Today we celebrate a one of a kind American plantsman and breeder who gave us the red-fleshed Pink Pearl apple. We'll also learn about the German nurseryman and breeder who we know from a ubiquitous feather-reed grass. We’ll hear some lovely botanical poems from a New England poet. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a cookbook written around 23 essential vegetables. And then we’ll wrap things up with a story about the Bicentenary at Kew.   Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart To listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to “Play the latest episode of The Daily Gardener Podcast.” And she will. It's just that easy.   The Daily Gardener Friday Newsletter Sign up for the FREE Friday Newsletter featuring: A personal update from me Garden-related items for your calendar The Grow That Garden Library™ featured books for the week Gardener gift ideas Garden-inspired recipes Exclusive updates regarding the show and more. Plus, each week, one lucky subscriber wins a book from the Grow That Garden Library™ bookshelf.   Gardener Greetings Send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes, and so forth to Jennifer@theDailyGardener.org.   Curated News How Plants Ensure Regular Seed Spacing | Phys Org | Heinrich-Heine   Facebook Group If you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. So, there’s no need to take notes or search for links. The next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community where you’d search for a friend... and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group.   Important Events November 27, 1872   Today is the birthday of a lifelong American plantsman and master plant breeder Albert Etter. Albert was a born horticulturist. When most children are mastering the alphabet and learning to tie their shoes, Albert was learning to graft and hybridize plants. By the time Albert was 12, his plant breeding was focused on dahlias and strawberries. His local newspaper in California reported that he had over 200 varieties of dahlia, thanks to his efforts in cultivating new hybrids. Growing frustrated that his school books taught him nothing about nature, Albert dropped out at 14. Albert continued his breeding efforts and helped out on local farms. Thanks to the Homestead Act, Albert acquired 640 acres of free land on his 21st birthday. The land needed clearing, and the acidic soil required improvement. Thanks to Albert’s regular planting of cover crops like clover and vetch, his soil gradually improved. With his brothers’ help, Albert's place became increasingly self-sufficient, adding a lumber mill and raising Angora goats. Albert often wrote that his ranch provided him everything he needed - except flour and sugar. Over time, Albert’s ranch became known as Ettersburg. Although Albert’s early work with strawberries brought him fame, his work with apples made him a legend. In his apple breeding, Albert focused on a unique and relatively unknown apple appropriately called Surprise. The Surprise apple was pink-fleshed and hailed from Kazakhstan. Over his lifetime, Albert created hundreds of apple varieties descended from the Surprise apple. In total, Albert crossbred 15,000 apples and a little over ten percent of those warranted additional experimenting. Albert accelerated his apple-breeding efforts through top grafting. Here's how that works: After pollinating an apple blossom with another tree, Albert would place a bag over the flower and wait for the flower to produce an apple. (Albert’s living relatives still recall driving up to the Etter ranch and seeing an unusual sight: the orchard trees covered with little bags.) From the apple started inside a bag, Albert would plant the apple seeds. After observing the young seedlings, Albert selected the ones with the best fruit for grafting. By grafting new apple seedlings o