I was in the orchards solo today. Well, not entirely. I was joined by two goldfinches. Both seemed quite happy to see me. Or maybe they were just happy to be alive and didn’t actually notice me at all. They are so yellow!

The pace was slow. It is Saturday after all. I bounced from one small task to another. It was so nice to be there. More fire blight cutting. It keeps coming back. It’s been a nuisance throughout the state this year. Irrigating thirsting trees. It’s been dry despite the rain a couple nights ago. So happy when it does rain. The trees are happy too. Stapling down landscape fabric between rows of newly grafted cultivars to keep those pesky weeds down and keep that good moisture in.

I took the time to look at the hand-pollination I did this past May. Black Oxford x Redfield and Wealthy x Redfield. Both crosses have the potential to produce pie/sauce apples of the future. I have about a dozen small, good-looking apples of each. With two dozen apples, I could wind up with 50 seeds of each cross. I’ll save the seed this fall and plant them all next spring. One day I may have several red-fleshed Black Oxford-types as well as red-fleshed Wealthy-types. This is fantastic. But, help, what will I name them? I’ll need 50 clever new apple names. A new generation of the world’s best culinarialistic apple cultivars coming to every farm-stand, Walmart and gourmet grocery store near you.