2019/10/22

Blackbird eating a crab apple in a garden in Wiltshire, United Kingdom

© Nick Upton/Minden Pictures

If it's autumn, it's apple season—the time for apple pie, apple cider (and, of course, apple cider doughnuts), apple cake, caramel apples, or just biting into a fresh, crisp apple, especially one you picked yourself. There are more than 7,500 varieties of apples grown in the world—about 2,500 in the US. This blackbird is enjoying a crab apple, which most people find a little sour to eat right off the tree. They do, however, work well for jelly, apple butter, or even pie filling. The term 'crab apple' doesn’t refer to a specific species but is used for several types of small apples. In Celtic culture, crab apples are associated with love and marriage. Supposedly if you throw the seeds into a fire while saying the name of your love, the seeds explode if your love is true. We'd try it but we're busy baking a pie.