I’ve been singing that Andrews Sisters song ever since I saw my brother’s Gravenstein apple tree in bloom in Santa Rosa this past weekend. Gravensteins are my favorite pie apples but sadly, while Sonoma County where I grew up was once a major producer of Gravensteins, most of those orchards have long since been converted to vineyards. As much as I love wine, I can still appreciate the need for other crops in Sonoma County, Gravenstein apples being one of them. Despite the dearth of Gravensteins in the area, John harvests enough apples from his own tree to make two or three pies per season; I have been lucky enough to get a taste of one of his delectable apple creations from time to time. I hope these apple blossoms give John a good crop this year.
