Fun Facts

• The world's largest apple peel was created by Kathy Wafler Madison on October 16, 1976, in Rochester, NY. It was 172 feet, 4 inches long. (She was 16 years old at the time and grew up to be a sales manager for an apple tree nursery.)


• It takes about 36 apples to create one gallon of apple cider.


• An apple tree will start bearing fruit 8-10 years after it is planted. A dwarf tree starts bearing in 3-6 years.


• Apples are a member of the rose family of plants along with pears, peaches, plums and cherries.


• Apples come in all shades of reds, greens and yellows.


• Two pounds of apples make one 9-inch pie.


• 2500 varieties of apples are grown in the United States.


• 7500 varieties of apples are grown around the world.


• 100 varieties of apples are commercially grown in the United States.


• Apples are grown commercially in 36 states.


• Apples are fat, sodium and cholesterol free. And they taste great too!


• A medium apple has about 80 calories.


• Apples are a great source of pectin, a soluble fiber. One apple has 5 grams of fiber.


• The pilgrims planted the first US apples trees in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.


• The science of apple growing is called pomology.


• Most apples are still picked by hand in the fall.


• Americans eat 19.6 pounds of apples every year.


• 25 percent of an apple’s volume is air, that’s why they float.


• Most apple blossoms are pink when they open but gradually fade to white.


• Most apple trees can be grown farther north than most other fruits because they blossom late in spring, minimizing frost damage.


• It takes the energy from 50 leaves to produce one apple.


• Apples are the second most valuable fruit in the United States. Oranges are first.


• The largest U.S. apple crop was 277.3 million bushels in 1998.


• Archeologists have found evidence that humans have been enjoying apples since 6500 BC.


• Newton Pippin apples were the first apples exported from America in 1768, some were sent to Benjamin Franklin in London.


• In 1730 the first apple nursery was opened in Flushing, New York.


• One of George Washington’s hobbies was pruning his apple trees.


• A peck of apples weighs 10.5 pounds.


• A bushel of apples weighs 42 pounds and will yield 20-24 quarts of applesauce.


• Apples ripen or soften ten times faster at room temperature than if they were refrigerated.