Cider and Honey for All
Saturday we picked apples. The caretaker of a nearby farm offered to let us pick as many as we wanted from their espaliered orchard (branches grown on fences between trees for easy picking). We filled a third of a pickup truck before two big trucks, looking like a god squad, pulled up and ordered us off the property. It seems the farm had been sold to developers, who intend to bulldoze the barn and orchard and build forty homes.Leaving with only a third of a truck turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The next day we fired up a donated cider press and pressed and pressed. Everyone's stomach and containers were filled with sweet fresh cider. The process went on for four hours, and we were frankly relieved to see the end of the apples. We took plenty home for drinking and freezing, then headed immediately to the shower.
Bruce, our neighborhood beekeeper, and his wife Erin took advantage of the gathering to sell honey. The hives are a safe twenty yards from our front door. Talk about local honey, and for just $3 a pound. Thank you Bruce and Erin!
Please enjoy these photos, but bear in mind that our community is not polygamous. We're the only polygamous family living here so far.
posted by Martin at 7:45 PM
Comments:
I think it's pretty sad that the developer thought it a grave offense for you all to pick the apples but doesn't see the grave offense in his destruction of the orchard. How hard would it be to either build around it or open it to the public to be picked free of charge so that the current crop isn't wasted?
It is sad, and our whole community laments the gradual destruction of our natural resources.
We put the 25 acre greenbelt that surrounds us in a land trust last year. I've heard that we have the largest (40 acre) parcel left in our county.