Author Carol Martin writes about her latest book, The Apple: A History of Canada’s Perfect Fruit. Apples are a favourite fruit, not only in Canada, but around the globe. She tells the story of how apples spread throughout the world from their original home in Kazakhstan, through Europe and finally to Canada, where they were introduced by Champlain in the early 17th century. Here they flourished.
One of the areas most suited to apples is right here, along the north shore of Lake Ontario and in Prince Edward County. The Apple introduces readers to some of the early settlers and tells their stories. All pioneer settlers planted apple orchards as soon as they arrived in what was then Upper Canada. They relied on apples for fresh eating, for cooking in many different ways, as dried fruit in the winter, and especially for cider, the delicious drink so common in pioneer homes.
Each apple-growing region of the country is covered in The Apple, from the Annapolis Valley in the east to the famous fruitland along the shores of Okanagan Lake in British Columbia. The book is enlivened by numerous, full-colour photographs (including endpapers of the crabapples at Tweed Memorial Park), and by delicious apple recipes.
The Apple: A History of Canada’s Perfect Fuit is available locally in libraries and at The Tweed News, Chapters in Belleville, and Books on the Bay in Picton, or from the author cjmartinreach.net.
Other Books by Carol Martin:
A History of Canadian Gardening, a cultural history of Canadian gardens, full of information and beautifully illustrated;
Catharine Parr Traill: Backwoods Pioneer; and Martha Black: Goldrush Pioneer.
Let’s Eat! April 26th at 6!
April 17, 2024
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Come out for a celebration of local foods, friendship, and community. The annual “Let’s Eat!” dinner will be catered once again by