This week, I’m delighted to be joined by Diane Flynt, the author of the recently published Wild, Tamed, Lost, Revived: The Surprising Story of Apples in the South. This is a story of history, diversity, and the future.

For those who say social media is a bad thing, I get it. But occasionally it can provide gems. For example, last week I was scrolling through Facebook when I saw Sean Lilly Wilson, the founder of North Carolina’s Fullsteam Brewery post about a new book he was reading: Wild, Tamed, Lost, Revived: The Surprising Story of Apples in the South. 

I was immediately intrigued and reached out to the author, Diane Flynt, to come on the show. 

She and her husband Chuck live in the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains, where she is an apple grower and cidermaker. She says above all else she is an insatiable learner, which led to the concept and writing of this book. 

Flynt is a multiple-time James Beard Award finalist for Outstanding Wine, Spirits, or Beer Professional and founded Foggy Ridge Cider in 1997 after leaving her corporate career and produced cider until 2018. 

There aren’t nearly enough books on apples in the world, especially engaging and well thought out ones, but this book stands among the top, in my mind and based on what I’ve read, for not only the rich history and passion it provides, but also the personal narrative weaved throughout, and the easy to understand approach, which helps put the subject in our hands. 

Press materials provided in advance give this description: Flynt "shows how southern apples, ranging from northern varieties that found fame on southern soil to hyper-local apples grown by a single family, have a history beyond the region, from Queen Victoria's court to the Oregon Trail. 

Flynt also tells us the darker side of the story, detailing how apples were entwined with slavery and the theft of Indigenous land. She relates the ways southerners lost their rich apple culture in less than the lifetime of a tree and offers a tentatively hopeful future."

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• Host: John Holl
• Guest: Diane Flynt
• Sponsors: Shopify, All About Beer
• Tags: Cider, Apples, History, South, Agriculture, Flavor