25 May 08 Apples

I’ve always enjoyed a firm crisp apple. In south east England, the County of Kent, which has long been known as ‘The Garden of England’ there is a place called Brogdale. It is near the town of Faversham, and it houses the National Fruit Collection.

Over 2,300 varieties of apples are grown in its 150 acres, and many of these are ancient, and many are also quite rare. Britain’s entry into the European Union, and its obsession with standardization has meant than there has been a huge reduction in the amount of both home-grown apples, and varieties in recent years. Much of the UK has been over-run with Golden Delicious apples from France, although these originally came from the United States. They’ve never been an apple I much cared for, and my apple of choice there was usually a Granny Smith, although most of those seemed to originate in Chile!

In the United States itself, an apple that has its origins in New Zealand, but is now being grown extensively here, is the Gala variety. It is actually, just what I like myself – firm crisp, and not too sweet.

Are apples good for you? Remember the old saying? An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Gala Apple Nutritional Information

Serving Size: 1 medium apple (154g)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 80	Calories from Fat 0
	% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0	0%
Cholesterol 0mg	0%
Sodium 0mg	0%
Total Carbohydrate 22g	7%
Dietary Fiber 5g
Sugars 17g
Protein 0g
Vitamin A 2%	Vitamin C 20%
Calcium 2%

So now you know, why not go and buy and eat some apples too!

Tags: apple a day, carbohydrate, cholesterol 0mg, county of kent, crisp apple, dietary fiber, faversham, garden of england, golden delicious apples, granny smith, medium apple, national fruit collection, nutritional information, protein 0g, serving size, sodium 0mg, south east england, standardization, varieties of apples, vitamin c