Finding America’s Best Organic Apples – Washington State?

You may have heard that there are over 7,500 varieties of apples grown in the world but did you know that Washington State is the finest place on earth to grow organic apples? The ideal temperatures, the nutrient-rich lava-ash soil, the bountiful crystal clear water of the Cascade mountains, and the stringent processing practices and grading standards all help to reduce the number of fruit diseases and potentially harmful insects and pests.

But it wasn’t always that way. The first apple seeds were carried over from England to Washington State in 1826 not by John Chapman, aka the legendary itinerant pioneer, Johnny Appleseed, who planted apple nurseries all over the states of Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, and Indiana during the early 1800’s – but by Lieutenant Emilius Simpson, first cousin of Hudson Bay’s Governor, Sir George Simpson, a British officer stationed at Fort Vancouver, a major fur-trapping trade center.

Over the next century and a half, these first few apple seeds would evolve into the nine most popular varieties of organic apples grown in Washington state: Gala, Fuji, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Cripps Pink, Braeburn, Honeycrisp, and Cameo. Since then, numerous medical studies have shown that organic apples are not only a delicious, nutritional snack but they are a good source of dietary fiber and Vitamin C and other nutrients such as Vitamin K & B6, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, and Potassium – potent antioxidants with the ability to lower cholesterol, reduce the risk of heart disease, and prevent the reproduction of prostate, colon, and lung cancer cells.