John Chapman certainly wasn't toting around bags of grafted apple trees when
he decided to spread apple seeds around on his journeys. Some of the
seedlings that came up produced very nice apples.

I would change that to very few. Since there was no scientific tracking of
his
trees, we can only surmise the results.

Some didn't. It's the
same result I'd expect of the OP's little experiment... they may get
some nicely flavored apples from the seedlings,

Doubt it very much.

and then again, they
might get spitters. But whatever they get, it'll be interesting for the
kids if the parents help them interpret what they're seeing and
experiencing.

I would not put a kid into a statistically losing project when there are
much better related things, like grafting.


At any rate, I think kids (and grownups, too, from the sounds of things
here!) should try things like growing seeds of an open-pollinated, sexually
reproducing crop, just to see some of the hidden genetic variation
uncovered... it's really pretty amazing.

Problem here is that this will be a standard tree, which will take the kid
at least 7 years to taste their first apple.

Save some seed of something or other... tomatoes, dwarf marigolds,
impatiens, lettuce... grow 'em out and see what you get. It's fun.

For those plants, I agree.

Sherwin D.



Kay

.