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About Bloomfield

If you’re in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, then you are more than likely no stranger to the sight of apple orchard and trees bearing the popular fruit. You’ve probably seen them on your way home from meeting with your Bloomfield Hills tutor. That’s because Michigan is the number three producer of apples in the country, behind Washington who is number one and New York who is number two.

Apples have been a staple in this country for a long time, and a lot of that is due to Johnny “Appleseed” Chapman. He traveled to the states from Europe, bringing with him a small variety of seeds that would grow into fruit bearing apple trees. Johnny hoped by planting these trees he would help to solve the problem of hunger, as those in need could go up and simply take an apple! He planted trees all over America some of which still bear fruit to this day.

Farmers have gotten creative, and have evolved the apple from having about 350 different types of apples to over 7,000 different apples! Despite this, only about 20 different species are the common market type varieties. Some of this is due to the ease of growing, and how long the apples take to mature, as well as the species that do best in certain climates.

While Washington produces the best-looking apples, eastern states stake the claim of producing the tastiest. Lava rock found in the soil of the western states keeps apples from getting as tasty as they could.

In recent years functioning apple farms in Bloomfield Hills like the Franklin Cedar Mill have been struggling to meet production needs. This may be due to the shortage of bees our world is currently facing. Bees can be found in the orchards during blooming season, when they cross pollinate the flowers that will eventually become apples. Without the bees, this process isn’t possible, and so you end up with fewer apples. Because of this, prices of apples have gone up, and availability has gone down. Due to this, farms like Franklin Cedar Mill have had to try and find other ways to make up the lost profits, and so have opened their doors to visitors and tours of the orchards. This helps to cushion some of the loss, and also helps to make society more aware of the problems we are facing. Perhaps you can find some time after your next meeting with your Bloomfield Hills tutor to check out Franklin Cedar Mills and learn what it takes to run an orchard!