idk if this is an usamerican thing or not but it always blows my mind as a small european country resident that yall have many names and types of apples???? what do you mean its not just red yellow or green??? why is it so complicated??? who is granny smith????
'whats your favorite apple' 'red' 'no i mean like what type' '??????' actual conversatiom i've had with a mutual from usa
THIRTY TWO??????
Listen that doesn’t even account for all the weird shit local farmers are getting up to.
May I present the best apple:
the world is so big and beautiful
So…. Apple varieties have been a thing for hundreds of years - although the descriptive aspect it only took its current shape in the 19th century. Crop science is ancient.
However.
That bit about the 19th C is important as prior to that, the apples you could get in any given area were ones that a) did well, and b) met the needs of the local population. They were often hyper specific, not named, and not deeply codified.
But, the apple varieties you are used to will have names, they will have specific rootstocks and pollination groups and hybrid types, and your farmers will have chosen them for various qualities (hardiness, keeping, transport, etc.) They may even be hyper local varieties which aren’t well known outside your region (which, if they are, that is incredibly cool and I’d like to know more about them.)
What’s interesting (to me, at least) about the US is that so many people seem to know a lot about apple varieties at the consumer end - which I suspect is partly because of the massive size, and range of climactic conditions that a present in America in a single country. It’s more of an older people/country folk thing in the UK, outside of a few trade names (Bramley, Granny Smith, Pink Lady) which have specific uses/cachet.
