Tree Stories for You

Our Trees is a newsletter and community for people who love trees

Apple trees and fruit in Tian Shan, Kazakhstan

Have a tasty apple, and think about your relationships with apple trees. Is there an apple tree near you right now? Perhaps you planted one in your back yard for fruit. There might be several ornamental crab apples on your street. Mabye you picked up some apples at the grocery store. The relationship between people and apple trees is ancient and intimate. Apples and humans have been together for tens of thousands of years.

Early humans migrating from Africa traveled through Asia and followed what is now called the Silk Road. They passed through the Tian Shan mountains and ate the most delicious fruit they had ever tasted, apples (see photos, above). They carried those apples with them as they spread throughout most of the world. Humans and apples have been together ever since.

Or at least we have been together in the temperate zone. I was once in an open air night market in Borneo, Indonesia shopping for fruits and vegetables. Among dozens of stalls teaming with exotic tropical fruit, there was one stall surrounded by eager customers. They were lined up to buy a really exotic fruit - red delicious apples from Washington. Most of the customers in line had never seen a real one, but the apple appears in stories in every culture.

Our Trees tells stories about these deep and complex relationships between trees and humans. Think of all the things we use trees for - shelter, shade, food, medicine, wood, companionship. Every two weeks, we will have one or more stories about these relationships. We will explore back to the beginning of humanity, when our ancestors slept in trees in Africa, and forward to today, when we are in constant contact with trees and tree products.

Today, trees and forests are entirely dependent on the activities of humans. And humans are entirely dependent on trees. Two major challenges face us right now, climate change caused by our fossil fuel use, and the loss of biodiversity. These are complex, controversial, and very political issues, and the solutions involve how we manage forests. We will not steer clear of these and other controversies.

I am a tree scientist and have spent most of my life learning about and appreciating trees. But Our Trees is for you. Our stories will be firmly based on our knowledge of science and history, but will not be technical.