All about Apples - from history, commercial and community growing to cider making

The NeighbourFood Podcast

Don’t you love a good crunchy apple? The sweetness of it never lets you down. Did you know that Ireland’s commercial apple growing scene isn’t really developed…. Or we should say, it was at one point and now it is not! Even though we have an ideal climate for growing apples amongst other great fruit.

Apples are an integral part of Irish culinary culture and history. To prove this the first recorded pips date back to 5000 years ago, discovered at an archaeological dig in Co. Meath. These pips were almost certainly from the wild Irish crab apple Malus Sylvestris and although rare can still be found in the Irish landscape today.

In the 7th and 8th centuries AD the ancient Irish Brehon Laws classed the Apple tree among the ‘seven nobles of the woods’ and the fine for cutting down one of these trees was 5 milk cows and double that if the tree belonged to a chieftain!

So today, you guessed it, the topic is all about Apples! We are going to find out all about these crunchy wonders of the world; from interesting history to today’s growing scene.

We speak to Con Traas from The Apple Farm in County Tipperary, one of Ireland’s leading apple growers; We spoke to Dermot Callaghan find out about the research that’s happening in the field from Teagasc; learn a little more about Ireland’s craft cider industry from William O’Callaghan of Longueville House Beverages, who one of the first artisan cider producers and also speak to Elaine Garde of Future Orchard, an eco enterprise and community orchard founded in 2009.

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