PRODUCE FROM A TO Z, Part 2

So when I noticed what looked like little RED objects on the trees closest to the driveway, I realized that by August there could be APPLES! Sure enough, a closer look showed many of them shining brightly on the uppermost branches where the sun could reach them. Then I noticed more on the ground in various stages of bruising and decomposition. I quickly began picking up any that were within my reach hoping that I was not too late to miss the entire season. I simply love apples, and having an entire orchard in my own yard is just a real treat. Before transferring my treasures from my lap and the foot rest to my refrigerator, I had to rub one against my T-shirt to polish it and then TAKE THE FIRST BITE! BLISS!

Unfortunately my beloved apple trees share their places with other large plants. One of these is the ubiquitous Sumac tree. These things travel by way of seeds that cling at first to their tops, but then as they ripen, spread by wind and animals to every corner of the property. I am more than willing to use all my tools to cut those Sumacs out of the apple trees. But I have more than just the Sumacs to challenge me. This past spring ANOTHER FOREIGN TREE began its takeover of the apple trees closer to the driveway. This plant started out looking like a big weed; it quickly grew into what looked like a shrub; and now it appears as a full blown tree! In the beginning it was covered with pretty yellow flowers. I had no idea what kind of fauna it was, and I still don't. But whatever it is, IT HAS TO GO!

Two years ago I made a major purchase: a fruit picker (no not a laborer, a tool). This thing has what look like fingers reaching around a rubber pad that would be the palm of a hand. The idea is to reach for an apple, pear, peach or other fruit; put the wire "fingers around it; and pull it off the branch. The fruit falls gently into the "hand" and lands softly on the pad. When I was a child, my friend next door had a similar device, but a more primitive version. Her apple picker was simply an old bird cage with the door removed. The wires of the cage worked like fingers to pick the apple off the branch, and the fruit then fell into the empty cage. Remembering that success, I advertised for an "old birdcage", but the responses I got were from people with "antique" bird cages. I thanked them and moved on. At last my search led me to the Internet where I found the right implement (at a cost of $40).

American folklore is replete with stories of pioneers living off the apple trees that populated our land. Johnny Apple Seed, a poor vagabond, traversed the country living off apples and bringing their seeds to others to begin their own orchards. The Disney® cartoon version had the creative Johnny using a pot for a hat. Presumably he had preserved the fruit as apple sauce. My mother made it a few times that I remember, and a friend's grandmother did the same. The legacy of the Great Depression brought to mind many instances of using what was available to meet one's needs. Today we may see a reprise of that kind of "Yankee ingenuity".