The Apple Orchard: The Story of Our Most English Fruit

by Pete Brown

'An absorbing love letter to the English apple tree...lyrical and joyful' - TLS

'A delightful book' - Sunday Times

Shortlisted for the André Simon Food and Drink Book Award 2016
A Radio 4 Book of the Week

'Wonderful, revelatory ... very moving' - Sheila Dillon, BBC Radio 4

'His ability to laugh at himself, openness to wonder and willingness to go wherever the search takes him make Brown an engaging writer and The Apple Orchard an entertaining journey' - Mail on Sunday

Taking us through the seasons in England's apple-growing heartlands, this magical book uncovers the stories and folklore of our most familiar fruit.

'An orchard is not a field. It's not a forest or a copse. It couldn't occur naturally; it's definitely cultivated. But an orchard doesn't override the natural order: it enhances it, dresses it up. It demonstrates that man and nature together can - just occasionally - create something more beautiful and (literally) more fruitful than either could alone. The vivid brightness of the laden trees, studded with jewels, stirs some deep race memory and makes the heart leap. Here is bounty, and excitement.'

Genres: Nonfiction, Food, History, Nature, British Literature, Microhistory

352 pages, Hardcover

Published November 22, 2016

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Pete Brown is an English writer who has written extensively on the subject of beer and drinking cultures around the world. He has written three books; Man Walks Into a Pub, Three Sheets to the Wind, and Hops and Glory. Brown was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire and now lives in London.

Above bio is from Wikipedia. Photo is from Flickr user epicbeer.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this delightful book, author Pete Brown tells the story of our most English fruit – the apple. If you think this sounds a tad boring, then think again. This is a gentle meandering through the history of orchards, the apple (that original forbidden fruit), the different seasons and how apples are grown - from cider making to the various varieties.

This is in no way a really technical book. It is not really aimed at those who want to start an orchard (although it could certainly inspire you) but it is really for apple lovers – or just those interested in the countryside and the history of a traditional fruit. It is also a kind of travel book, as Brown explores and explains the history of apples; interweaving personal anecdotes with local quirks and customs and the business of apple growing.

Although I do not claim to have an orchard, I do have a very fruitful apple tree, which is much beloved in my garden. Every year, I watch my tree as it grows fruit and claim my own little harvest, which creates lovely apple pies and crumbles. I found the history of how this fruit came to be so popular absolutely fascinating. A great read, which I recommend highly.

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

BOTW

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b081ld2t

Description: Symbolically and nutritionally, the apple has played a significant role in human life for millennia. From its origins in Kazakhstan, its spread along the old spice roads and into mythology, it is now an all-year round supermarket staple.

In this four-part abridgement of his new book, Pete Brown follows the cycle of an orchard's year to illuminate the hand-in-hand-history of humanity and our most familiar fruit. Along the way, he turns his hand to the three most labour-intensive jobs in the orchard: grafting, picking and pruning.

Pete Brown has written several books on food and drink, including Man Walks into a Pub, Three Sheets to the Wind, and Shakespeare's Local. He is a judge for the Great Taste Awards and the Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards, and is a frequent contributor to the Food Programme.

Had this on the radar since Susan's review two, three weeks ago, and now the irreplaceable BBC is to air it - sorted!

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few years ago I remember someone who lived in an Orchard Close frequently having to explain to people what an orchard actually was. For those of you still unsure, Pete Brown has titled this book to give you a subtle clue. These glorious pieces of landscape have been created by man for hundreds of years and are that bridge between the completely wild and the tamed garden. In these beautiful creations, you will find all sorts of wonderful things, cherries, pears, cobnuts, but most frequently, the apple.

Taking us through all of the stages in the year to bring the apple tree to fruit we will learn about cold units, grafting, why you cannot plant just one apple variety and he even has a go at harvesting. His journey starts with a slice of fresh apple, and very nearly ends there when he realises that he is allergic to them! Thankfully he is not allergic to cider… His journey takes him far and wide starting with the Pagan festival of Beltane, he meets morris men, Kingston Black, scientists, wassailers, makes a pilgrimage to the home of the Bramley, joins in with an Apple Day, helps make cider and meets yet more morris men.

It all started when he was researching about cider and realised that he had made more notes about the places where the apple was grown than he had about the cider. The seeds that were sown there, lead to this superb book on the delight of that most English of places, the orchard being written. He is a great author, up until now I have only come across him on Radio 4, but this book is witty, whilst staying interesting and rigorous all the way through. Sadly, orchards have been on the decline, something that he intends to change by writing this book, with the hope that communities celebrate these places for what they are.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

From BBc Radio 4 - Book of the Week:
Symbolically and nutritionally, the apple has played a significant role in human life for millennia. From its origins in Kazakhstan, its spread along the old spice roads and into mythology, it is now an all-year round supermarket staple.

In this four-part abridgement of his new book, Pete Brown follows the cycle of an orchard's year to illuminate the hand-in-hand-history of humanity and our most familiar fruit. Along the way, he turns his hand to the three most labour-intensive jobs in the orchard: grafting, picking and pruning.

Pete Brown has written several books on food and drink, including Man Walks into a Pub, Three Sheets to the Wind, and Shakespeare's Local. He is a judge for the Great Taste Awards and the Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards, and is a frequent contributor to the Food Programme.

Written and read by Pete Brown

Abridged by Laurence Wareing

Produced by Kirsteen Cameron.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b081ld2t

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been sitting on my bookshelf for some time, waiting for the right moment for reading (which I decided would be on the cusp of the new apple harvest - just when the early varieties of English apple would start to appear in the shops and farmers’ markets). This ‘story of our most English fruit’ as the subtitle puts it, is a botanical, horticultural, mythological, cultural, historical and economic survey of one of our most ubiquitous and culturally loaded foods. Pete Brown, despite himself having an allergy to raw apples (although he can tolerate juice or cider) is an entertaining and informative guide to the near-magical complexities of apple propagation and the ups and downs of the apple in our national consciousness. The chapters on cider-making (a subject on which Brown has previously written extensively) are particularly fascinating.

[Paul Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's somewhat bewildering that a man who is allergic to apples could produce such a wonderful, in-depth dedication to them.
Perhaps his objectivity helps his fascination, as instead of getting distracted filling the book with taste descriptors he instead waxes lyrical at length about the history, economics, botany, mythology and romance of apple trees and their wonderful fruit.
I'll certainly be looking out for more by the same author.

I received this book from a friend as a birthday present in 2018 and got interrupted by moving house, and then again by the arrival of my new waterproof kindle.
I've gladly relocated my gifted and dedicated copy to my permanent shelf and bought a digital copy for my kindle as I've been often inspired to nip to the shop for a bag of fresh apples.
Delightfully chilled Braeburns are currently de rigueur.

[Wanda]

4 NOV 2016 - here is a cover to love! Recommendation through Bettie (she knows me so well). Many Thanks. Listen here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b081ld2t

[Maya Panika · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delicious stroll/rampage through a magical subject. I’ve found it perfect bedtime reading that never failed to enchant me. An absolute and constant delight. Of course, I would say that, I am a massive apple nerd. I love to plant, to graft, to forage to seek out new varieties whenever I can. I purr with delight when I see trees laden with apples by the roadside. My favourite documentary is Chris Beardshaw’s ‘Apples: British to the Core’. So, I’m probably the core (snerk) audience for Pete Brown’s ‘A is for Apple’, an eclectic ramble through the magnificent and always-fascinating world of the apple - and what a vast and broad church that world turns out to be. A is for Apple is a really odd mix, truly wide-ranging, covering practically all aspects of the apple. It is structured around the seasons in chapters entitled blossoming, fruiting, ripening, harvesting, celebration, transformation and slumbering - but within these mildest of constraints, Pete Brown’s chatty, inclusive and never pompous prose wanders freely over the history and origins of the apple, its science, cultivation and uses - like cider making (lots on cider making) but also folklore, myths and the rituals that surround this usually mundane but important (certainly historically) and occasionally mystic fruit. And quite a feat for an author who is actually allergic to his passion.
Obviously I, with my particular leanings, am going to find this book fascinating, but I think - I certainly hope - others will feel moved to read it too. Maybe it will find converts to the fascination apples and orchards hold for me and many others, and even encourage folks to put down those over-blown, insipid Golden and Red Delicious and indulge more often in the glories of our native-grown fruit. The time is long overdue for the re-reinstatement of our lost orchards. As the author of this quietly remarkable book says, ’This is the country of Isaac Newton’s apple, the Beatles’ Apple and the Bramley’s seedling, to name but three apples that have shaped the modern world. We don’t need to blow half-hearted hot air about how important our apples are. We just need to start according them the respect they deserve, and shouting louder about how good they are.’

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping for something more like Salt: A World History or Consider the Fork , but this was more like The Founding Fish or possibly a Bill Bryson book (which I could never get past the first chapter on). It's not terrible, but it's not really for me - a bit too folksy and personal for my tastes.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful. Loosely structured around the growing year, lots of history and insights into apple cultivation, orchards, the countryside and much more, including some nice asides on the current political and economic situation (so deftly done that you might not even notice). Cruelly, the author seems to have developed an allergic reaction to apples, so he can't really enjoy some of the fruit he so lovingly describes (it's all right in liquid form, happily!) Enjoyed this very much, opens a window onto a whole new world (apple nerds? apple book geeks?) Lovely.

[N.S. Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review was first published on my blog - https://nsfordwriter.com - on 7th October 2019.

This book has everything you’d ever want to know about apples. It has no pictures, however. Generally I liked it and for some reason had a craving for apples. Sadly, the author discovered, while researching this book, that he had developed an allergy to apples and couldn’t eat them any more!

Divided into sections on blossoming, fruiting, ripening and harvesting, the book charts a year in the orchard. Beginning with the origins of apples and the evidence for them in ancient and religious texts, the author moves on to topics such as cider making, apples in popular culture, the science of cultivation and a little too much about morris dancing. Pete Brown goes to festivals, orchards and fruit research stations in his quest to bring forth the story of ‘our most English fruit’ (which, it turns out, originates in Kazakhstan). It was quite funny in places, with detailed descriptions that made up for the absence of images. However, it wasn’t all riveting. Dense paragraphs on exactly how to graft on to rootstocks, for example. Occasionally the book thinks it’s a how-to manual rather than a piece of food journalism / cultural history / nature writing.

I learned a lot about apples. Job well done, Pete Brown.

[Dree · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pete Brown is well known as a beer writer (at least among homebrewers), but for this book he tackled apples. Brown is actually allergic to fresh apples, which adds an interesting (if odd) touch to this book.

I found this book very interesting, but--and note the subtitle above--this book is about England. Sure the US and NZ both get mentioned tangentially, but this is about England. English orchards, English festivals, English varieties, English cider, English funding, English apple research, and so on and so forth.

I definitely learned a lot--but honestly, most of what I learned about involved English customs that I knew nothing about. There are also well-known varieties in England that I (in California) have never heard of. IMO this book could really use some color plates and maps to better illustrate the places and apples he is talking about--this book was purchased in the US and has the dollar price printed on the cover (update: husband actually purchased from Amazon UK, but the $ price is printed on the flap). I do realize the original English target audience might not need maps and plates, but ti would be nice for the secondary audiences they are marketing to!

And now I want to go apple picking and cider drinking in Somerset.

[Marghe · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ode to the English apple. Book full of information about legends, folk, the history of orchards, how apple grown during the seasons, the varieties, how cider is made. He travels around the UK visiting farms and research centres where they research and save old apple varieties, and create new ones. Some disappointment about English supermarkets, where despite the excellent quality of English apples, they often prefer to sell apples (and many other fruits and vegetables) imported from all over the world. He tells of events and festivals among UK, organised by farms and associations, to celebrate the apple harvest on early autumn season, to offer local apples and products such as cider, typical sweets like apple fritters and apple pie.

‘Here’s to thee, old apple tree,
Whence thou mayst bud
And whence thou mayst blow!
And whence thou mayst bear apples enow!
Hats full! Caps full!
Bushel – bushel – sacks full,
And my pockets full too! Huzza!’
(Traditional Wassail song from South Hams of Devon, 1871)


And now I am inspired to attend an apple festival, read some books on folklore and eat a slice of apple pie!

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very worthwhile read! Lovely book, written in Pete Brown's pleasant, chatty style, yet that very style hides at first sight what is a fascinating subject. Orchards and everything apple, really.....the sections on cider are great fun as well as being really informative.

The difference between US apple cider and hard cider, which I've seen and bought in supermarkets in North Carolina is explained historically and practically. It confirmed what I've found.

So, should you buy this book? I'd say Yes...it's a great read for anyone but especially so if you'd wondered about apple varieties, wanted to buy British apples rather than foreign ( for us Brits, anyway ) and grown or considered growing an apple tree or made cider. I'd actually buy a physical copy, now I've read it on Kindle!!

On to another of Pete Brown's books.....

[Matthewcable · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about apple orchards by an author who is allergic to apples but had already spent the advance so pressed ahead anyway (I made the second half of that sentence up). At times it feels more like a collection of short essays than a book but there is some loose structure built around the seasons. The chapters about Eden and apples in mythology for example could be dropped. I would say this is a better book if you live in the UK since the author visits and mentions predominantly British locations. If like me you want to visit them yourself, it might be an expensive holiday if you live elsewhere. All in all though the author makes a good fist of drawing history, geography, biology into the book and it has introduced me to new concepts and facts from all of those subjects.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Pete Brown's writing resembles an apple, sweet and tangy at the same time. Never frightened to speak his mind, he can also make his reader laugh out loud as well as including some genuinely moving moments. The only slight criticism was an over use of profanity, but I guess that's Pete's style!

[Jennsie · Rating 3 out of 5]

As daughter of a family who has had an orchard (cider press and distillery) since at least the late 1800s, this book appealed to me as the Apple features in my history. There’s a lot of information about apples and the history of them and use in other culture and stories (from the bible to Trojan war to King Arthur). There’s information about tree care, cider, and much more.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

An informative and entertaining read with a useful bibliography. I would have given it four stars but it lacks an index. A few illustrations would add to the interest as well but not absolutely necessary. The editor's should consider these points in any future editions.

[Suzana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining and informative read about, well, apples. Sadly I lost the book, so I didn't get to read the last 80 pages.

[Judith G-D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and fascinating book that I was glad to read.
Last chapter was frustrating, with its mumbo jumbo nonsense though.

[Jamie Kingscott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. As a budding orchardist myself, based in Somerset, it was a delight to read what is an informative, entertaining and inspiring celebration of the apple and the orchard.

[T · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very basic apple growing knowledge, nothing new.

[Christopher Salas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great humor and insight into English apples and orchards. I feel like I've learned a lot and enjoyed the process throughout the whole book.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

John McPhee himself would be proud to have written a book like this one, except the humour and warmth is entirely the author’s own. One to pass to friends.

[Jane O'Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're a Cotswold Morris dancer, avoid half way through chapter four - he is not impressed with Morris dancing! Although he does warm to Border Morris in chapter 22 at a Wassail.

[Shirley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of fact and folklore. A very interesting read.