There’s a lot of produce getting ripe right now. Zucchini production is just about peaking. Green beans, tomatoes, peppers — a trip to the farmers’ market and you’ll see them all.

But nothing is quite as special as the start of the year’s apple season.

And — except for those fierce, acidic super-early apples — that’s right about now.

As you shine that Honeycrisp on your shirt front and psyche yourself up to plunge your teeth into it, here are a few things about apples you might not have heard:

Soul fruit

The first human to eat an apple probably wasn’t named Eve, but she did live in the East; the wild ancestor of apples still grows in Kazakhstan, and is called “Alma.”

Fruity ancient history

Archaeologists have found evidence of apple eating dating back as far as 6500 B.C.

A surprise crop

Apple trees in nurseries are always grafted. If you plant a seedling in your yard, it is impossible to predict what kind of apples it will produce. In fact, the reason North America has been the source of so many new varieties of apples is because Johnny Appleseed, and the pioneers who followed him, planted so many seedlings.

Cougs are apple champs

Washington state produces 60 percent of America’s apples, with 123.8 million bushels in 2004 — 41 times more than Oregon.

Delicious — kinda

Red Delicious is still No. 1, although its star is falling. The top 5 are rounded out with Golden Delicious, Gala, Fuji, and Granny Smith.

Making apple cider

A bushel of apples — about 42 pounds — yields about three gallons of sweet cider in a good cider press.

Making apple jack, or not

True “apple jack” is made by fermenting hard cider, then leaving it out on the porch to freeze night after night and discarding the ice, saving the liquid. This concentrated the alcohol to 30 or 40 percent. But beware — it is just as illegal to do this as it is to set up a still in your back yard.

50 leaves per fruit

It takes photosynthetic energy from about 50 working leaves to produce one apple.

More fun apple info

http://www.homeorchardsociety.org (based in Tigard)

http://www.allaboutapples.com

http://www.usapple.org

http://www.bestapples.com (Washington’s site)

http://www.homebrewtalk.com (cidermakers)

http://www.wikipedia.org

Compiled by Finn J. John