Debra and Tom Fierce were tending to their in-home garden when Tom’s hands struck something ginormous just beneath the surface. As the couple knelt down and began digging around the object, Tom debated if it was some kind of strange infestation. After Tom pried it out with his bare hands, he thought “Why Not?” and ate it.

An Apple.

“We couldn’t believe it,” Debra said. “It was just huge, and underground?” It wasn’t exactly pretty. Debra describes its appearance as more of an ugly and brown, yet not necessarily rotting. But it’s quite possibly the largest Apple on record. When the couple lugged it into their garage and put it on their set of scales, it weighed in at 18 pounds. That’s equal to a couple of sacks of honeycrisp apples, or one small dog.

Weeks after their unusual find, the couple’s apple has become a celebrity around Lindeville. They’ve named the apple Steve Jobs, after the Apple founder, and Tom even built a small cart to tow Steve around. “We put a black turtleneck on him. We made him an Instagram, we take him on walks to give him some air, and Steve does plenty of meet and greets. We love him.”

Steve hasn’t proved an easy charge to look after. As the couple showed Steve off, it began drying out and losing weight. Mold started growing from its wounds. “He was getting a bit pongy,” said Tom, referring to Steve’s smell. So Tom cleaned up Steve as best he could and put the Apple in the freezer, where it remains. Anything can happen in Lindeville - even an apple growing from the ground. Yet one question remains: will Steve survive the year?