We marked the first day of autumn just last week, but
plenty of signs of the new season have been appearing — not the least
of which the fact that the local Starbucks is featuring pumpkin-spice
lattes. The number of vendors at the downtown farmer’s
market is dwindling. Tables that featured fragrant white peaches and juicy
tomatoes this summer are now selling pumpkins and spaghetti squash —
and Gayle Johnson is up to her ears in apples. During a busy morning of pressing ripe, juicy apples
into cider, Johnson pauses to talk about the popular fall fruit. “There are so many varieties, whether you like
something sweet or tart — there are all kinds, for every
taste,” says Johnson, who owns the Apple Barn in Chatham with her
husband, Dean. They grow and sell 17 varieties of apples, including Gala,
Jonathan, Yellow Delicious, Mutsu, Winesap, Braeburn, Fuji, and Blushing
Golden. The Johnsons pick apples until the end of October, and new
varieties are available each week. Although the Delicious varieties and the Jonathan are
customer favorites, Johnson says, people are trying other kinds, such as
the Mutsu, a large, sweet Japanese cross between the Golden Delicious and
the Indo. The business also sells a variety of baked goods, including pies,
caramel apples, apple-pie bars, and turnovers, made by Johnson’s
81-year-old mother, Pearl Rank. Apples, which are actually members of the rose
family, are one of the most popular fruits in the world, second only to
oranges. These wonder fruits — called “winter bananas” in
colonial times — are not just delicious: They’re also a good
source of potassium, folic acid, and vitamin C; low in calories, and
cholesterol (81 calories for a medium-sized apple) and devoid of fat; and
high in fiber and flavonoids, antioxidants that improve immune function and
prevent heart disease and some cancers. Medical experts credit the pectin
in apples with helping decrease levels of cholesterol and blood sugar. In addition to green beans, broccoli, and
cauliflower, fall means the arrival of freshly picked Empire, Golden, and
Red Delicious apples at Jefferies Orchard, says owner Ruth Jefferies
Anderson. The orchard, which produces about 10,000 gallons of
apple cider each season, once grew 33 varieties of apples but now
specializes in a few customer favorites.
“We pick them when they are ready to eat. We
don’t pick them green and don’t ship them. Everything we raise
here, we specialize in being fresh and ready to eat and good
quality,” she says. Both orchards sell cider made the old-fashioned way.
“We don’t pasteurize or treat it. Most people have quit making
it this way,” says Anderson, who uses a family recipe with a blend of
several apples. “The taste,” she says, “is
unbelievably different. It’s like the difference between pasteurized
milk and milk straight from the cow.”
Area orchards: the Apple Barn (2290 E. Walnut,
Chatham, 217-483-6236); Harmony Hill Orchard, featuring pick-your-own
organic apples (Rural Route 2, Virginia, 217-458-2260); Jefferies Orchard
(1454 Jefferies Rd., 217-487-7582); Malham Orchards (17218 Shipman Rd.,
Carlinville, 217-854-2815); Broom Orchard (12803 Broom Rd., Carlinville,
217-854-3514, 217-856-6501).
For more information on apples, plus recipes, visit
the University of Illinois Extension Web site “Apples &
More,” www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/apples.
This article appears in Sep 29 – Oct 5, 2005.
