make Gravenstein applesauce and freeze two cup portions in freezer bags. What a treat on a winter night -- warm applesauce.

No.

No way.

The grasswire primitive, an elderly old lady, pulls a child's red wagon around with her?

Say it ain't so.

By the way, when franksolich on a winter night craves warm applesauce, he pops open a can of Del Monte applesauce, dumps it into a pot, and heats it.

KT2000  (1000+ posts)      Sun Sep-18-11 10:37 PM
Response to Reply #2
 
4. Gravenstein Pie?????

Swoon....Oh my - that sounds wonderful. Thanks for the tip. Our local (Olympic Peninsula) market brings fresh produce from Eastern WA (from his and surrounding farms) so I'll check out the apple supply there - gotta go with the pie right off the bat.

And they do make the best applesauce. I like to leave a little crunch in the apples.

grasswire  (1000+ posts)      Sun Sep-18-11 10:49 PM
Response to Reply #4
 
6. I've been eating Gravenstein pie all my life.

Yes, just the best. They do tend to cook down, so if you like firm apples in your pie, you'll have to find a way to bake it quicker and hotter, I guess. Or slice the apples bigger.

Your supplier could probably get you a box or two. Support the growers! The Gravensteins don't hold well -- use 'em or lose 'em.

KT2000  (1000+ posts)      Sun Sep-18-11 11:37 PM
Response to Reply #6
 
9. I like pie any old way. That is something I find endearing about Obama - he has the pie thing too.

It's the applesauce I try to leave a little crunch to it and Gravensteins are good at that.

Yes - just shopping at my local market is supporting the local growers so I feel pretty good about that.

NYC_SKP   (1000+ posts)        Sun Sep-18-11 10:26 PM
Response to Original message
 
3. I'm sick to death of the takeover of good land by grape growers...

...the only thing worse is suburban sprawl.

truedelphi  (1000+ posts)        Sun Sep-18-11 10:48 PM
Response to Original message
 
5. Same thing is happening in Lake County with the pears.

I love apples, and I love pears. But the trees of both fruits are uprooted and burned off so that the land owners can plant grapes.

Grapes require less maintenance, fewer hired hands, but there is a huge glut on the market. So I have no idea why people are doing this.

iIt makes me sad to think that an entire species of plant can disappear, even one that has commercial value, simply because it is not "trendy" enough.

grasswire  (1000+ posts)      Sun Sep-18-11 10:50 PM
Response to Reply #5
 
7. people just don't know

Pass the word. Save the gravensteins. I wrote to that Russian River Slow Food chapter to get one of their bumper stickers.

A bumper-sticker for the little red wagon?

msongs  (1000+ posts)      Sun Sep-18-11 11:09 PM
Response to Reply #5
 
8. corporate subsidies perhaps?

provis99  (1000+ posts)      Mon Sep-19-11 03:29 AM
Response to Original message
 
10. Gravensteins; my favorite apple.

People who haven't tried Gravenstein apples have really missed out; you will never want a MacIntosh or a Red Delicious again!

Name removed (0 posts)      Fri Sep-23-11 01:41 PM
Response to Original message
 
11. Deleted message

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Hmmmm.

One wonders what that was all about.

[JohnnyReb]

Maybe the DUmmies should look into creating a demand for "apple" wine. Since California has become a wino destination, anything alcoholic should sell well.

[zeitgeist]

Maybe the DUmmies should look into creating a demand for "apple" wine. Since California has become a wino destination, anything alcoholic should sell well.

I use to be able to get a great Spanish Apple wine.  It was not a hard cider rather more like a champagne.  Haven't seen it in years.

[vesta111]

I use to be able go get a great Spanish Apple wine.  It was not a hard cider rather more like a champagne.  Haven't seen it in years.

Some kind of crazy news articles saying Apple juice contains arsenic lately.   Well so does our drinking water.

Cannot find pure apple juice that is not pasteurised,  so I get the apples and put them through a Juceing machine,
Place in a gallon jug the juice and bury in the back yard for about 4 weeks, dig it up an watch it closely so it does not become vinegar.

One gallon of wonderful Apple Jack, the fermented stuff that the wild life eats and we find horses, deer, moose and what ever down on the ground sleeping it off in the fall.  Fermated fruit is a draw for the wild life.

Pure apple juice is a wonder, just juice the suckers and enjoy at Thanksgiving,   nothing like it.

What about the E coli, we pick our own off the trees and say a prayer before we drink it.    No problem with the Apple Jack figure the alcohol killed any and all bugs--------I drink mine with Ginger Ale 1 part to 1 and when I awake the next day have to search for my ID to remember what my name is.

Gods bounty and a prayer of thanks to Johnny Apple Seed.   

[GOBUCKS]

Name removed (0 posts)      Fri Sep-23-11 01:41 PM
Response to Original message
 
11. Deleted message

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I suspect someone made a rude comment about DUmmy grasswire's ill-fated pie shop.

[zeitgeist]

I suspect someone made a rude comment about DUmmy grasswire's ill-fated pie shop.

Ding, ding, ding,  I think we have a Winnah here, Don Pardo, tell the folks at home what he won.

Lets start with a crab apple pie, zeit, and some cheese to go with that God awful whine.   

[franksolich]

I suspect someone made a rude comment about DUmmy grasswire's ill-fated pie shop.

It just freaks me.

Many of us have seen the newspaper photograph of the grasswire primitive; she's a funny, touched-in-the-head little old lady.

And she's pulling around a child's little red wagon?

It seems to me her guardians don't seem too concerned about "image."

[GOBUCKS]

It just freaks me.

Many of us have seen the newspaper photograph of the grasswire primitive; she's a funny, touched-in-the-head little old lady.

And she's pulling around a child's little red wagon?

It seems to me her guardians don't seem too concerned about "image."

When I was a kid, we had a guy in our little town who was our equivalent to grasswire.

He would visit the barber shop several times every day to fill little glass bottles with hair clippings.

[franksolich]

When I was a kid, we had a guy in our little town who was our equivalent to grasswire.

He would visit the barber shop several times every day to fill little glass bottles with hair clippings.

Uh huh.

The grasswire primitive reminds us of those sorts of people; her guardians really need to get concerned about "image" and "impressions".