Be careful where you lean that ladder. It might be the ladder that broke the old Camel’s back.

We weeded several dozen young trees at our neighbor’s orchard up the road. I’ve planted nearly a hundred trees up there in recent years, filling in blanks in their old family-orchard of Ben Davis, Stark and Wolf River. The original trees were planted about 1900. Most are gone but about twenty remain. I’ve added mostly traditional central Maine cultivars with a few odd favorites slipped in here and there. I also brought up the ladders and pruned out dead wood from the old trees. A few of them look as though 2026 might be the end of the line, but they’re hanging in there.