Apple Day
    Things you may not know about Apples
A festival in celebration of the English apple. many places across the UK oganise festivals to celebrate the orchard crops. There are variety of apple related food, drink and wares on sale with a wide range of apple games, competitions and activities. Ideas include, can you beat the record for the longest apple peeled? Have you ever tried Apple Beer? Are you any good at Apple and Spoon racing? Go and find out - you'll never have had so much apple fun before!

   The ceremonial wassailing of the apple orchards on the eve of Twelfth Night was revived by Taunton Cider in the 1970s.
   In the Middle Ages some people thought eating an apple could lead to sin, as it did with Adam and Eve.
    Even more people in the Middle Ages thought eating apples was bad for you, and was a prime cause of fever or an upset stomach
    The Roman satirist Juvenal reassured guests about his home-grown apples: "Don't worry, winter's ripened them ... made them quite safe for dessert."
    In Scandinavian legend, the gods owe their endless youth and immortality to eating the magic apples carried around by the goddess Idun.
    Continental apple types include Horneburger Pfannkuchen, Coeur De Boeuf and Szabadkai Nagi Szercsika.
Horneburger Pfannkuchen: This oddly named apple translates as the Pancake Apple of Horneburg. A seedling of unknown origin discovered in Marschdamm, Horneburg, Germany, somewhere around 1850. The fruits are large in size, distinctly ridged. A sharp fruity cooker Coeur De Boeuf: Sometimes known as the Custard Apple
    Among English varieties are Small's Admirable, Minier's Dumpling and the Beauty Of Bath.
    Peel an apple in a single piece, throw the skin over your shoulder and it will fall in the shape of your future spouse's initial.
    In the 1660s Samuel Pepys would sit up at night playing cards and drinking lamb's wool - hot, sweet, spiced ale with apple pulp foaming on the surface.
    Britain has celebrated Apple Day on October 21 since 1990.

    Apple Trees
The best time to plant apple trees is the autumn. Trees can be planted all through the year but care needs to be taken to keep them watered if planted in the spring/summer months. Buy a healthy 1-year-old nursery tree, 4 to 6 feet tall, with a good root system. A small tree with a good root system will transplant better than a large tree. If you buy a bare rooted tree and you are unable to plant the tree immediately wrap the roots in plastic and keep them moist or "heel-in" the tree bydigging a hole and covering the roots with damp soil. The tree can be kept for several weeks using this way before permanently planting.

    Planting Apple Trees
First dig a hole approximately twice the diameter of the root system and 2 feet deep. Place some of the loose soil back into the hole and loosen the soil on the walls of the planting hole so the roots can easily penetrate the soil. Spread the tree roots on the loose soil, making sure they are not twisted or crowded in the hole. Continue to replace soil around the roots. As you begin to cover the roots, firm the soil to be sure it surrounds the roots and to remove air pockets, Fill the remainder of the hole with the loose soil, and press down making sure the graft union is at least 2 inches above the soil. When you have finished planting the tree, water well to eliminate air pockets and provide good contact between the roots and the soil.

   Pruning
Proper training and pruning of fruit trees is essential to the develop a strong tree framework that will support fruit production. Properly pruned trees will yield high-quality fruit much sooner and will live longer. Regular pruning and training will also improve light penetration to the developing flower buds and fruit as well as allowing adequate air movement through the tree, which promotes rapid drying to minimize pest problems.

There are several pruning demonstrations on Apple Day and tree pruning courses are run at Afton Park in the Autumn.

    Care of Apple Trees
Apart from pruning, most apple trees require little attention. The main job is to thin out the fruits. If left to grow naturally, there will be a large crop of undersized apples, and the tree may well produce nothing at all the next year.

As soon as the fruits set and small but obvious apples are beginning to form, cut out the 'king' or central fruit from each cluster and remove all blemished and misshapen fruits. If the crop looks heavy, thin each cluster to one or two fruits around 10cm or 4" apart.

If a crop is very heavy branches may well break with the weight so be ready to thin out further or support the branch.

   Harvesting Apples
The best test of when an apple is ready to eat is to try one. If it tastes good, it's ready! Another way is to hold the apple in the palm of your hand and give it a twist. If it drops off, it is probably ready to eat.

When harvesting take care not to bruise apples by dropping or knocking them as this will cause them to rot much more quickly, and the rot will often spread to other apples in storage.