Wild Apples

I recalled gathering several nice apples a few years ago from a tree in the woods, a tree either long forgotten or growing wild. I set out to find them again, hoping to satisfy an uncultivated taste, a more authentic taste of autumn than the hybrid standards from the local orchard. Wild fruit, even in the smallest portions, justifies the search.

Tacitus, describing the German tribes north of Rome, wrote that "Their food is simple—wild apples, fresh game, and curdled milk" (Germania, section 23).

I'd come too late. I found the apple tree but no apples on the branches and none on the ground. Maybe it had been an off year, the weather or the timing off for pollination. Turning, resigned to finding no wild apples, I see a tall, wizened tree with small apples. It's on the other side of the trail, deeper in the woods. Most of the fruit had fallen; what hadn't was shriveled and soft. After a little searching I located two additional crab apple trees and found several partially firm apples to taste.

Later, arranging five wild apples for a photograph, I recall the famous Chinese painting, 'Six Persimmons.' This Song Dynasty painting is treasured for the masterful brushstrokes and the perfected simplicity. If Muqi, the painter, had lived in North America, I suspect the work might have been 'Six Crabapples.'

Posted on October 14, 2017 02:30 AM by