Jeff and Jennifer Crist of Crist Brothers Orchards, Walden, New York (photograph by Bar Lois Weeks)

Jim Hill, Hill Brothers Orchard, Alpine Township, Michigan (photograph by Russell Steven Powell)

TO CELEBRATE the 2013 fresh apple harvest and make America’s Apple more accessible, I will be launching a one-time e-book sale beginning this Friday, August 15. For a two-week period ending August 29, people will be able to download the e-book version of America’s Apple for just $2.99 instead of its regular price of $9.99.

The e-book will be available at the discounted price through Amazon’s Kindle or as a Barnes & Noble’s Nook Book. The hardcover is available through these sites, numerous bookstores and orchard stores, and Silver Street Media.

Evan Darrow, Green Mountain Orchards, Putney, Vermont (photograph by Bar Lois Weeks)

Anyone with an interest in apples and agriculture will find this an interesting read. Stories about the people who grow apples are interspersed among chapters on apple horticulture, history, culinary uses, and more — including a fresh look at John Chapman (aka Johnny Appleseed), and some of the challenging issues confronting modern agricultures, from labor to food safety.

America’s Apple includes an illustrated index of 120 apple varieties grown in the United States, and nearly 50 four-color photographs from America’s orchards by Bar Lois Weeks.

For more information, write to americasapple@comcast.net.

Roadside stand near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (Photograph by Bar Lois Weeks)