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Fieldnotes with the apple trees

Apples are among the most popular fruit crops of Western Himalayas. Nepal to the East, the vast Indian plains to the south, and Great Himalayan glaciers to the North - this geographically tiny, ecologically diverse expanse of Western Himalayas satiate entire South Asia’s demand for apples. Once an object of nostalgia among Asia’s colonial overlords, today apples are a common fruit among the South Asian urban middle class. One is awestruck at the realisation of such roots, shoots, seeds, and fruits, that for millennia had never left their tiny geographic habitats; have within a century or two become such central parts of distant cultures, their sensibilities of smell and taste, ideas of well-being, and even memory. It’s hard to tell stories of Western Himalayas anymore, without mention of apples. 

It then, begs us to ask the apple tree, Malus domestica, whether we’re cultivating it, or is it cultivating us? This blog brings together the stories of cultivation and co-becoming in Western Himalayas. Here you’ll find field-notes and interviews with farmers, scientists, and activists who work with the apple tree; travelogues, and memoirs of reaching out to the tree’s many experts spread throughout Himalayan ridges and valleys - breeders, pruners, grafters, and growers - crafters of all kinds. This blog tells stories of their crafts. In doing so, it also tells the stories of the tree, who have so skilfully shaped the crafters’ perceptions of beauty, of perfection, and even those of nature and time.

Happy reading 😊