Today in the orchard
Some much-needed rain these two days. Time to organize the piles of apples I need to examine in the coming weeks. They come in many categories - apples collected from newly-discovered ancient trees, apples sent from folks seeking an identification, recent breeding projects needing trial, and even apples from our own rare cultivars fruiting for the first time. Bags and boxes by the gazillion. How can we get to them all? Fortunately most are in the cooler which is pretty good at extending the life of the fruit.
In between the raindrops I was able to clear out around the last trees to make them easier to pick in the next few days. By week’s end they should all be harvested. Baseball season will soon be over too. Out in LA the Dodgers and the Blue Jays are duking it out for the World Series. There’s a lot of similarities between those whose lives are spent in the ballpark and those in the orchard. The consummate orchardist has to be able to climb and pick and spray and prune and graft and dig and a whole lot more. The best baseball players have to be able to do almost as many things as well (though not quite), like hit and throw and catch and run and slide. We’re all multitasking!