The story of a singular man, one of those "crazy in the eyes of the world", which embodied the ideal of harmony with nature. This true story inspired J. Giono his famous story The Man Who Planted Trees.

John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed was an American pioneer who, in the first half of the nineteenth century, introduced apple trees in large areas of the Wild West. Although his life is surrounded by a halo of legend, it was, of course, a perfectly real historical figure. Eccentric, a saint for some completely crackpot for others, dedicated his life to preaching the gospel, according to the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg, and the distribution of plants apple trees among the settlers, activities for him were closely related. Vegetarian, protector of all forms of animal life, often walked barefoot and dressed in a sack of coffee. In a world where nature was seen as a hostile reality destined to be conquered and subdued, Johnny Appleseed does a man "touched by the Great Spirit," according to Native Americans? embodies the ideal of respect and harmony with the natural environment as a key element in spiritual realization.