Apples

[Stephen Whiteside]

Apples

Stephen Whiteside 19.11.2012

The sundowner knocked on the homestead door, and he spoke to granny Smith.
"Can you spare me a bite to eat, please ma'am? For I have no kin or kith."
She sized him up and down. She stared. She looked a mite suspicious.
"Just stay right there. I'll find some grub. It might not be delicious."

She walked back to the pantry, where she spoke to a pink lady -
A family friend, well known to all, by name of Pat O'Grady.
"I'm getting a performance at the front door. Royal Gala.
Fit to match an orchestra that's playing jazz or Mahler.

"It's Jonathon from Braeburn, just a short hop down the track.
He must think I'm an idiot, or else just really slack.
Did he really think that he would fool me? I can't grapple
With his strategy at all. So he can have a mouldy apple."

[Bob Pacey]

MMMM well put togrther Stephen I heard a similar one about Arnotts biscuits but not to be repeated here,


Cheers Bob

[Stephen Whiteside]

Thanks, Bob. Couldn't fit in fujis or nashis. Suggestions welcome. (I hear Mt. Fuji is due to erupt soon.)

[Neville Briggs]

Aren't nashis, pears ?

Not bad Stephen.

Granny Smith is buried in the little graveyard at St. Annes church at top Ryde in Sydney. Also buried in the graveyard is Captain John Oxley RN, explorer
and James Ruse, a convict from the First Fleet ship Scarborough, who established crops at Parramatta.
James Ruse carved himself a poem for his own headstone:

My mother reread thy tenderly
With me she took much pain
And when I arrived in this colony I sowed the first grains
And now with my heavenly father I hope forever to remain.

[Stephen Whiteside]

I think they can be either, Neville.

[Peely]

Being the son of a former apple grower, I know that nashis are pears

[Stephen Whiteside]

Well, then I have to blame the "Aussie Apples" web-site I based my research on!

[Heather]

You can learn so much on this site.

[Peely]

From the Australian Nashi Growers Association website FAQ section:

Question
Can you explain why it is nashi, not nashi pear and why the
names for the fruit are often interchanged?

Answer:
Nashi is actually the Japanese word for pear. Nashi are also
occasionally referred to as Asian pear, apple-pear or Oriental
pear because they are native to northern Asia. They have taken
many hundreds, if not thousands of years, to evolve from their
very distant relatives, the European pears that we are so familiar
with, such as the Williams, Packhams, Triumph and Beurre Bosc varieties. Unrelated to apples, the long isolation of the nashi in the East has lead to the development of its own unique crisp, delicately sweet and juicy texture, with the fruit harvested ready to eat.
This contrasts with European pears which are soft and juicy
when ripe but are harvested much earlier, meaning most of us
have to wait to enjoy their delights!

For the botanically minded, nashi belong to the species Pyrus pyrifolia while European pears belong to the species Pyrus communis

[Stephen Whiteside]

I didn't notice it before, but it is nice to see a Peel with apple expertise - really getting to the core of things. (Gives me the pip, though!)