Geography Quest: Apple Growers Edition

This post contains affiliate links. Thanks for your support.

It’s still apple harvest season here in Upstate NY. Warm smells of apple cider, apple pies, and simmering apple sauce fill the air. We need to get out this weekend and pick our apples. I like to wait for the Ida Red variety because pink applesauce makes me happy. Have you ever thought about where your apples come from when it’s not harvest season? This week’s Geography Quest is all about where the apples are.

Find Out Where Most Apples Are Grown in the United States

According to the search results from the USDA, six states grow the apples we eat in the United States. I’d love to link you there, but the website is also “closed” during the shutdown. Other sources say these states grow the most apples:

• Washington – click to find out the nine most popular varieties grown here.
• New York – The New York Apple Association has a great website with information about all the varieties grown here, recipes, and other useful information like a kids’ page.
• Michigan – Not to be outdone, Michigan apple growers have a robust website too.
• California – California has an Apple Commission website similar to the other  states.

Map the Apple Growers

• Map the states that grow the most apples.
• Map where the various apple types are grown. For example, place on the map where the most Granny Smith apples are grown. Or find out where Cortland apples were developed and grow.
• Map and key the best climate for growing apples.
• Last year’s apple crop was devastated in at least two key apple growing states. Which states? What happened?
• Find out how far apples are distributed from their harvest location. How are apples delivered around the country?
• Are apples native to the United States? If not, map the location of their origin.

More Apple Themed Fun with Books

How Do Apples Grow– Another book in the Let’s Read and Find Out science series, this one focuses on the life cycle of an apple tree.

A Day at the Apple Orchard– this is a wonderful photographic book showing a field trip to the apple orchard. Having been on many an apple picking trip, this book captures it all.

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World– humorous book about a girl who travels all over the world to the native origins of each of the ingredients to her apple pie. This is a favorite FIAR book and you can find posts of our studies. (I seem to be missing some links. I’ll try and get that fixed shortly.)

Johnny Appleseed: My Story– a Step into Reading (level 1) book about the folk story Johnny Appleseed.

Apples to Oregon– The story of how apple trees arrived on the west coast via the Oregon Trail as described during the pioneer days.

Enjoy Activities with Apples

Geography in Literature Apple Pie Quest– just in case you missed the Quest involving the book How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World.

Make a Wildly Yummy Apple Crisp– one of the best recipes around. You won’t regret it!

Outdoor Hour Challenge from Handbook of Nature Study– Click the previous link for our study and this new link for the original study from Barb from 2010. She has many other resources there for you to click through as well, so check it out.

Chalk Pastel Art Fun– you can’t miss Tricia and Nana’s art tutorials on apples and pumpkins! Pure fun and lovely results. You can see the new fall book here!

Enjoy the remainder of the apple harvest season by taking a good look at where our apples are grown and where our favorite varieties are found.

If you haven’t taken the time to subscribe to Blog, She Wrote by email, take some time to do that now. You don’t want to miss the Geography Quest Blitz starting next week and going for ten days with the iHomeschool Network’s Fall 2013 Hopscotch.