Scott’s great-great-great-great grandfather John Downing started the farm in 1838. He started his apples from small tree saplings and seeds brought out to the frontier from the east.
Downing Fruit Farm has 75 varieties of apples. I will devote an upcoming column to some of these local apples. This week, I want to write about the importance of buying local apples from growers like the Downing family.
Apples here in the United States generally ripen in the autumn. If you go to the farmers market or MOON Co-op Grocery regularly, you know that local apples started to arrive about a month ago.
Why do supermarkets have apples all year round? A recent laboratory analysis of supermarket apples found out why: supermarket apples were a year old on average.
Supermarket apples are picked in the autumn, just like our local apples. But to slow down the ripening process they are treated with a chemical called 1-methylcyclopropene, waxed, and stored in cold warehouses until needed to replenish the supermarket display, which could be the following summer.
A freshly picked apple is a rich source of polyphenols, which are antioxidants that help fight cancer and reduce muscle fatigue. However, a year old supermarket apple has virtually no antioxidants remaining.
Apples top the list of the dirty dozen foods, according to the Environmental Working Group. The USDA found 48 different kinds of pesticides on the apples it tested last year, and that’s after washing the apples. If you insist on buying year-old supermarket apples, at least be sure to choose organic ones.
If you can’t get to the festival this weekend, plenty of Downing apples are at the Oxford Farmers Market Uptown every Saturday morning, and at MOON Co-op Grocery every day. This week, MOON has Downing’s Courtland, Gala, Jonathan, and McIntosh apples, as well as Downing’s apple cider, Bartlett and Seckel pears, and purple plums.
To reach Downing Fruit Farm from the Oxford area, take Ohio 127 north through Eaton. About one mile past the Eaton Kroger and Walmart, turn left on State Route 726 for 17 miles into the center of New Madison.
Through New Madison, stay on State Route 726. The street name changes to Washington Street and then Mills Street.
When Mills Street ends, turn right on Richmond-Palestine Road for 1.5 miles. Turn left on Hollansburg Arcanum Road for one mile. Turn left on Harrison Rd. for ½ mile to the farm.
If you use GPS, the farm’s address is 2468 Harrison Road, New Madison, Ohio 45346. It takes about an hour.
Downing Fruit Farm supplies cider, apples and other fruit to MOON Co-op, Oxford’s consumer-owned full-service grocery featuring natural, local, organic, sustainable, and Earth-friendly products. The store, located at 512 S. Locust St. in Oxford, is open to the public every day. www.mooncoop.coop.
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