It sure was with sadness that I read Tom and Imac are retiring from the team. They have been an encouragement to me in blogland.
Now to my post for today...I worked for years at an apple orchard. The picker on the left side of the row of trees was my picker for years. (that is not me on it.) If I am out there to visit, it is still my machine. The tractor pictured is not the tractor I started with...it is only about 7 years old as I speak. It was bought new, ordered with tires as small as they come till it would fit through the trees when they are loaded down with apples.
These are just a few of the apple trees...the ones above are some of the younger trees. I probably helped set some of them. The orchard is a small orchard--it had about 2,000 trees. In those 2,000 trees we had 20+ varieties.
favorite job I ever did out there, or maybe for all time, was grafting. I felt like I was creating something...but I sure loved picking and didn't mind the pruning except sometimes the cold got to me. When I was pruning I felt like an artist at work.
The above was the the first variety picked at our orchard; they are EarliBlaze. And the ones below are Blushing Golden, picked a bit past mid season and they are probably my favorite apple.
These below are Arkansas Black...they were picked at the very end of October, and at that time we only had the Granny Smith apples to pick after, though we did plant some Pink Ladies before I quit, and they have an even longer growing season that the Grannies, as we called them.
The Arkansas Blacks are gourmet cooking apples...but a lot of people love them because they are so hard and crisp.I hope you enjoyed seeing a little bit of where I spent years of my life. The orchard is still a working orchard, and I still visit every now and then.
Who knew there were purply-black apples! Your world is interesting. Apple picking intrigues me.
ReplyDeleteVery cool pics, looks like a wonderful place to visit. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Regina In Pictures
what a yummy post. thanks.
ReplyDeleteoh its the first time i heard imac and tom are retiring, you mean from the blogging world?
Interesting post, Rose. I don't think I've ever eaten the three varieties you mentioned. Hmmm. My two favourites to eat are actually cooking apples so I just bet I'd love the Arkansas Black. ;-)
ReplyDeleteInteresting post! Lovely photos! Two thousand trees is SMALL?? Wow.
ReplyDeleteThe Blushing Goldens look yummy....my favorite apple is Golden Delicious....I wonder if these are similar? Very nice post!
Hey - my friend, i'm only retiring from the team...I'm still blogging, on My World and Skywatch and later bringing my blog back again.
ReplyDeleteLove your post too.
It was a nice tour in your orchard! And the apples look so inviting and delicious. Thanks for your visit.
ReplyDeleteWe have a few apple trees, and I've always been envious of a friend of ours who has a full orchard. She doesn't have Arkansas Blacks!
ReplyDeleteI loved this post, thank you for sharing such wonderful photos!
Looks like an interesting place to live. What a lovely tour of your orchid.
ReplyDeleteSumptious. I wish we had smellivison
ReplyDeleteWhich one is your favorite? I like the looks of The Arkansas Black.
ReplyDeleteThese apple pictures are so nice - I can almost smell them.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this look at the orchard where you spent years of your life. All the shots are beautiful and an interesting post. I can see how grafting would be rewarding. The only time I ever did grafting was in a course I took and I really liked it. I've only gardened as a hobby.
ReplyDeleteYou've shared not only your world but your life. Great photos and story. I've never seen black apples, but now I will look for them.
ReplyDeleteThis was just delightful! Apples were always a big thing at our house when I was growing up. There were a lot of different vareties available then (that I haven't seen in decades) and my dad would always bring home different kinds, we'd all try them and rate them 'buy again' or not buy again'. Never saw the black ones, though. And I love the look of orchards. There's something so intriguing about the way the trees spread and flower, then bend with the fruit - all pretty much natural for a tree - but yet are placed in such orderly man-made rows. They seen both tame and wild at the same time. I think I should go online and see if I can find some places that sells and ships heritage apples.
ReplyDeleteThe moust beautiful tree in the whole world is the apple-tree!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was young I lived in a place where the apple-tree growed. I was very fasinaded of it and I never forget the beautiful flowers on it. Here up north where I live it's to cold for tree's like that.
Thanks for sharing those beautiful photos:)
How interesting that must have been, although I imagine it was hard work. I've never seen those Arkansas Black apples before...their color is stunning! The flowering trees are just gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteVery intersting post and great piccies
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful education! Every time I think I've heard of all the apple varieties, I hear of more. My favorite still remains the Jonathan - which we can't get here in Connecticut - I remember from my years in Missouri. So glad you stopped by me, and I then visited you! Love your header.
ReplyDeleteYou know what? I'm adding you to my blog roll - been strolling through your blog and I like what I read and see.
This is a very lovely post. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your work in the apple orchard. Wonderful photos too!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the wonderful tour. This 2nd week of meme really makes us appreciate the many places that we don't usually see or ever had a chance to visit like the one you showed me in this post. Hope you get to have time to check my world too. Another great job and more to come in the coming weeks.
ReplyDeleteThank you, yours was the sort of post I was hoping to find in this new meme.A life well spent doing what you love. Out in the fresh air
ReplyDeleteamong all those apple trees. I can smell the apple blossom and ripe fruit from here. Grafting is sheer creativity. Making one kind take on another, not quite as complex as on humans but just as satisfying. Pruning is warm glove work and you have to have the eye of the sculptor to be successful or the trees will look like mangy dogs and not thrive. Horticulture is a joy.
I did not regret to join this meme because i can see a lot of places in the world and one of this is yours which is a big "WOW" because of its beauty. Thanks for sharing...
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Rose. I never think of apples as being pretty until I see them in a picture and they make a pretty picture.
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not, my mouth is watering...
ReplyDelete20 varieties? -- wow... I probably am only aware of a handful... The one they grow around this area (30 miles north of me in Sebastopol) is the Gravenstein.
An apple orchard is such a great place to visit. Your series is very appealing. I think it's interesting how many varieties of apples are now available to us.
ReplyDeleteYay for apples! I had never heard of Ark Blacks gourmet cooking apples... hmmm, ya learn something new everyday! hehehe! That's a yum yum "My World" post!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by Indiana woman from a former Ohio farm girl. great post
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by Indiana woman from a former Ohio farm girl. great post
ReplyDeleteI luv walking in orchards too. And there are so many great varieties of apples -- AR blacks are new ones to me. Thanks for visiting also.
ReplyDeleteI missed this post somehow Rose.
ReplyDeleteI love apple blossoms and these are beautiful.
I have never seen that black apple so I certainly learned something here today.
Great post and wonderful photo's.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your part of the world with us.
Take care