Apples

Apples are a fruit and one of the most popular foods in the world.

The reasons apples are so popular are:

Apples are good for you
Apples can be grown all over the world
Apples taste good

How apples grow

Apples grow on trees. Each spring apple trees bloom or ‘set on blossoms’. Blossoms are flowers.

Tucked inside the bottom of each blossom is the ovule. Inside the ovule are the seeds that will turn into an apple.

For this to happen, though, bees have to pollinate the flowers so the seeds can be fertilized.

Once this happens, the blossoms turn brown and fall to the ground and the apples begin to grow.

In most places, it takes 4 to 5 months for apples to be ready to pick after the blossoms are pollinated.

All apples are not alike

There are over 7,500 different types of apples grown in the world.

Some are red, some are yellow and some are green.

Some apples are sweeter than others and some are crunchier than others.

But one thing is for sure…all types of apples taste GREAT!

Some apples—like the Fuji, Granny Smith, Yellow Delicious, and Red Delicious—are the most popular apples for baking.

Others—like Jonathan, McIntosh and Winesap apples, make great applesauce and apple jelly because of their soft flesh.

The flesh of an apple is the white part under the pealing.

Gala and Pipin apples are crisp and sweet, so they make great apple cider.

This doesn’t mean you cannot use other types of apples for baking or cider.

These are just the most popular.

An apple a day really can keep the doctor away

Apples are very nutritious. This means they are good for you. Apples are filled with potassium, vitamin C, carbohydrates, fiber and antioxidants. These are all substances that keep our bodies safe and healthy. Oh, and fiber helps you go poo.

A lot of people like eating apple slices that have been pealed. Don’t do it! Eat the peeling.

That’s where a lot of the vitamins are. But be careful—don’t eat the seeds, because they are poisonous.

Apples are yummy all by themselves, but you can eat them with peanut butter, cheese, nuts or other fruit to make them even better.

Fun facts about apples

- Apple trees are 4 or 5 years old before they actually have apples.
- Apple are members of the rose family.
- The first apple tree in the United States was planted by the pilgrims when they came to the United States from Europe.
- It takes about 36 apples to make 1 gallon of apple cider.
- Apple trees can live to be about 100 years old.
- China grows more apples than any other country in the world.
- Apples have to be picked by hand when it is time to harvest them.

Apples are amazing!

Apple taste test

Ask your parents to take you to the store to buy one of each kind of apple there.

Taste each one and write down how they are different, how they are alike and which one you like best.