Apples and Mushrooms and Honey, Oh My!

• It takes 36 apples to create one gallon of apple cider.
• An apple tree will start bearing fruit 8-10 years after it is planted.
• Two pounds of apples will make one nine-inch pie.
• 7,500 varieties of apples are grown around the world.
• A medium-sized apple has about 80 calories.
• The science of apple growing is called pomology.
• 25% of an apple's volume is air, which is why they float.
• In 1730, the first apple nursery was opened in Flushing, New York.
• A bushel of apples weighs 42 pounds, and will yield 20-24 quarts of applesauce.
• Apples ripen or soften ten times faster at room temperature than if they are refrigerated.

Some fun facts about fungus...

• There are an estimated 1.5 - 2 million species of fungi on earth, of which only about 80,000 have been properly identified.
• There are 2,000 different species of mushrooms eaten throughout the world, but the most common variety cultivated is the white button.
• In some ways, mushrooms are more closely related to animals than plants. Mushrooms take in oxygen for their digestion and metabolism and "exhale" carbon dioxide as a waste product.
• Mushrooms grow from spores, not seeds. A single mushroom will drop up to 16 billion spores.
• The ancient Egyptians believed the mushroom to be "the plant of immortality." The mushroom's distinct flavor so intrigued them that they decreed mushrooms to be food for royalty only, prohibiting commoners from even handling them.
• Mushrooms have been used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years to treat many different types of health conditions.

September is National Honey Month

• Honey is written about in Egyptian hieroglyphics. Ancient Egyptians would use honey as a form of payment.
• Greeks and Romans referred to honey as a food fit for the gods. Greek custom was to offer honey to the gods and deceased spirits as a tribute, to be protected, and kept in the good graces of the gods.
• Honey wine is the planet's oldest-known fermented beverage. If you're a reader of fantasy or romance novels, you may know honey wine by its more familiar name: mead.
• Have allergies? Take a teaspoon a day of a honey made from the region where you reside. It will aid in developing resistance to the regional pollen, thereby reducing your allergic reaction.
• Have you burned your skin? Received a cut or abrasion? Mix honey with cod liver oil and place on the affected area (then covering it with a bandage). It will assist in the healing process.