Everywhere I go around Mt. Shasta, even in back of downtown stores, I see apple trees. Vacant lots, old town, and tract houses, there are apple trees all over the place.

What did the old folks know, who planted all of these trees, that we seem to have forgotten? Apples are good eating, abundant, essentially free, and easy to grow in this eco-system.

Most folks sweep up windfalls as garbage, except for the Grannies that still know how to make an apple pie, cobbler, and apple sauce. I think Grandpa's hard cider was pretty good, too!

I advocate local agriculture; local food for local folks. True, some think like the fabled grasshopper: that food always has been, and always will be, abundant. If you think rising food prices are inconvenient, think again. It is more than that: it is a knife at the throat of the poor. If politicians won't help the poor, they could at least stop hurting them. Let's start by encouraging locals to gather the apples.

Land owners are protected by the 1938 gleaning law. In short, this law states that if owners allow folks to glean agricultural products, gleaners can't sue the owner for mishaps.

Biologically, a steady harvest tends to greatly reduce the worm problem in apples. By harvesting the apples, the worms can't grow into the next coddling moth. Also, harvest assures that landowners don't have to deal with a rotten mess on their lawn. Shasta Commons (http://www.shastacommons.org/ )offers a gleaning option. You can give them a call in the Fall and they'll come over and harvest the apples for you. One-third of the produce is yours to keep, one-third of it goes to the gleaners and the final one-third is given to area food pantries for the needy. It's a win-win-win arrangement!

Also, waste apple parts make chickens fat, sassy, and happy. The fruit is good and encourages the birds to lay well. Maybe it's the worm protein in cider leftovers. Complete recycling at its finest!

There are tons, literally, of apples available locally. At one time, Mt. Shasta had a thriving cider and apple business, and a fruit box factory. Those enterprises were destroyed by cheap fuel—as apples began to be imported, rather than locally harvested. This is changing. People who still have—or have recently gotten—cider presses are beginning to put the word out that they will press apples in exchange for a small percentage of the cider. This is another win-win arrangement.

I tasted some local apple cider this winter. Wow! It sure beats that dead tasting fructose corn syrup apple juice in the store. Why not drink the good local stuff?

Any entrepreneurs out there? How about reviving the cider industry in Mt Shasta? How about a co-operative movement to buy a press and create our own cider business? We could freecycle the cider, trade, and keep it local.

I have two apple trees in my yard, both too young to have apples yet. Call it an investment in what I believe to be true: local food will get more valuable. As cheap oil goes away, the price will go sky-high for gas and imported foods.

In the meantime, why not grow and begin harvesting apples that taste better than commercial ones? It's time to learn to eat well—with local food--and grow our own good clean food.