Our Orchard
We had a fruit orchard at one place where we use to live when I was a kid. There were apple, peach, plum, and pear trees and maybe some I don't even remember. My Mother used to can many jars of jams, jellies, preserves and just plain fruit each season. We always had a variety of flavors for the spread on our toast and biscuits back then. My favorite was plum jelly. I still like it.I can remember on the peach trees there was a kind of a chewy gelatin-like material which grew on the limbs along the bark. It was as if this substance kind of oozed out of the tree and made little clumps. I don't now what it was but my friends and I liked to pick it off and chew it. The taste was not really anything spectacular or good--it was just a pleasantly chewy substance to munch on. I assume it was a harmless thing because I never got sick from chewing it.
We always had plenty of fruit to eat on during the season when each kind of tree would produce its crop. I remember eating green apples before and I probably got a stomach ache!
I planted an apple tree in my yard when we moved to this house in 1976. It was about two or three years before I got an apple from it. I learned that to get the best fruit you have to spray the tree every year and you also have to prune it properly . Since that was a lot of work our tree didn't get the exact proper treatment. We did get apples but they were not perfect and had to be trimmed of the bad spots before we could use them.
Unfortunately, about 5 years ago, lightening stuck my apple tree and knocked it completely down. We had to have it removed. Since then I have not replanted because for just me it is too much work for my apples. I can buy a four pound bag at the grocery store and have all of the apples I want without the work and the clean up that a tree brings along with it.
But I would like to have a chunk of peach tree gelatin to chew on for a while!
posted by kyra lafain @ 6/25/2008 12:30:00 PM
4 Comments:
A 4 pound bag of apples, I guess maybe depending on what kind of apples, can be quite costly now!
I checked yesterday and a three pound bag was about $3.99! I didn;t buy any. I bought a cantaloupe for $1.50.
I remember Grandma's plum jelly -- it was delicious! We had a pear tree in the backyard of the first house we bought. I picked up pears for Grandma and she made pear preserves. For the first time in my life, I made pear preserves last year. They turned out pretty good for a first try. I also made pear relish for the first time, and it turned out OK, too.
I think grandma's apple jelly was my favorite. Yes, Deb, your preserves and relish were delicious! I always loved grandma's pear relish on a peanut butter sandwich and when Deb made some last year it brought back all those wonderful memories of grandma's to my taste buds! nh
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home