Object: Apple Tree

Object Type(s)
Description

Apple trees and other fruit trees were planted by the DWIC in their gardens, and many farmers also planted them.   Apples provided a great bounty in the fall, and could be kept in a root cellar or a 'clamp'  (insulated pit)  throughout the winter.  Most of the crop was made into juice and fermented cider, and many Dutch recipes of that time include apples.   Some farms would make up to 50 barrels of cider each fall.

Even today the Hudson Valley is home to many apple orchards and farms that were originally settled during the Dutch Colonial period.

Food historian Peter Rose has books that will allow you to try to make the taste of the New Amsterdam houses come to life your kitchen: http://www.peterrose.com/

Malus domestica is another name for the Apple Tree.   See Joel Grossman's work on plants in New Amsterdam here:  https://www.geospatialarchaeology.com/index.html 

See a detailed article on the archeology of plant life in New Amsterdam by Joel Grossman, PhD., courtesy of the Holland Society of New York  here.