Colored leaves, crisp mornings, pumpkins, gourds, and apples. . . .all signs of autumn. Times have changed in that pumpkin-pie-spice everything dominates the market. Have you had a pumpkin spice latte, lit a pumpkin-scented candle, eaten a slice of pumpkin pie or pumpkin-spiced waffles?

Did you know the apple used to be the tried-and-true sign that heralded autumn and dominated the fall markets? Young people today would never realize that we didn't get to eat good apples until September. You had to eat as many apples as possible because they were in season. A question for you of the older generation, how many of your dads put a bushel of apples in the coal bin for winter eating and cooking? We ate the first ones and cooked the last ones. So this is my ode to the iconic apple. . . and that is not a computer or phone.

How many of the 2,500 varieties of apples grown in the United States can you name? Here are a few to get you started- Honey crisp, Red and Golden Delicious, Rome, Fuji, Pink Lady, Braeburn, Granny Smith, Jonathan, Sweet Tango, Cortland, Gala, McIntosh, and Lode. From green, yellow, and shades of red, apples are sweet, tart, firm, soft fruits that as many of you know, was the first temptation. Did you know the first American orchard is said to have been planted around 1625 by William Blackstone of Boston? Other famous folks followed as apple planters like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and our own Johnny Appleseed.

Here are some fun facts to sharpen your knowledge of apples.

• Apples contain no fat, sodium or cholesterol and are a good source of fiber.
• Apple trees take four to five years to produce their first fruit.
• Apples are a member of the rose family.
• Only crabapple trees are native to North America.
• A peck of apples weighs 10.5 pounds. A bushel of apples weighs about 42 pounds.
• It takes about 5 years to create a new apple cultivar, and only 1 in 5,000 attempts will make it to market.

Apples are woven into our culture and language. Have you heard of the Irish custom that has you throwing an apple peel over your shoulder? It is supposed to form the initial of your lover´s name. Also, when peeling an apple, the number of times the peel breaks is the number of children you will have. The apple's artistic and literary symbolism is of love, desire, and temptation. You have heard of sayings like, "Apple of my eye," "One bad apple spoils the bunch," "Apple for the Teacher," and "Apple Polisher." Did you know that the Adam´s apple designation for the bump on a man´s throat was thought to be caused by swallowing a piece of forbidden apple from the Garden of Eden´s Tree of Knowledge? "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" rings true more now than ever as our knowledge of apples' many health benefits increases. "As American as apple pie" saying caught on when apple pie became the symbol of American prosperity, causing one American newspaper to proclaim in 1902, "No pie-eating people can be permanently vanquished."

I grew up going to Lilly Orchard, once on the grounds where Park Tudor is now. We would stop at the orchard after a Butler home football game, load up bags with apples, and carry home a jug of fresh cider. The apples became pies, applesauce, apple butter, Apple Brown Betty, and fried apples. The kitchen smelled of baked apples, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg. You knew the calendar had moved on from summer as soon as the apples came into the house.

Move over pumpkins. This year celebrate fall with apples. Have an apple tasting session, bake an apple pie, toss apple slices into your turkey dressing, learn to make oven apple butter. You can even try a brewing adventure of making hard cider. Visit a local orchard and put the apple back into autumn!