PITTSBURGH — When it comes to apples, only a handful of states do it better than Pennsylvania.
Last year alone, the commonwealth produced a whopping 556 million pounds of fruit, in thousands of orchards dedicated to some 100 varieties ranging from heirloom favorites, including Golden Delicious and Northern Spy, to newer cultivars such as the Honeycrisp, a crisp modern variety developed by the University of Minnesota for cold-climate growers.
Around a third of the harvest will end up at farmers markets and grocery stores, which means the typical Pittsburgher should have no trouble keeping the doctor away with the “apple a day” prescribed for good health. Everything else gets processed for applesauce or packaged slices, or pressed into juice or cider.
