Wild Apples, Real Cider, and the Complicated Art of Making a Living

apple orchard

“Loving apples or cider is not a prerequisite for loving this book. All that is needed is the willingness to follow a vibrant narrative voice driven by the pursuit of dreams.”—Alice Feiring

Andy Brennan owns Aaron Burr Cider in New York’s Catskills region.  Since its founding in 2011, Aaron Burr Cider has become well known among cider enthusiasts for its natural approach to cider making using wild apples and yeasts. As a prominent figure in the growing US cider movement, Andy has been featured in print media and on television, radio, and podcasts. He regularly speaks about natural apple growing and cider production at museums, trade events, festivals, restaurants, and anywhere local food enthusiasts are found.

The following is an excerpt from Uncultivated: Wild Apples, Real Cider, and the Complicated Art of Making a Living by Andy Brennan. It has been adapted for the web.


When I was almost three years old, I said my first word: “Apple.”

This was in the autumn of 1973, nearly 100 miles from Washington, DC, in the rugged landscape of western Maryland where the Appalachian ridges ripple like a series of long waves, unfolding one after the next toward the headwaters of the Potomac. Dotting the hillsides were homestead farms, and below in the valley floors there remained old brick villages that appeared just as they had when General Lee stormed up, bringing the fight to Union soil.

Andy BrennanOutside the town hall in one of these hamlets, a giant pome sculpture served as the focal point of the lawn just the way an obelisk or water fountain would. It was this sight, the giant apple, that piqued the interest of the boy in the backseat.

Most children are saying full sentences long before their third birthday, but I was waiting for the vision of an apple to start talking.

To modern folks apples are considered a healthy snack, and not much more. But beyond the tempting fruit, the tree has long held a special place in our collective unconscious. It continues to emerge and reemerge, as it has for thousands of years. The tree is mysteriously part of who we are, even now, well into the modern era.

The easiest way to appreciate our cultural connection to apple trees is to draw similarities between two species: Malus domestica (the modern apple) and Canis lupus familiaris. The latter, the common dog, is our companion animal, while the former, the common apple tree, is our companion plant. One is “man’s best friend,” and the other is “the giving tree.” Although we immediately relate to the animal kingdom, we can also relate to the plant kingdom in profound ways.

We are all living beings with shared goals.

The relating is slower and more obtuse, but we have developed a great language for relating with apple trees, greater than with any other plant. No doubt we still have uncommon compassion for them.

How rare is it that we can empathize with a plant! Though hardly anyone lives with apple trees anymore, the bond still strongly exists. And what great satisfaction it brings me to see examples of this reunion, like when property owners begin clearing land and discover an apple tree. Determined as they are to chop down everything in sight, suddenly the chain saw goes silent when they happen upon an apple tree! Even very old, sick trees are spared and nursed for dozens of years.

I’m a sucker for this. But a frightful proposition rises in me: As the general population expands and we are increasingly removed from farming, how will that empathy erode? And if it vanishes for the apple tree, what does that say of our empathetic connection with other living beings? Fearful as I am, I can also imagine the opposite happening: Couldn’t we also expand upon our empathy for apple trees (as we seem to for dogs) and allow that compassion to reach other living beings, endangered creatures, and all of nature?


Recommended Reads

Out of the Kitchen, Into the Garden: Apple Cider Vinegar

The Apple: America’s Fruit

Read The Book

Uncultivated

Wild Apples, Real Cider, and the Complicated Art of Making a Living

$16.22

Enter your email to sign up for our newsletter and save 25% on your next order

Recent Articles

Build Your Own Cold Frame: Get a Jump on the Planting Season

Extend your planting season with a cold frame! Building your own cold frame is a simple way to keep growing plants all winter long. The following is an excerpt from Four-Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman. It has been adapted for the web. What Is A Cold Frame? Gardeners should dedicate a monument to the cold…

Read More
vinegar in soup

Vinegar in Soup: The Soup-er Secret Ingredient

Move aside, chicken noodle and tomato bisque! We’re trying out some new soups with one ingredient in common: vinegar. Flavorful and unique, these recipes will have you including vinegar in soup for years to come. The following is an excerpt from Wildcrafted Vinegars by Pascal Baudar. It has been adapted for the web. Adding Vinegar in…

Read More
indoor gardening

6 Tips and Tricks for Indoor Gardening

Craving a fresh harvest during the winter months? Try indoor gardening to grow fresh greens and more year-round! Here are 6 articles to jump-start your indoor harvest and get you growing in no time. Must Have Tools for Successful Indoor Gardening The process of producing high-quality food inside requires time and attention, along with the…

Read More

The Ultimate Good Sweet: Upside Down Apple Pie

Make an irresistible upside down apple pie with this easy recipe. No pie crust skills needed! “Secretly” healthy apple pie for a guilt-free sweet treat.

Read More

Fire Cider: A Healing, Warm Tonic

“It is more important to know what kind of person has a disease than to know what kind of disease a person has.” —Hippocrates Drawing on her decades of clinical experience and her extensive research, Dr. Jill Stansbury offers an unparalleled range of herbal formulas in her five-volume set, Herbal Formularies for Health Professionals. For each…

Read More